As you drift through outer space, set the cruise control, enjoy the scenery, engage in conversation and don’t forget to crack a few good jokes. Even during a group training run the adrenaline can flow and motivate you to run much faster than you need to. The purpose of easy runs and long endurance runs is to build aerobic conditioning and train the body to conserve fuel. These runs are done at about 45 – 1:30 min/mile slower than marathon race pace, 1:00 – 2:00 slower than half marathon race pace or 1:30 – 2:30 slower than 5k race pace. This should correlate to 65 – 80 percent of your maximum heart rate. You should be able to easily carry on a conversation.
Aerobic conditioning can be any distance run (or run/walk) of 20 minutes to three hours in duration. Depending on your goal time, fitness level, experience and race distance, the distance of your aerobic conditioning runs will vary quite significantly. Regardless of what distance you are training for, aerobic conditioning represents the majority of your training program. Endurance long & easy runs will:
*Increase the number of capillaries that can bring oxygen-rich blood to your muscles
*Increase the amount of oxidative enzymes within the muscle cells that help to use oxygen more efficiently
*Train the body to conserve valuable muscle glycogen supplies and use fat as fuelStrengthen the tendons and connective tissues
*Improve pulmonary capacity
If you repeatedly run your easy runs too fast, you will soon eventually find yourself in the black hole known as overtraining or on the injury list. Not only that, but the lingering fatigue from a long run done too hard will make it more challenging to complete quality lactate threshold workouts. The best benefit of all is that you will be able to carry on a conversation, get to know your training partners, enjoy the exploration of new territories and have fun on the run!
