Do You Need More Easy Miles or Speed Workouts in Your Training Plan?
Training often feels like a constant dance of decision-making: how to fuel, when to recover, and what paces to run. Trying to determine the types of workouts you need based on your current fitness level and actually knowing how to adjust your training accordingly is just another part of that dance, and easily adds to the overwhelm.
If you only have easy runs on your schedule, you might shine in long slow distance runs, but lack the speed you need for a strong finishing kick on race day. On the other hand, too many intense speed days can get in the way of building your aerobic engine. Finding the sweet spot between both low-intensity and high-intensity runs in training will help you become a stronger, more well-rounded runner—and one who can achieve whatever time goal you set!
To figure out whether you’re lacking on the endurance front or the speed side of training, expert run coaches reveal signs you need more easy miles or interval workouts in your plan. Plus, how to add the workouts that will strengthen your training and boost your race-day performance.
Signs You Need More Easy Miles
One of the biggest signs you need more easy miles in training is if you struggle with endurance, says Pamela Geisel, CSCS, RRCA-certified run coach, exercise physiologist, and director of Performance and Wellness Services at the Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) in New York City. For example, if you struggle to complete your long runs—or finish them feeling good—then you likely need more easy miles to build stamina.
In this case, take into account which race distance you’re training to run. If your goal is to run a marathon, but you’re having trouble making it to the end of a 12-miler, it might be time to add another day of easy running to your schedule. (You may also need to slow down on those long runs!)
A higher heart rate than usual during and after workouts is also a sign you may need to add more easy miles to your routine, says Kayla Matlock, UESCA-certified run coach and certified personal trainer. This is because easy runs help build endurance and aerobic fitness. And “the more fit you are, the more efficient your heart is due to greater stroke volume per contraction,” Tamanna Singh, MD, director of the Sports Cardiology Center at Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio, previously told Runner’s World. Therefore, your heart doesn’t have to work as hard to get blood pumping, and your heart rate would be lower during easy runs, she explains.
Easy runs also allow for better recovery between efforts. If you have too much intensity, and not enough zone 2, it could lead to a higher heart rate because of a lack of rest. If you’re going for an easy run, and maintaining that easy effort, but your heart rate is pushing up into zone 3, for example, you might need to build more aerobic fitness. Sometimes easy runs might feel easy, Matlock explains, but the metrics might be off.
How to Add More Easy Miles to Training
A good rule of thumb for adding more easy miles to your training is following the 80/20 method, where you run 80 percent of your training at an easy pace and 20 percent at a higher intensity. This might look like one dedicated day of speedwork per week, Matlock says, while the other four days are mostly easy.
Adding more easy miles to your training might also mean simply slowing down your current runs rather than just adding on more miles.
“The safest way to address a deficit is to add it gradually rather than overhauling the entire plan. If a runner needs more easy endurance work, that may mean slowing down your longer runs, adding a short easy run [midweek], extending the warmup or cooldown, or making sure the majority of weekly mileage is truly conversational,” says Geisel.
Matlock suggests finding ways to slow the pace down on 80 percent of your runs, such as calling a friend to test if you can hold a conversation without breathing too heavily.
Signs You Need More Speed Workouts
You’ll need more speed workouts if you’re running shorter, faster distances, like a 5K instead of a marathon, especially if you’re trying to finish faster.
Needing more speed workouts in training for any distance, though, might show up as you being able to cruise at a lower-intensity pace for hours, but struggling to hit target paces in speed workouts or tackle hills.
The biggest sign that you need more speed workouts in your training is if you repeatedly miss your PR by about 10 minutes, Matlock says. No matter the distance, you might feel like you’re struggling to handle your race pace, or you might struggle to hold pace in the final miles, she explains. “We know we need to do a little bit more speedwork there to raise your ceiling a little bit,” Matlock adds.
How to Add More Speed Workouts to Training
Matlock recommends leaning toward a 70/30 split instead of 80/20 if you need to add more speed to your training. Depending on your race distance, this might look like swapping your long run for another speed session to have two high-intensity days instead of one, or mixing tempo efforts into weekend long runs (in addition to midweek intervals).
Matlock also recommends a specific workout for distance runners who want to add more speed to their training: a progression run. Cutting down pace each half mile by about 10 seconds in a three-mile easy run can help you practice switching into a faster gear as you progress in your runs, she explains.
“If a runner needs more speed, intensity, or strength, it is best to start with small doses,” to complement the plan, not compete with it, says Geisel. This could look like adding strides after an easy run, short hill repeats, or tempo sessions, she adds. “We want to be mindful that we aren’t creating fatigue that takes away from the quality of the rest of training,” she says.
It’s also important to note that strength training is a great way to support speed gains in any training plan, Geisel says. “Strength and speed are going to help improve your economy, force production, and ability to tolerate faster or more demanding loads,” she says. Both Matlock and Geisel recommend starting with small doses of strength work, like two days a week that might include a mix of compound movements such as squats, deadlifts, and lunges, along with core stability exercises and plyometrics.
Overall, your training should include a balance of both endurance work and speed. “Easy aerobic work builds the foundation, speed work develops efficiency and the ability to change gears, and strength training helps the body tolerate the repetitive demands of running,” says Geisel. “The right mix depends on the runner’s goals, injury history, training age, and what is currently limiting their performance.”
Kristine Kearns, a writer and avid runner, joined Runner’s World and Bicycling in July 2024. She previously coached high school girls cross country and currently competes in seasonal races, with more than six years of distance training and an affinity for weightlifting. You can find her wearing purple, baking cupcakes, and visiting her local farmers market.