It sounds backwards.
If you want to run faster, surely you should train faster?
Run harder.
Push more.
Spend less time jogging around at a comfortable pace.
Yet one of the biggest breakthroughs many parkrunners make comes when they learn this simple lesson:
Easy runs are one of the most important ingredients in becoming a faster runner.
Not because they’re exciting.
Not because they feel impressive.
But because they allow everything else to work.
✅ The Problem With Running Hard All the Time
Many runners fall into the same trap.
Their easy runs become:
- a little too quick
- a little too competitive
- a little too tiring
They’re not hard workouts.
But they’re not easy enough to promote recovery either.
This creates a cycle where:
- fatigue accumulates
- quality sessions suffer
- parkrun performances flatten out
- progress stalls
The runner feels like they’re working hard.
But they’re rarely fresh enough to perform well.
✅ What Easy Running Actually Does
Easy running isn’t wasted running.
In fact, it develops many of the qualities that support faster parkruns.
A properly paced easy run helps:
- build aerobic efficiency
- improve endurance
- strengthen muscles and connective tissues
- increase capillary density
- improve recovery between harder efforts
In simple terms:
Easy running builds the engine that powers faster running.
And every runner needs an engine.
✅ Why the Long Run Matters So Much
In my coaching approach, the most important run of the week is often the Long Run at Level II.
Regardless of whether you’re aiming for:
- sub-35
- sub-30
- sub-25
- sub-20
The long run underpins everything.
Run at an easy conversational effort, it develops:
- aerobic fitness
- durability
- efficiency
- resilience
The quality session may provide the spark.
But the long run provides the fuel.
✅ Easy Runs Make Your Hard Sessions Better
This is where many runners miss the point.
The purpose of an easy run isn’t simply to make you fitter.
It’s to ensure you’re ready for the sessions that truly challenge your fitness.
When easy runs are genuinely easy:
- threshold sessions improve
- interval sessions improve
- recovery improves
- parkrun performances improve
You arrive at the hard days ready to perform.
And that’s where real progress happens.
✅ How Easy Should Easy Feel?
Here’s a simple test:
Could you comfortably hold a conversation?
If the answer is yes, you’re probably close.
Easy running should feel:
- controlled
- comfortable
- sustainable
- relaxed
You should finish feeling like you could keep going.
Not like you’ve just completed another workout.
✅ The Confidence Trap
Some runners worry that slowing down means they’re losing fitness.
The opposite is usually true.
The strongest runners understand that:
- not every run needs to be hard
- not every session needs to prove fitness
- patience creates progress
Easy running isn’t a sign of weakness.
It’s a sign of confidence.
⭐ Saturday Spark Takeaway
If you want to run faster at parkrun:
✔ Keep your easy runs easy
✔ Protect your Long Run at Level II
✔ Save your best effort for quality sessions
✔ Trust the process of building aerobic fitness
Fast runners aren’t fast because they run hard every day.
They’re fast because they know when to run easy.
Run relaxed this week.
And let your easy running help power your next PB.