Embracing the concept of slow and easy runs can feel like a game of mental gymnastics. Can you really become a better, faster runner if you’re consistently going at a pace that feels easy and relatively slow to you?

“It can be very hard, especially for new runners, to really understand that anything positive is happening when a run feels really easy,” South Carolina-based exercise physiologist Heather Hart, CSCS, certified run coach and founder of Hart Strength and Endurance Coaching, explains to Runner’s World.

…regularly pushing the pace and taking your easy runs into difficult territory means you miss out on some pretty major benefits…

But regularly pushing the pace and taking your easy runs into difficult territory means you miss out on some pretty major benefits of slow running, especially if you’re doing that for the majority of your runs. To convince you to pump the brakes, we tapped two experts to reveal all you can gain from slowing down – both physically and mentally.

What “Slow Running” Really Means
Before we dig into its perks, let’s get clear on what constitutes “slow running.” Basically, it’s any run in which your heart rate is at or below about 70 percent of your maximum heart rate, Hart explains. This is typically considered zone 1 or zone 2 training.

You don’t have to track your heart rate to know if your run meets the criteria for “easy,” though. A simpler method is to tune into your own sense of what feels “easy” and what feels “hard” using the rate of perceived exertion scale (RPE). Imagine a scale of 0 to 10 where zero is no exertion at all, and 10 is all-out work – an easy run should fall under a 5, even closer to a 2 or 3.

Another way to monitor whether you’re striding easy enough: Try holding a conversation. If you’re able to chat without gasping, then you’re likely nailing slow running, Hart says.

“My rule of thumb is that if an athlete questions, ‘Am I running too fast?’ then they probably are,” Hart explains. In fact, slow running is probably slower than you think.

6 Benefits of Slowing Down on the Run
Here are all the amazing things – in no particular order – that can happen when you embrace a slow pace.

1. Reduce Your Chances of Hitting a Wall
While runners rely on fast-twitch muscle fibres for speedwork, there’s a subtype of fast-twitch fibres that are somewhat convertible – they can utilise fuel aerobically as well as anaerobically. That means you can strengthen them through high-intensity efforts or by doing long, slow aerobic runs, Janet Hamilton, CSCS, exercise physiologist and coach with Running Strong tells Runner’s World.

During a long, slow run, when the slow-twitch fibres start to tire, your body recruits some of the convertible fast-twitch fibres to help out. Do this enough, and you are training these fibres to pitch in more reliably. This can help you run longer without getting as fatigued. Mitochondria also play a role here. These little organelles in cells help metabolise lactate, a byproduct of glycolysis or the process of turning glucose into fuel for exercise. But aside from gobbling up lactate, mitochondria also metabolise fat.

When running, your body primarily relies on glycogen (the stored form of glucose or sugar) in your muscles for fuel. Because you only have a limited supply of glycogen, that plan works well until it doesn’t. Any runner who has bonked during a distance race knows how awful this crash can feel.

As a backup, though, your body has an almost unlimited supply of intramuscular triglycerides, also known as fat. Training your muscles to more efficiently burn fat for fuel, as you do with long, easy runs, will decrease the likelihood of hitting the wall, Hamilton explains.

2. Higher Lactate Threshold
It’s logical to think the only way to get better at running fast is to, well, run fast. And running intervals will indeed make you faster, as will threshold workouts, which allow you to run faster for longer without fatiguing. But dedicating time to slow running can actually provide a physiological benefit that improves your ability to pick up the pace.

Here’s why: Slow running increases the density of your mitochondria. Again, those are the powerhouses of your cells that help convert food into energy and break down and clear lactate.

There’s an association between the onset of fatigue while exercising and elevated levels of circulating lactate, Hamilton explains. “That’s known as the lactate threshold,” she says. “You get more lactate production than you have consumption.”

Boosting your mitochondrial density with slow running means you can increase your lactate threshold even during hard efforts, Hart explains, because of that lactate clearance. Instead of hitting your lactate threshold (and thus fatiguing out) at a 5:30-minute kilometre pace, you may be able to push a 5-minute kilometre pace. In other words, “you can run faster,” without running out of gas as quickly, Hamilton explains.

3. Happier Running
Though some folks genuinely love running all out, for a lot of athletes, “speedwork is hard,” says Hamilton. Not only can fast running be uncomfortable and demand a lot of focus, it can physically stress your body, she explains. And surprise, surprise: Physical stress can affect your mental health, too, says Hart.

Easy running, by contrast, “is a nice way to let running be a stress reliever instead of a stress producer,” Hamilton says. Indeed, Hart finds that low-intensity workouts provide a chill space where you can simply enjoy running for what it is without worrying about hitting certain paces. “You can stop and smell the roses,” she says.

And if you’re a beginner still trying to build a consistent run routine, finding this type of joy in the activity can make you more likely to stick with it. Case in point: A study published in 2022 in Frontiers of Psychology found that enjoyment positively predicted exercise becoming a habit, the intention to keep exercising continuously, and exercise frequency.

4. Improved Recovery
Running hard all the time can result in cumulative fatigue, which ultimately affects performance in all your workouts, Hart explains. So regularly slotting slow runs into your schedule can help facilitate recovery and conserve energy so that when it is time for a speed workout, you’re able to run at a high level and hit your target paces.

As Hart puts it: “It’s super important to keep those easy days easy so that the hard days can be hard.”

Along those lines, a lot of people don’t realise the adaptations we make from intense training occur during the recovery period following a workout – and not during workouts themselves, Hart explains. By taking it easy after hard and fast runs, you will reap the full gains of those workouts.

5. Decreased Risk of Injury
Fast running places more strain on your feet and lower legs than easy running. And embracing slow running allows you to increase the percentage of your total weekly mileage while minimising the amount of stress you’re placing on your body. This reduces your overall injury risk, Hart explains.

Ultimately, this can translate to better performance. As Hamilton puts it: “The only way to get faster in your races is to train well, and the only way to train well is to stay healthy.”

6. Stronger Mind-Body Connection
Routinely alternating between hard and easy runs will encourage you to tune into your body and its relationship with different exertion levels. And this mindfulness can benefit you in a race scenario, Hart says.

It will give you an understanding of how hard you’re working at a given pace and whether or not you should pick up, slow down, or maintain the pace, she explains. Instead of blindly following a pacing plan that may or may not be right for you on a given day, you’ll be able to adapt in real time to how your body is actually feeling, thus becoming a more strategic competitor.

This article first appeared on Runner’s World USA.

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