Running slowly and effortlessly is the foundation of training, and yet we almost always find it hard to believe that if it’s easy, then it can’t be effective. “No pain, no gain,” as they say. Except that, when it comes to building and maintaining a running base, slow is actually the way to go.
OK, so how does all this work? An athlete’s physiology is incredibly complex, because we aren’t simply machines that just need to be optimized. A huge number of factors—physical, mental, emotional, and environmental—interact and vary from person to person. But for the sake of illustration, let’s imagine a standard physiology.
Aerobic development occurs through a series of adaptations in the cardiovascular system. By running slowly and consistently, the body improves its ability to transport oxygen and manage fatigue. By running slowly, we develop more capillaries and mitochondria, which in turn supply energy to the muscles. This process, called angiogenesis, is hindered by excessive intensity—if we run too fast too often, we hinder an essential part of our aerobic development.
Slow and steady running also promotes neuromusculoskeletal adaptation. Repetitive stress allows the body to strengthen itself and withstand more impact. With proper recovery, easy jogging stimulates the growth of osteoblasts, which develop into bone cells called osteocytes that, in turn, strengthen our bones. Muscle fibers also repair themselves by creating new fibers—myofibrils—that are stronger than the previous ones. This strengthening process is similar for tendons and ligaments. The more regularly we run at an easy pace, the more our bodies strengthen by adapting to the stress.
Muscle fibers also change their properties to adapt to endurance work. Slow-twitch fibers are packed with mitochondria and capillaries because they use oxygen to help us go farther for longer. Fast-twitch fibers generate more force—but they tire much more quickly. They rely on carbohydrates and are anaerobic, meaning they can only be used for a limited time. Running at a slow pace therefore develops the slow-twitch fibers necessary for endurance.
Running at a comfortable pace also helps prevent physical and psychological setbacks. The faster you run, the greater your risk of injury. Running at a comfortable pace prevents injuries and also helps avoid mental burnout. Because if every workout is hard, you’ll simply lose the desire to go out and run. Running in a relaxed manner and enjoying the movement is the key to longevity in sports.
Basic jogging is therefore pleasantly relaxed. That said, this doesn’t mean you should ban intensity entirely—it definitely has its place for reasons I’ll cover in another post—but it should be targeted and limited.
In the winter, I often train at a higher intensity; slow jogging remains the foundation, but it’s interspersed with strides, interval training, and tempo runs. In the summer, I embrace the slow pace over long distances, one small step at a time—a magical way to explore valleys and mountain peaks.
5 Tips for Embracing Ease During Your Runs
- Stay within your breathing comfort zone: that means being able to say about three sentences without getting out of breath. If you can tell stories to a running partner or to the trees, you’re doing great!
- On a scale of 1 to 10 for perceived effort, you should be at a 3 or 4. Assessing your effort this way lets you slow down when you get carried away and return to a sense of overall fluidity.
- We fully embrace our pace; we let others pass us, we smile, we stop to take photos, we walk when we feel like it—we make our run a space of total freedom. The more we enjoy our runs, the better our bodies adapt to them and grow stronger. A workout that feels like a chore is one that isn’t well-received by our physiological system—the body and mind work together!
- We treat our runs as little adventures rather than a chore: we explore new places, we go see what’s at the end of that dead-end street we’ve never dared to visit, we cut across fields.
- Forget your watch! Put on your sneakers and see where it takes you. Maybe a lap around the block will be enough today; maybe you’ll feel the energy carry you for half a day.
And here’s a sixth tip—and by no means the least important: don’t take any of this too seriously. Stay young at heart; run because you want to and for the sheer joy of it—jumping over tree stumps, spreading your arms wide, and making airplane noises on the downhill stretches.