What’s The RIGHT Easy Run Pace? Simple Tools for Faster Race Times with Mike Trees

May 16, 2021 | By DLake

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Think of easy run training like a bow and arrow—the more you pull back (slow down), the sharper your shot (faster) flies on race day

What It Is
It’s that gentle, almost-too-easy run pace that feels like you’re just gliding. The kind where conversation flows, your mind wanders, and the miles don’t claw at your legs. No clock-chasing allowed—if you’re wheezing, it’s not easy. This is your body’s sweet spot to build endurance without tipping into the dreaded overtraining zone.

How To Do It
Start by breathing through your nose or using a simple mental math test—if you can’t solve five plus five in your head, slow down. Let your heart rate hover below the frenzy zone by monitoring it, but don’t overthink the numbers. Trust sensation. If it feels too easy, that’s probably right. Keep your steps light, shoulders relaxed, and your mind in check. Remember, “easy” is relative to you. One runner’s shuffle is another runner’s cruise.

Why It’s Important/What’s Happening

When you run at a modest, almost leisurely pace, you’re essentially optimizing the physiological underpinnings that make peak performance possible. At the cellular level, you’re nudging your mitochondria—those microscopic powerhouses in your muscle cells—to multiply and become more efficient at converting oxygen into ATP. This basic fuel keeps your legs turning over. This gentle exertion also boosts capillary density, improving oxygen delivery to working muscles without eliciting a full-blown stress response.

Think of this capillary boost as upgrading a cramped, single-lane backroad—filled with hairpin turns and slow farm trucks—into a sleek, eight-lane super highway. On that one-lane road, you’re forever tapping the brakes, bogged down by twists, stops, and obstacles. But with the expanded highway, traffic glides straight and fast, and the speed you can reach (and sustain) jumps way higher. On a hormonal front, by keeping your heart rate from red-lining, you reduce excessive cortisol release, preserving mental stamina and mitigating fatigue spirals.

Collectively, these quiet adaptations form the bedrock that supports your bigger efforts—like speed intervals and long runs—because you’re not constantly bombarding your system with high-intensity demands. Think of it as building a robust infrastructure of highways and energy factories so that when you finally do push the pedal, there’s a well-prepared supply chain ready to deliver fuel on demand.

Under the hood upgrades today that go unnoticed, unstoppable best times tomorrow.

What You Will Learn

• Answer the question of what is too easy and too hard running
• Is it possible to build aerobic and anaerobic fitness at the same?
• What His Individual HR/IMAT Heart rate formula is and why it might make more sense than others in the real world
• One thing that can keep you committed and focused to help you perform your best at almost 60 years old!
• Why all coaches are right… and wrong!
• Why starting with your endpoint objective is the most holistic and effective way to come up with realistic training plans
• And Much More

About Mike Trees

• True Generalist/Master of some/Jack of all trades; British Ironman Record holder in 1994, British University 1500 meter champion in 1983, multi-national champion in England and Japan, Sports Scientist Lecturer, Pro triathlon coach based in Tokyo. Coach of Tim Don
• He’s originally from the Northeast of England, grew up in Libya Africa but now lives in Japan
• He gives away all his information online (Instagram @RunNRG ) and thinks coaching is on part science, one part voodoo magic and the middle is where the coach/athlete relationship sits
• He is the co-founder of the coaching collective – Triathlon NRG
• He cleverly figured out a glitch in the Asian pacific ocean triathlon pro circuit by finding races that the faster guys didn’t go to but had prize money so he could sustain a career

Episode Links

• Mike Trees Coaching https://linktr.ee/Run.nrg
• Mike Trees Instagram https://www.instagram.com/run.nrg
• IMAT Heart Rate https://1betterrun.com/imat
• Maffetone 180 Formula https://1betterrun.com/maf
• Running energy systems explained https://runnersconnect.net/energy-systems-running/
• Podcast Concept, Production and Marketing BY POD PASTE

Episode Quotes

• “An easy run is a run you enjoy. If you can chat and do Mental arithmetic – It’s easy. That’s it.”

• “The biggest issue with new runners is, a little bit of knowledge is dangerous. You need to know what your goal is and how to do it.”
• “Every day I wake up I want to run. I just want to work on improving something.”
• “You might not add years to your life, but you can add life to your years.”
• “As I got older, I kept asking myself “How can I stop slowing down, the slowing down”

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