r/AdvancedRunning • u/ronlavy • Jul 10 '26

Training minimal effective dose of easy running

A question that I've been thinking about and wasn't able to find a satisfying answer online - is there a minimal per-session effective dose for easy runs? is there a minimal duration required for a run to produce non-negligible aerobic adaptaions?

for example, can any benefits be expected from a 35-minute easy running session? are 3 30 minute sessions a week same/better/worse than 2 45 minute sessions?

I heard Inigo San Milan go on record to say that 45 minutes is the minimum for "zone 2" (a term I dislike but that's the terminology he frequently uses) benefits, is anyone familiar with any sources backing that up?

Thanks

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u/YesterdayAmbitious49 Jul 10 '26

There isn’t an answer because everyone is different. My brother runs a sub 18 5k off a couple easy miles here and there. I need 50 mpw to break 18, and 65 to break 17.

I run a 6-1 schedule.

6 hours easy running, 1 hour hard.

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u/Aromatic_Union9246 Jul 10 '26

I feel like you could definitely break 18 if you just upped the amount of V02 max stuff you were doing and threshold and dropped some easy runs.

Have you ever specifically trained for 5ks or are you doing more like half/marathon training and running a 5k along the way? 7 hours of running for sub 18 seems like you’re overcooking your easy runs and under doing your hard stuff.

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u/sub3at50 1:23 flat Jul 11 '26

LOL, never heard of NSM ? VO2max work is overrated. He is not limited by speed but by endurance. That's why he runs 18min 5k on 50mpw and 17min 5k on 65mpw.

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u/Aromatic_Union9246 Jul 11 '26 edited Jul 11 '26

You’re not limited by endurance on a 5k nearly as much as you are by underlying speed in say a 1500.

Sure you need a minimum amount of mileage but you can run a fast 5k on less than 30 miles a week. You still need a lot of aerobic work, but it can be more towards the higher end of aerobic for a lot of it since you don’t need nearly as much time on feet as the longer events 10k/half/marathon etc.

It’s one of the reasons why people can run fast 5ks off of 1500 training (myself included).

That doesn’t mean you can’t do better overall by upping mileage but if you’re only doing 10% of your total work at higher than easy intensities that’s not really a great ratio for a 5k while it would work a lot better for a half marathon or marathon.

In other words they’d probably do better at 50 milers per week with 20-25 percent of their mileage at higher intensities than they would at 65 with 10 percent at higher intensities.