- Easy running builds aerobic work with limited fatigue.
- Recovery running is even more conservative and supports training consistency between key sessions.
- Quality sessions deliver stronger, specific stimuli — not simply more suffering.
Easy run
Easy running typically makes up the largest share of distance training. It lets you accumulate aerobic volume without turning every session into a major recovery problem.
Recovery run
A recovery run is deliberately very easy. Pace matters less than keeping internal effort low. The goal is movement and continuity with minimal additional training stress.
Threshold
Threshold sessions target a demanding but controlled intensity around the higher metabolic threshold. Common formats use longer intervals or tempo blocks. The objective is quality time near the intended intensity, not an all-out test.
HM-specific training
Half-marathon-specific sessions connect current performance to race demands. They can include longer blocks around a sustainable HM effort. Importantly, goal pace is not automatically current training pace.
VO₂ and faster intervals
Higher-intensity intervals can target central aerobic performance factors, but they also create more fatigue. Reviews support interval training as useful when integrated with continuous endurance work rather than replacing it.
Long run
The long run develops more than mileage. It exposes the body to prolonged mechanical and metabolic load and builds the ability to maintain quality as fatigue accumulates. Depending on phase, it can remain fully easy or include HM-specific blocks.
Every workout family has a specific job and a specific analysis.
PACE distinguishes easy, recovery, long easy, threshold, HM-specific, VO₂, hills, long runs with HM blocks, calibration, strides and race sessions. Workout family determines target ranges, coaching cues, plan-vs-actual evaluation and what kind of response that workout may trigger next.
The most common mistake: making every session feel productive
When easy days become too hard and quality days lack a precise purpose, the week loses contrast. Better training creates clear roles: lots of controllable work, plus a small number of intentionally stronger stimuli.
Scientific sources
Campos et al. (2022): Training-intensity Distribution on Middle- and Long-distance Runners.
Casado et al. (2022): Training Periodization, Methods, Intensity Distribution, and Volume.