 That vlog has over 70,000 views, which means folks out there are listening to this thesis in the running world that easy day. Stop the presses, stop the presses. Progress everyone, don't give up, don't give up, don't ever give up. It was December 2018, December 2018, where I said, remember I was, that's what it was, I was battling plantar fasciitis. And I said, okay, by the time I return to running, I wanna be able to touch my toes. This is the first time in my entire life. Yes, when I was in middle school, when I was in high school, you know, you have to do those PE, physical education tests, and one of them is flexibility. I never could even come close to touching my toes. And now, as a 34 year old, it's like, this is all, honestly, everyone, I'm exaggerating a little bit, this is almost as big as setting a PR. This has been a life goal for a long, long time. And listen, I realize, touching your toes, it's not the end all, be all test of overall leg health and mobility and flexibility, but it's kind of a standard that, anyway, I just, I think it's a good sign that I'm moving in the right direction, because remember, with plantar fasciitis, it's that entire kinetic chain, all the way from the bottom of your feet, all the way up to your lower back, and some would even argue all the way up your entire back. And now I can touch my toes. Oh, anyway, I'm just on cloud nine, this is amazing. Okay, today's run 10 miles, 830 a mile, or 16K at 515 per kilometer. There it is on your screen, and solid, easy, bordering, steezy day. I'll get back to that in a minute, and a shout out to Matt. I'm gonna read a comment right now from Matt, who brought up this topic discussion today about easy days, okay? So, I've actually published two other vlogs on the channel where I explain a little bit, well, you know what? Let's do it right now. I was gonna hold it till later on, but let's do it right now, tossing it back to a clip from the vlog, why I run easy in order to race fast. Anything below 90, I usually feel okay. But like anything above 90, like it's like, oh, oh, this is serious. And so, the easy days must be so easy, silly, easy, in order to simply survive so that I can come back the next day and run whether it's a tempo day, a long run, a threshold day, whatever the case may be. So there you go, over 90 miles a week, I really start to have to integrate and really make a conscious decision to make sure my easy days are easy. And I get really excited when a vlog like that, where I'm not talking about threshold training, not talking about mountain running, not talking about a brand new fancy running shoe, but just running easy, that vlog has over 70,000 views, which means folks out there are listening to this thesis in the running world that easy days need to be easy, hard days need to be hard. If you've been watching this channel a long time, you know that's how I train. Easy days, easy, hard days, hard. Okay, here's Matt's question from a couple days ago. It's a little long, I'll try and shorten it, but here we go. He says, I have a question related to pacing. I'm a slower runner than you, but my easy pace is quite similar to yours on feel, maybe a little slower. I can do six minutes per kilometer, but I don't feel that I can physically run any slower without it actually feeling harder than running a little faster. I totally get it, Matt. After my long slow runs, after coming off of being ill like he is right now, I feel fine immediately afterwards, maybe a little tired, but the next day I ache a little. Is this normal or am I running too fast on my long slow easy runs? I think you'll say that I am and he goes on with a couple more thoughts. Okay, Matt, great questions and hopefully my answers right now help you understand better and everybody else help you understand my approach to easy days. All right, first of all, my volume is pretty low right now for me, but once it gets higher, soon, like in two to three weeks, I'm gonna really be yearning for those easy days, the body. Okay, so here's point number one. I, today, I actually filmed it. Here's the clip again. Right now, on your screen, I purposefully, purposefully, everyone, covered my watch. I wasn't, listen, I can't stress this enough. I've been preaching it for a long time on this channel. I'm gonna keep preaching it. I would personally not look at your watch on your easy days. Go by feel. Just go by feel. Listen to those legs. Make those legs happy. As slow as you need to go or as fast as, you know, in quotes, as fast as you need to go. Like today, in my mind, before the run, I knew today was gonna be an easy day, but I covered the watch and I listened to my legs and it ended up being about 830 a mile. Why? Because my volume is low right now and so my legs can handle it. In three weeks from now, I guarantee my easy days will not be that fast, 830 a mile. That's bordering on what? Steasy, right? Okay, so promise, promise. Like sooner rather than later, it's gonna be that nine minute pace. Also, one other point, Matt, from what I'm listening in, and this applies to, you know, maybe other folks as well, listening to your comment and your questions is that. Now today, again, my, okay. Your schedule is your schedule. Life happens. So I made my easy day today a little longer than I would usually like. Usually my easy days are no longer than eight miles. Preferably, honestly, everyone. I like my easy days to be closer to that six mile mark. But if you're getting ready for a marathon or maybe an ultra marathon and you need to get that volume higher in order to build that aerobic engine and that overall endurance and stamina, your volume might need to approach 70 miles a week, 90. In my case, I'm gonna go upwards of 110 miles a week. So if one day of the week or two days of the week are dedicated to easy days, six miles, eight miles, what I would recommend, Matt, listening to your thoughts is that shorten your easy days so that what? Your easy days are easy. Your hard days are hard. And then twice a week, if you have the time, and this is again, this is where life comes into play. But if you can work it into your schedule on doubles, okay? So where you'll run twice in one day, once in the morning and then once in the evening, which in the summertime is so much easier because the sun stays out longer. It's warmer out. Oh, it's just amazing. So in conclusion, one more time. And I know I got a little excited there because I'm so passionate about this topic of easy days, easy, hard days, hard. And why do we need these hard days? Because races are hard. Races are hard. And so if we don't go hard in our workouts, the race days are not gonna go off as well. It's like been proven time and time again. We've gotta push our limits in our training, but we've gotta recover in between those testing grounds in those hard days in our training. And again, I would not get hung up on pace on easy days, rather get hung up or get obsessed with feeling great by the end of your workout. Not, and I said that very specifically, workout. So not just the run, but the workout, the stretching, the foam rolling, whatever else you're doing, the gym work, the pool, the massage therapy, maybe physical therapy. I don't know, whatever you're doing to make your body feel great, I would be obsessed with that and not with pace, okay? Cover that watch. Cover that watch. Give it going. All right, question of the day. What is your strategy for your easy days, all right? Or option B, have you never even thought about easy days? You just go out and run whatever pace on whatever day. And if you're new to running, that is totally okay, all right? Over time, I would suspect that you will develop a yearning for easy days as your training continues to develop and evolve, all right? I love you all. Thanks for being here. Thanks for watching. Just a good, good day here on YouTube, here in the studio, and here, easy through the streets of Denver. All right, Aaron, we're gonna toss it back to the two other vlogs that talk about easy day running, the one with the 70,000 plus views, that'll be on the right, which I talk a lot, I hit on similar points in both of these, but that'll be on the right, and then the other one will be on the left that I published in, I believe, 2018. All right, everyone, see beauty, work hard, and love each other. See you tomorrow.