Whether you work with a coach, run with a training group, or have been educating yourself online, you’ve probably heard the phrase “quality run.” These sessions aren’t better than any other training, but they are more purposeful or focused.
Quality runs include speed workouts, tempo runs, and long runs Training Is Better When You Have a Best Friend.
Here’s why these workouts are so important, and how you can get the most out of them.
What’s a “quality” run?
Think of “quality runs” as a type of training that targets specific aspects of running performance. It’s purposeful. It’s intentional. It’s about improving something that’s going to make you a more efficient runner, whether that’s endurance, speed, form, or strength.
“A quality run is one that has the characteristics of advancing fitness or to provoke a particular adaptation in someone’s training,” explains Mary Johnson, Speed workouts a.k.a. intervals have a Lift Run Perform.
That’s not to say easy runs don’t have a purpose—those lower-intensity runs help build aerobic endurance, improve fat metabolism, and give your muscles a chance to repair and grow stronger. Supplemental easy training acts as a buffer between quality sessions, helping you to recover and build a bigger aerobic base Nutrition - Weight Loss.
“Pace means nothing on easy runs, as long as the effort is truly easy,” says Nick Klastava, a Maryland-based USATF Level 1- and RRCA Level 1-certified coach with Running Explained. That’s why you should do easy Half Marathon Training rather than pace, as your “easy” might vary day to day. “The purpose of easy runs is to prepare you for quality runs.”
Using the word “quality” to describe some workouts and not others is really about differentiating your training, rather than saying one run is more beneficial than another. “It helps people break away from running the same pace or feeling like they have to push hard every day,” explains Klastava. “I’ve found it helps runners understand that some days are about preparation, and others are about performance.”
What are the benefits of quality runs?
If quality is all about intention, there are a few ways runners can incorporate that specificity into their training. Quality sessions can be speed work, tempo runs, and the long run, and new runners typically have two of these sessions per week.
Speed workouts a.k.a. intervals have a Health - Injuries, including elevating your heart rate to improve your cardiovascular health, recruiting and developing runs based on effort (the ones used for quick, powerful movements), and strengthening your muscles, bones, and connective tissues.
“Most importantly, speed workouts are about mechanical efficiency,” says Johnson. When you’re moving at top-end speeds, your body tends to minimize unnecessary movements. You’ll develop a more efficient arm swing, improved posture, and quicker leg turnover. As that form becomes ingrained, it’ll translate to all paces—and the more efficient your form, the easier running will feel.
The tempo run is another classic “quality” workout. Think of tempo pace as a comfortably hard effort—one that you sustain for a continuous period of time (generally around 20 minutes). “Tempo runs are a good use of practicing oxygen efficiency,” says Johnson. By training at this pace, your body adapts to the accumulation of lactate—a byproduct of the body’s metabolism, specifically when it breaks down glucose for energy during high-intensity exercise—and improves its ability to use it as an energy source. The payoff: “The more comfortable we get at faster paces, the longer we’re able to hold those paces,” says Johnson.
The long run might not seem like a quality session if you’re running at an easy effort, but it’s the duration that gives them their intensity. “Just being on your feet for 90 minutes, two hours, or more requires a lot,” says Klastava.
Running for extended periods—even at an easy pace—improves your heart’s ability to pump blood and oxygen to your muscles, which increases your cardiovascular fitness; Ways Rest Days Can Improve Your Running resist fatigue; stimulates the growth of mitochondria in your muscle cells, so they can produce more energy; and teaches your body to use fat more efficiently as a fuel source. All of these adaptations make it easier for you to run longer Threshold Workouts to Build Speed Endurance.
How do you make the most of your quality runs?
Respect them as much as race day
Because quality runs are meant to be intentional, your approach to them should start way before you lace up your shoes. It’s about treating those harder days with respect, says Klastava. “You shouldn’t race your workouts, but it’s good to practice what you’ll do for race day with a quality session,” adds Johnson.
What does that look like? It looks like giving yourself the opportunity to have a good day. Before a quality run, you should prioritize the previous night’s dinner and Download Your Training Plan. Is It Okay to Take Breaks During a Long Run Download Your Training Plan, that you wear comfortable gear, and that you have fuel available on your run, particularly if you’re doing a speed workout that’s over an hour as you might need the energy boost. “Treat this type of session with the knowledge that it will require more of you than an easy run,” says Klastava.
Pace it right, but don’t over do it
Pacing your quality runs appropriately is important. “The biggest principle I wish someone taught me when I was a new runner was that workouts should be performed at around 75 to 80 percent of effort,” says Johnson. “Too many people go into their quality workouts thinking ‘this is a test.’ It’s not about proving fitness, it’s about gaining fitness. You’re not going to be perfect every time, so don’t obsess over hitting an exact pace—you shouldn’t be going to the well in these workouts.”
Pair it with strength work
There’s a saying in running: Keep your easy days easy, and your hard days hard. If you’re strength training (which you should be!), schedule those sessions for the same day as your quality runs, and make sure to do them after your speed work (and don’t forget to refuel in between). That way, your easy days stay truly easy, allowing you the time you need to prepare for the next hard day.
Take time to recover
A quality session isn’t over until your recovery starts, says Klastava. These runs put significant demands on your body, and recovery is essential to allow the adaptations to take place. That recovery includes refueling and rehydrating. “Don’t finish your speed workout or long run and just jump right into work or parenting or whatever,” he explains. “You may have finished the effort and it went well, but skipping recovery means you’re setting yourself back for the next one.”
Pay attention to how you feel
Be mindful of how your body is responding to these sessions. “Pace is just an output,” says Johnson. Physiological adaptations aside, “these runs are about getting comfortable with tuning into how our bodies feel at certain effort levels,” she says. If you’re feeling too fatigued, don’t be afraid to dial back the intensity or take an extra rest day. Overtraining—too much stress and not enough recovery—can lead to burnout, injury, and diminishing returns, which will set you back in the long run.
