Is there such thing as running TOO slow?

How slow??  Are we talking 15% slower? 25%?  50%?  More?  

I ask because I find myself having to pull back as opposed to wondering if I'm going fast enough.  For example, my marathon training plan had me doing long runs at 10% slower than goal race pace and I had to really watch the Garmin.  Otherwise I was never going that slow.

You're such a fasty, I had to ask.  I can't imagine you going what most people consider "slow" 

No I am not talking in comparison to anyone else.

For example I probably run some of my "easy" runs about 25% slower (sorry, I hate using "slow" and "fast") than the recommended easy pace via my VDOT

No, I got ya   Maybe I'm missing the meaning of the term VDOT, but I feel like that would depend on whether that's 25% slower than your 5K pace or 25% slower than your marathon pace.

VDOT is a system for predicting racing/training paces.

25% slower than my projected "easy pace" (McMillan, VDOT whatever table you use) 

IIRC, Daniels’ easy paces are a bit on the aggressive side (you might hit them on a 'good' easy day, but not always).  Take a look at the McMillan pace ranges and see where you fall--think they are a bit more forgiving.  Of course, there is some pace that is “too easy” in that you could easily be getting some more work done (without negatively impacting other workouts).  But, most days, it’s probably best to err a bit on the easy side.  25% does seem like a lot, though.  What are the actual paces you are talking about?

Well, my VDOT is probably a 52-53? I haven't done a race in a while... (cross country is way too hard to use to gauge) 

But I'm talking 9:30ish for my easy runs?

I should also add that I do two quality sessions a week. And those ARE done at the projected paces and I feel good. There just seems to be a huge discrepancy when it comes to running easy.

So far, it works for me in terms of being injury free and running races the way I would like (for the most part.)

It just seems a little odd.

Are the easy runs on roads (ie, not cross country/trial)?  That definitely seems on the slow side outside of 'recovery' jogging (the REALLY easy days).  I would think your typical 'easy' pace should hover in the 8-8:30 range most of the time (and could easily dip lower at times).

Edit:  Since it seems to be 'working', you might just want to try speeding up modestly (maybe just go to 9:15 or 9:00) for a few days and see if it has any negative impacts on your harder days.  If it does, then I wouldn't worry about where the calculators say you should be.  At least not during racing season.

But that is just right now. Even in the beginning I have always run REALLY slow relative to my race times.

But what do you suppose the physiological disadvantage is? Or what do you suppose the benefit would be of running a little faster?

That't going to cause a LOT of variation in pace. 

I'd say that your recovery runs (though some will argue those don't exist...) can generally be as slow as you want.

I'd recommend shooting for a slightly faster pace on road runs - assuming it still "feels" easy.

Trails are a different story. I'm generally about 1min/mile slower on trails, even at an effort that feels the same. Running with a pack will also slow you down.

I guess I'd say that make sure your easy runs aren't lazy runs... and let your recovery ones be as slow as you'd like. 

But why? What is the slightly faster pace going to do that the slower pace isn't, assuming that I am doing things like tempo/threshold/intervals etc for speed/strength/economy?

This chart simplifies it a bit:

You want to make sure your effort is in line with what the goal of the workout is. 

^^^ This, IME.

I hate the "it depends," so I'll say that it varies with the balance of the load (same answer, more words).    When I got into the meat of training build and the mileage went up while maintaining the quality days, the easy ones got slower.  IIRC, my easy runs were usually ~60"/mile slower than the target race pace for middle/long distance (over 5k), but when the mileage went up they would sometimes be 90"/mile slower at the same RPE.

I found that if I pushed on these runs, my tempo, track and pace runs all suffered.  So, as long as my stride didn't change to a shuffle, I took what the easy runs would give me so I could hit my important days.  

And recovery runs were embarrassingly slow (D@MN you Strava!), but I would make a contest out of running with my HR at or below some silly number and try real hard to hit that.  I'll tell you that the first time I walked a hill on a recovery run I felt like a TOTAL wuss/failure, but now I'm a believer.  Just my opinion/experience, so ample salt suggested...

YMMV (and thanks for this thread - it's an interesting read!).

Matt

I thought it was Virginia Department of Transportation. Their road construction can make you go slow....

Yeah. I just came off of a little break about 5 weeks ago and ramped my miles back up (I'm between 65-70ish now) and I'm sure that is part of it as I am still "base building."

But I have noticed that is is an overall trend since the get go.

My "slow" runs have gotten faster as my fast runs have gotten faster, they just have always been significantly slower than the recommended "easy" pace. 

Generally, running a bit faster will stress you some more and therefore trigger more of a response. When you go really slow there might not be that much stress to respond to, possibly none from a practical standpoint. Running has the load bearing and impact aspect, so you'll pretty always get something out of it in that regard. But the aerobic part won't so much. There needs to be enough effort that there is something to respond to.

Now, in looking at the part Elaine highlighted, those are all reasons that you might be running slower yet may still be working hard enough to create the stress. Largely, so long as you are actually running and the effort needed to run that pace is similar to what would put you closer to the recommended paces on a nice flat(tish) road in just running gear, then you're likely ok. Somewhere, Daniels does have estimates of pace compensation for hills (I think). I'm not sure of what it would be for the other things, but there would be some.

If you want to experiment, follow what JohnnyKay said for increasing. Especially since you have the other things to compensate for. And I'm thinking of this in terms of easy running, not for recovery running. Those get used interchangeably at times, but they shouldn't as they're not the same thing.