There could be a number of reasons why 45 minutes is the right time to run for or why this has been scheduled into your training plan.

For anyone new to running building up your distance or time on feet slowly is very important. So you might just be working your way from 30 mins of consistent running to an hour.

You might have weeks in your running plan where the training load is lower. It could even be a recovery week. So on some occasions 45 minutes is all that is needed to hit that weekly target.

It’s important that these runs are kept easy. If you go out and push the pace or run at an elevated heart rate then the training load will be much higher. The consequences of this are it increases the risk of injury. You won’t be as fresh and well rested for the key sessions or perhaps even your goal race.

If it’s a recovery week and you push too hard then your body isn’t getting that opportunity to rest and absorb the recent training. So it is very important to keep these runs easy.

If you are still in the building phase then you might be finding every run difficult right now, and the term easy might seem a bit misleading. But it will get easier if you continue to build slowly and eventually the effort level will feel much lower as your aerobic base gets bigger.

Keeping your easy runs to a low intensity also bring different benefits that faster sessions don’t. Such as an increase in the production of mitochondria and also it helps train the body to use fat as a fuel source.

Stick to the plan, trust the process and keep the effort level down if you can. Save those legs for the bigger sessions ahead. Great job.