Easy training is meant to feel restorative. So why does it so often leave us feeling uneasy?

In this solo episode, I explore a feeling many runners carry quietly: guilt when training feels easy. The sense that if a run doesn’t hurt, it doesn’t quite count. That we haven’t earned it.

We unpack where that belief comes from, how endurance culture and comparison shape our relationship with effort, and why ease can feel undeserved even when we know it’s essential.

I also share personal reflections from my time training in Chamonix as a full-time athlete, and a moment on an easy run that turned into something else entirely, driven by ego and the need to prove commitment.

This episode isn’t about justifying easy days. It’s about questioning why discomfort has become our proof of worth, and what it might mean to let training be enough without suffering.

• Why easy training can feel emotionally uncomfortable

• How guilt creeps into rest and recovery

• The influence of comparison and endurance culture

• When effort becomes a measure of self-worth

• Reframing easy training as a skill, not a weakness

If this episode resonates, take a moment on your next easy run to notice what comes up. Sometimes the most important work isn’t visible.

If you’re interested in coaching, you can find out more at: pyllonultra.com

I also write regularly on Substack, sharing longer-form reflections on running, training, and the wider ultra life: pyllon.substack.com

You can follow along and subscribe here: YouTube: youtube.com/pyllon Instagram: @pyllon and @pyllonultra

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