easy runs

No, not quite what you expect to hear, especially at my age chasing a sub-5 mile and super-fast 5k.

What Ric means is I need to make sure my easy runs are...easy. And yes, the pace has been creeping up again. Even on Sunday's run at Magnolia and especially over the last couple of days, I've been finishing them at a brisk pace. I do start slow, but then finish as if they are tempo runs.

The result: feel-good on the trail; dead-ish legs when I get to the track for my quality workouts.

Will you recover faster from a long run by resting, or by exercising at a leisurely pace?

Most experienced athletes find that they recover faster by going easy the next day. On the day after you exercise vigorously, your muscles feel sore because they are damaged, and running fast with sore muscles injures them.
However, studies [...]