What's your easy pace?

AT 58 I am not a bullet  for sure,  my  easy distance 25K plus pace is right around 10:00 to 10:20 per mile, typical 10K pace is  9:30 but on a good day like today it was 9:08, I would love to see  a sub 9:00 but just haven't quite made it yet 9:02 was my best this year over 10 K, my 5K time sucks right around 29 minutes,  I have always struggled over the first 3 miles  but on anything over 5k,  I start to run negative splits usually and get stronger up to around 20K and then it flatens out and stays right around that 10:20 mark. definately not a sprinter or short distance runner at all.

and I am a bit of an odd ball as well, I actually run a bit quicker on trails vs road ( get into it more) against the usual convention especially over 25K or greater distances

My 5K PR is 22:30 and my easy pace is about 9:30.  Recovery pace is around 10 min/mile.  Easy pace is supposed to be easy.

I had Tinman as my Coach for a couple of years and the very first thing he did was slow me down on my every day (non-quality) runs.  I was running consistent 8:30's to 8:45's day in and day out and he put the kibosh on that right quick.  He told me I was fixin' to get injured or burned out.  Long story short, I qualified for Boston and had PR's at every distance.

Bill

Shop Cat, I think the same way....if I train slow, I'll be slow, it's a problem, I admit it.

After a lot of work, race pace is roughly 7:30 (longest distance run at this pace is 5mi), easy pace (sustainable for 12+ miles) is 8:40 or so. Roughly the same as OP.

My easy runs are generally done about 1:30-1:45/mile slower than 5k race pace. (5k race pace around 5:40-45; easy runs generally around 7:20-30/mile; at least, that was before my current achilles injury. I'd be slower now.)

I typically do my easy runs after doing some other training, especially biking. That helps me to slow down at the start of the run. As does running in the morning when my body's not yet awake. I generally set out at around 8:00/mile and then slowly wind it up from there.

I haven't run a meaningful 5K recently (the last one I did was more like mountain climbing than running).  I would guess my open 5K pace is around 5:45 right now for a flat race.  I do my easy runs at around 7:15-7:30/mile.  (I've recently switched to running by RPE, but that's about where they come out.)  I don't run enough to do recovery runs, but when I was running that much, they were more like 8:00/mile.

The impending summer heat will change all of that...

I would say that your easy pace is very much in line with your 5K race pace, and that's good.

You're not anal retentive enough to be a triathlete.

5K pace = 6:23-6:30, 10K = 6:50-7:00.  Most of my training is in the 7:55-8:25/mile range, with my "easy" runs anywhere from 8:30-8:55.  So my "easy" pace range is about 2:00/mile slower than my "race" pace range.  Don't really do a lot of non-recovery runs in that range, though--mostly I'm training about 1:30/mile slower than 5K/10K range.

Easy pace: 9:25 min/mi (run all day pace)

Tempo: 6:55-7:05 min/mi

Mile repeats: 6:15-6:25 min/mi

Running? 8:30-9:00 pace. (that's purty darn easy)

Riding? 17-19 MPH.

Swimming? Sitting on the bottom.

Are you tracking this?  I only ask, because it seems to me that if your 5K pace (which should truly be all out, I'm gonna puke pace) is 7 min/mile, then an 8:30 pace might not be all that "easy" 

My 5K pace is about 6:20-ish and my easy pace is about 8:30.