To get back to the original, slightly less profound, topic.

I've been running with a club for a couple of years. My modus operandi has been to run about 3 times per week and always run as hard as possible.

I lasted for about a year but then starting getting injured. Not much running for 8 months now.

It's finally dawned on me that I need to completely change my approach.

In future I need to step up my training very gradually; ramping-up the distance and effort over long, phased periods. And I need to vary my efforts. In other words, I should make room for easy, moderate and hard runs.

Are not easy miles, within the right structured program, a key component in allowing the body to adapt, injury-free, to the demands of somebody who aspires to run faster over any distance.