What Corsair and the others say, a pedal stroke is a pedal stroke...

If you feel the need to justify it... think of it as base training... base training is not about skills, intensity or heart rate... base training is steady pedaling - kindve like recovery riding... its about putting in the miles to increase your endurance and abilty without pushing your body (or bike) to the max...

Like Kiwi says, it all adds up - its all valid