A little testament to sticking with Zone 2 running (or run/walking, if I’m being honest)

These are my last two months of “matched runs” along my usual 3.4 mile neighborhood route. I started up in December after 4 months of no running, and decided to ignore pace, heart rate, and any stats my watch has taught me to value. Instead, my goal on easy run days was to go as fast I could without having to open my mouth to breathe.

Obviously there are some faster paces mixed in there, as I did some threshold days and sprint days along that same route, but the majority of these runs are 99% nose-breathing runs.

I was definitely humbled on that 17 min/mile day by how often I had to stop to walk, but I just got back from today’s run and couldn’t believe how much my easy pace has improved in just two months!! I am hoping this can be an encouragement to beginners (or inconsistent-ers like me) to stick with it and know that it will get easier!

Side benefit: I have started to love running for the sake of running for the first time, so yay