Run slow to run fast?
Tl;dr - is it true that slow running (zone 2) helps faster speeds and just general running ability?
I’d class myself as a newbie runner still. Doing it for just under a year. Completed a couple half marathons in sub 2 hours earlier this year.
But feel like I’ve just been busting my ass every run, rather than the recommended variations like easy, pace, etc. runs.
My decent effort pace is around 9 minute miles on longer runs. I can’t get my heart rate really above 160 even in this hot weather.
But after a year, I’m still at that 9 minute mile pace with very occasional drops to 8:30 on the shorter runs I do.
I’m just curious about going about how to improve that, I’ve been seeing recently after researching it online, about get a proper split going. So zone 2 maybe at 10 min mile pacing on easy days, then pushing on the faster days.
Is this a load of rubbish, or genuine? And if so, would you say dropping a minute per mile sound right?
On a 10 minute mile pace, I can easily talk, and hr is about 140. So really not feeling it at all.
Would love a bit of friendly advice :)