It sounds counterintuitive, we know, but if you want to become a faster runner, you probably need to slow down your pace. And we mean really slow it down.“The easier, the better,” Nico Montañez, Mammoth Lakes-based ASICS-sponsored pro marathoner and coach with RunDoyen, tells Runner’s World. Many athletes, when left to their own training, tend to execute all of their workouts “at an inappropriately fast pace,” Janet Hamilton, C.S.C.S.
, exercise physiologist and coach with Running Strong in Atlanta tells Runner’s World. And that means they’re not doing much (if any) training in zone 2, generally defined as a low-effort level where your heart rate averages between 60 to 70 percent of its maximum. Zone 2 training may sound like a skippable component of training, but it’s important to prioritize since it offers a host of truly awesome benefits, including boosted blood volume and increased heart size and strength, to name a few. As Hamilton sums it up: “Basically all the things that go into what we globally refer to as ‘improved fitness’” occur with consistent zone 2 trainin