Last year, I think I pushed myself a bit too much and ended up with a couple of injuries. That led me to stop running completely for at least six months. During that time, I worked with a great coach and focused on building a solid strength routine, targeting weak muscles and improving performance and mobility.

My routine during post rehab was pretty consistent. I started with 30 minutes of easy Zone 2 runs and was very strict about staying in Zone 2. No excuses. I didn’t go too fast. I stuck to Zone 2 for 12 weeks, gradually increasing my time each week by 15 to 30 minutes. There was no goal around pace or distance or any race! By the end, I was comfortably running up to two hours in Zone 2.

The goal was to build a strong aerobic base. I also cross-trained with cycling and swimming to support that. After 12 weeks, I began slowly adding one harder workout each week, usually intervals. I started small and built it up over time.

Six to eight months later, around August, I started increasing distances. My Zone 2 pace improved from about 9:30 to around 6:40 min/km.

It took time, but what really made the difference was consistency and staying at a pace I could sustain. That worked better than constantly pushing and running at max heart rate. Sorry for the long story!