The most comfortable distance to me is 2 miles. That was the distance for the physical training test in the Army. The fastest I ever ran 2 miles was about 14:30 however, during a PT test I normally was around 15:30. When I was 18 my qualifying time was 15:49, so I liked 15:30 for that 20 second cushion. As I got older the time changed to 15:54 to final, 16:34 when I got out, but I maintained about 15:30 just the same.
After the Army, I just ran it in 20 minutes. It was comfortable and fun. But today I did it in 16:00 with the first mile slower than the second. It felt great. Anyway, I like two miles because I can consistently fit it into my busy life, it leaves me feeling as though I got a descent work out, it leaves time for other exercises, and I can mix it up. One day two miles fast, another I can break it up into sprints or hill work, another it can be a slow maintenance run. 1 mile you have to run to fast for it to feel like you got a good work out in. 3 miles + requires a large time commitment. It’s kind of like the Goldilocks story, two miles is just right.
Filed under: running
