Zone 2 training is low-intensity, aerobic-base running — but the hardest part isn't the science, it's one simple question: how do you actually know when you're in Zone 2? Most runners rely on the heart rate zones their watch hands them. The problem is those zones are built on an estimate of your max heart rate that can be off by 40 beats per minute, which throws the whole calculation off. In this solo episode, Evan breaks down what Zone 2 actually does for your body, why your watch is probabl...

Ice bath for runners — does cold water immersion actually help recovery, or is it just marketing hype? In this episode, I dig into the peer-reviewed research to find out and answer the questions every runner has but nobody seems to address. For about 15 years, I thought I had ice baths figured out. Then in the span of a few months, I heard I might be doing them at the wrong time, for the wrong reasons — and that they might even be working against my own training. So I went looking for ...

What does it actually take to run 60 miles a week, lift heavy multiple times a week, and still show up for HYROX competitions — without falling apart? Joe Mello figured it out the hard way. He grew up playing baseball in the Bay Area, hated running his whole life (it was literally used as punishment at practice), and then one November day in Austin decided to sign up for a marathon happening in February — with zero race experience. That's just who he is: all or nothing. Now Joe ...

13.1 miles. It’s not superhuman — millions of people do it every year. But for me, finishing my first half marathon was a genuinely big deal. And not because I crushed it. I didn’t. I finished well below the average time, my knee was a question mark the whole way, the weather was absolutely miserable, and I almost needed an emergency bathroom stop at mile nine. In this episode, I’m breaking down everything — the good, the bad, and the embarrassing. We talk training mistakes (I definite...

Do you need a running watch to be a “real” runner? In this first episode of Just Keep Running, Evan Blakeney shares his honest experience buying a used Garmin Forerunner 955 Solar on eBay for $250 — what works, what doesn’t, and whether a watch is actually worth it for beginner and intermediate runners. Evan walks through his two running journeys: the first one in college with no watch, no Strava, no goals — just running for the joy of it after reading Born to Run. And the second one now, tra...