I thought running slow was pointless until it saved my motivation
I used to push for a fast pace every single run and ended up burnt out. Letting myself jog at a comfortable speed made running something I actually look forward to. Have you ever changed how you think about pace?
Remember my first marathon training plan. I tried to beat my 5k time every Tuesday for a month. My legs felt like concrete by week three, and I had to take ten days off just to walk without pain. You can't race your watch on an easy recovery day, your body just uses up all its repair energy. Now my long runs are a full two minutes per mile slower, and I can actually hit my speed workouts hard instead of just surviving them.