I believe 2.5 miles to be unadvisable for your goals, unles you are capable of running at a high level for that distance. Not only will you get more fat loss benefits from doing things like sprints instead of distance, running that distance too often without already being conditioned properly can lead to injuries like shin splints which can completely derail your routine.
What I did to lose my most recent 15 pounds was to limit my distance to one mile. I ran hard (80-85%) until I couldn't maintain anymore and walked until I was recouped enough to run hard again, then repeated for a mile. Once I was conditioned for that I jogged half a mile then did sprints (hard as I could run light pole to light pole) with walking in between. Once I was conditioned to that I traded walking for jogging between sprints, and my first half mile I ran a little harder than a jog. Since sprinting can generally be viewed a muscle building exercise requiring rest days, I alternated this with high intensity circuit training or interval training with mostly a focus on upper body movements.
Of course what works for me may not work for you, but generally for weight loss you have to work harder not necessarily longer. A long slow jog will burn calories mainly only while you run, whereas high intensity sprinting and the like will burn calories all day following the workout.
What I did to lose my most recent 15 pounds was to limit my distance to one mile. I ran hard (80-85%) until I couldn't maintain anymore and walked until I was recouped enough to run hard again, then repeated for a mile. Once I was conditioned for that I jogged half a mile then did sprints (hard as I could run light pole to light pole) with walking in between. Once I was conditioned to that I traded walking for jogging between sprints, and my first half mile I ran a little harder than a jog. Since sprinting can generally be viewed a muscle building exercise requiring rest days, I alternated this with high intensity circuit training or interval training with mostly a focus on upper body movements.
Of course what works for me may not work for you, but generally for weight loss you have to work harder not necessarily longer. A long slow jog will burn calories mainly only while you run, whereas high intensity sprinting and the like will burn calories all day following the workout.
