I understand running Paces in your workouts. You have goals to hit, and you need to hit your paces.
But, on your easy/recovery runs, why doesn't EVERYONE use a Heart Rate Monitor? It is a much better gauge of what is "easy". Your Heart will know if you haven't been getting enough sleep, or if you have a virus that hasn't set in yet, or if the weather is getting to you, etc.
Just find your max HR, set a 70-75% ceiling for your HR, and off ya go.
I got a hell of a lot better once I ditched the watch and just went out the door and got the miles in at whatever pace felt right that day. If that pace ended up being fairly quick, so be it...I'm only doing 1 workout a week anyway (and not exactly a ball-busting one either).
I think there is a point where immediate/constant feedback becomes counter-productive.
A better way is to just put the watch away and go run at an easy effort and enjoy yourself rather than worrying about what your heart rate is.
beatingofheartsistheonlysound wrote:
I understand running Paces in your workouts. You have goals to hit, and you need to hit your paces.
But, on your easy/recovery runs, why doesn't EVERYONE use a Heart Rate Monitor? It is a much better gauge of what is "easy". Your Heart will know if you haven't been getting enough sleep, or if you have a virus that hasn't set in yet, or if the weather is getting to you, etc.
Just find your max HR, set a 70-75% ceiling for your HR, and off ya go.
5/10
I like to zone out on easy runs so I don't want to be thinking about heart rate. Easy means run at a pace that feels easy. The HR will take care of itself.
Because people want to enjoy at least some of their running.
I use it sometimes to check afterwards that I have indeed run easy, in particular early in the season. It's more useful to monitor moderate or steady running (90-100% MP), so that it doesn't evolve into a true tempo by mistake (or enthusiasm).
easily learned effort..... wrote:
A better way is to just put the watch away and go run at an easy effort and enjoy yourself rather than worrying about what your heart rate is.
Forget pace on easy runs it's all about feel! Sometimes you'll feel "trapped" trying to run a certain pace. Just start your watch & don't look at it. When running with your teammates you'll notice how a slightly "fast" pace actually feels easier because you aren't looking down every quarter mile.
You have HR monitoring backwards.
After the run is complete, you examine the HR average to see how it compares with other runs. You don't adjust your pace based upon HR.
I taped over my speedometer, since I prefer to "feel" whether I am going fast or slow. I don't want to ruin my commute worrying about some dumb number.
Blah Blah Blah. wrote:
You have HR monitoring backwards.
After the run is complete, you examine the HR average to see how it compares with other runs. You don't adjust your pace based upon HR.
If you do it that way, the damage is already done. That makes almost zero sense.
You should use HR alerts to keep from overdoing it on recovery runs.
FitzyXC wrote:
I got a hell of a lot better once I ditched the watch and just went out the door and got the miles in at whatever pace felt right that day. If that pace ended up being fairly quick, so be it...I'm only doing 1 workout a week anyway (and not exactly a ball-busting one either).
I think there is a point where immediate/constant feedback becomes counter-productive.
If you aren't trying to get better, it probably doesn't matter anyway.
easily learned effort..... wrote:
A better way is to just put the watch away and go run at an easy effort and enjoy yourself rather than worrying about what your heart rate is.
There is a place for that, and an important one. Its place is not during training, however.
Besides, there is no "easy pace", only "easy effort". You missed the point. Paces at an Easy Effort change daily and even hourly based on all sorts of factors.
OCDRunner wrote:
I like to zone out on easy runs so I don't want to be thinking about heart rate. Easy means run at a pace that feels easy. The HR will take care of itself.
No. Easy means at an Effort that allows your body to recover. It has practically nothing to so with Pace.
Why wouldn't you just go for an easy run?
beatingofheartsistheonlysound wrote:
I understand running Paces in your workouts. You have goals to hit, and you need to hit your paces.
But, on your easy/recovery runs, why doesn't EVERYONE use a Heart Rate Monitor? It is a much better gauge of what is "easy". Your Heart will know if you haven't been getting enough sleep, or if you have a virus that hasn't set in yet, or if the weather is getting to you, etc.
Just find your max HR, set a 70-75% ceiling for your HR, and off ya go.
The talk test works fine.
EZ10Miler wrote:
Why wouldn't you just go for an easy run?
I do. How do you determine what is Easy?
beatingofheartsistheonlysound wrote:
I understand running Paces in your workouts. You have goals to hit, and you need to hit your paces.
But, on your easy/recovery runs, why doesn't EVERYONE use a Heart Rate Monitor? It is a much better gauge of what is "easy". Your Heart will know if you haven't been getting enough sleep, or if you have a virus that hasn't set in yet, or if the weather is getting to you, etc.
Just find your max HR, set a 70-75% ceiling for your HR, and off ya go.
I never took a HR during one of my runs, easy, moderate or hard. Sometimes i took a HR following a run, to see how long it took to recover close to my typical resting rate. I always preferred to let the effort dictate my pace. HR monitors are for the most part, unnecessary.
I find the best solution for me is to run by feel on easy days. On occasion, I will do a reality check on my heart rate, just using my watch and counting beats, not using a HRM.
I do this check any time I'm feeling bad that day (to verify my heart rate is still in a reasonable range), as well as randomly about once per week.
beatingofheartsistheonlysound wrote:
I understand running Paces in your workouts. You have goals to hit, and you need to hit your paces.
But, on your easy/recovery runs, why doesn't EVERYONE use a Heart Rate Monitor? It is a much better gauge of what is "easy". Your Heart will know if you haven't been getting enough sleep, or if you have a virus that hasn't set in yet, or if the weather is getting to you, etc.
Just find your max HR, set a 70-75% ceiling for your HR, and off ya go.
I used to do that, made sure to not pass 78% max Hr during easy runs. But man in time I realized how much it sucked the fun out of running. You won't die if you run a little faster if you feel good and you won't die if you run too slow either, in the end training by feel and pace is vastly superior. Everyone eventually realizes that and stops training by HR