HR question: should I speed-walk on on easy runs?

aj_dino · 2023-07-13T19:48:43-04:00

I once was fast(er), now I am just another hobby jogger with ambitions of being fast again, in the meantime just grateful to be running again without injury. For reference, I did 1600m on the track recently in 5:15. Only doing easy pace on trail runs atm, road running when i must the rest of the year. About a year ago I noticed that I was unable to keep my HR below 160 and regularly spiking to 175 uphill, running ~8-min miles (what I perceived as easy pace). I got a chest strap and would check by hard, but the readout was correct. When I start running, my HR is at 130 within a minute, and usually within 30 seconds.For the last 3 month I have been running 20 mpw, focusing on staying at a pace that keeps me around 150bpm, if not lower. However, getting below 140 while running (forcing myself to go annoyingly slow), just never happens. I have been able to do it the last few weeks by basically speed-walking the flats uphills at ~10-12 min pace, and then light jogging the downhills. Is this counter-productive? I am aiming to develop myself aerobically, so that I can start using Jack Daniels formula to train for a half marathon in the near future. But it feels like my gait is so significantly different at this pace, I worry that I am teaching my nervous system bad habits. In the meantime I am limiting impact and can run 30 mpw, it just feels weird and I want to ask if these amount to junk miles and my time would be better spent doing something different.Is speed-walking what easy pace should feel like?

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2 years ago 07/14/2023 12:48pm EDT

re: aj_dino

aj_dino wrote:
Thanks all for the feedback, I will focus less on the watch and more on perceived effort. Continuing to walk up hills feels wrong but for now it will allow me to run more miles.
Ultimately my concern becomes: if all my perceived easy runs end @ HR of 160+, am I (1) running them too fast, or (2) at the correct easy pace but not fit enough yet?

The vast majority of overly detailed training questions on this site can be answered pretty simply: run more, sometimes faster, sometimes slower. Throw away the gps, heart rate monitor and all the other obsessive data stuff and just go. Do you feel like crap after an easy run? Go slower next time. Do you still feel like crap? Take a day off.

2 years ago 07/14/2023 10:27pm EDT

re: aj_dino

On true easy days, find a flat place to run. If that's not possible, yes, maybe you should walk up steep hills, or be jogging so slow it feels like walking. If your route has a couple hills and your HR gets up while running up those hills, it's not the end of the world. I used to live in a hilly area, and my HR was definitely up going up steep hills on easy days no matter how slow I tried to run. But unless you're scaling a mountain, hopefully that's a small portion of your run.

You seem fixated on pace and heartrate. On easy days, leave your watch and heart rate monitor at home. Just run at a very comfortable perceived easy pace.

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