Can’t seem to run easy (with low heart rate)

I’m not sure if you can trust your watch’ lactate threshold heart rate. Maybe do an actual max heart rate test first and then calculate your lactate threshold bpm.

Being able to accurately predict your current heart rate when running doesn’t really tell you that much. Heart rate is an easy measurement to create rules for, but 150bpm for me is not the same as 150bpm for you, even if we have the same max.

Heart rate doesn’t predict injury. If you have a weird form at 11min/mile pace and better form at 9:00min/mile pace, I recommend running at 9min/mile. High heart rate could help predict overtraining, so if that’s a concern, you can use it as a metric. Still, feeling is more important.

Just for reference, I have a max of 185 and run most my easy runs at 145-155bpm. Probably too high according to the books, but to get my heart rate lower, I really have to jog and that hurts. At 140-155, I can run 6:30-7:30min/miles, which feels better and easier.

Oh, and you’re just starting with running. At this point, anything you do will make you better. Enjoy that time and don’t overthink it too much. Just go for runs.

I think this mentality of being ok with a lack of versatility probably contributes more to injuries. You're a runner and you can't jog at 10, 9, or 8 min pace? Are you kidding? You're a runner, learn to run at every pace. Youre not a sub 2 hour marathoner, quit acting like those paces are so beneath you.😂

Thank you, will do. Can you clarify what you mean by “..to get my heart rate lower, I really have to jog and that hurts”? Hurts psychologically or physically?

OozmaKappa wrote:

I think this mentality of being ok with a lack of versatility probably contributes more to injuries. You're a runner and you can't jog at 10, 9, or 8 min pace? Are you kidding? You're a runner, learn to run at every pace. Youre not a sub 2 hour marathoner, quit acting like those paces are so beneath you.😂

Hmm, can you explain what you mean by the first sentence? To answer your question: No, I can’t run at 8 min pace for much over a mile or so and wouldn’t even call it a “jog”. Even 9’ feels like running and is just a bit slower than my 5K pace. 10’ or slower starts to feel like jogging. None of these paces are beneath me. I’d be very happy to be able to jog at 10’ for an hour if only I could get it to feel easier (like 155 HR instead of more like 170+ currently).

Coach Jeff ROC wrote:

Someone should have asked: wrist monitor or chest strap?

+1

i ditched my HR strap the other day for my 5 mile recovery slog. my garmin showed my average HR was 172 with a max of 180 for the whole run and my "Training Effect" score was 5 - Overreaching.

BTW, that score is actually not too far off when i wear the chest strap.

Combination. I feel like my legs are more tired after a run at that pace. Like they lost all reactivity/bounciness. My muscles and tendons are more sore too. If I run a bit faster, I feel better.

+2 If you're not using a HR chest strap then the data is largely worthless. Optical wrist-readings are just not consistent enough if you want to train to HR.

As others have said, slow down or take walking breaks, there is nothing wrong with that! Many people find HR data frustrating because it threatens our ego of what actually is easy compared to our perception of what 'should' be easy. Your heart doesn't lie and often people don't like what it tells them and so chuck it in the bin. If you're disciplined though and stick with it you should reap the benefits of keeping things aerobic. 65=70% of max HR is a decent target for a genuinely easy, aerobic effort. When starting out most people really have to crawl to keep it this low. The clue is in the name though - easy!!

Walking breaks wrote:

Just take walking breaks. Instead of 5km, run 5x 1km with a walking break. Break could be a minute or you can wait till your heart rate has dropped till 120. I personally like it better than slowing it waaay down. If I run too slowly, my technique goes to crap. After a while you can increase the distance you run before taking a break.

I take the above approach when coming back from injury or if I’m just out of shape. My times are a bit faster than you, but that shouldn’t really change anything.

This 100%. Just walk bits and gradually reduce the walking. And turn off the darn HR monitor, your out running not doing open heart surgery.