My heart rate is really high even on runs that feel easy

Are you hydrated enough? low plasma volume = higher heart rate to compensate

You could just have a small heart relative to your overall size.

Is it flat where you are running, or are there hills? I find that any hills makes it tough to keep it "easy" in a HR sense.

How warm is it where you live? How long must you run before being covered in sweat?

Get your thyroid checked. Then have an ecg to see if you’ve got some restrictions… maybe you need some stents?

Totally flat.

Re: hydration, I'm pretty sure I'm hydrating properly. I drink ~2 liters of water during the day, then roughly another liter after my run through the time I go to bed.

I do, however, have beta-thalassemia. I had never knew it before, but as an adult when I first went to my PCP they ran the usual blood work and were like "hey you know you have this thalassemia thing and it makes you slightly anemic right?"

I've had an ECG and a coronary calcium score and both came back totally clear, so I don't think it's anything to do with that. I'm also under 30.

Your HR is only one piece of training data, and in your case it's not giving you useful information. Turn off your HRM or ignore it until after your run. If you want to run easy, run easy. Maybe check your HR once a month to see if anything changes.

None of the above responses will help you because they are coming from runners who never knew or have forgotten what it was to be a beginner in your position. I was in your position for a long and frustrating time (see threads like below).

I could get no good answer here or elsewhere and was losing my mind wondering why my HR was so high when I could run and talk. I was also getting injured often. The fact is that your heart doesn’t lie, not consistently at least. The talk test is poorly specified, so it’s easy to think you are running easy. The heat pumps faster because muscles need to burn more oxygen to work harder and to clear lactate, so you are not running as easy as you think.

What’s the solution? Time, dedication, and patience. Keep running. And add workouts like intervals and hills, not just slog jogs. I’d almost given up after a year of trying and still finding my HR is to the 170s no matter how slow I ran.

Sometime earlier this year, it magically changed over the course of a month or so. I can now jog easy with HR in the 150s at least on flat ground (on hills, it still shots up easily unless I slow down to like 12’ or slower).

Time, dedication, and patience. You’re in this for the long run, aren’t you?

One more thing: I started weight training late last year and that’s helped my injury frequency and probably helped me be able to jog easy HR-wise (though I can’t be sure of the latter) and makes me feel amazing overall. In any case, weight training to build strength can’t possibly hurt you, so I’d highly recommend you do it a few days a week, possibly running less if time constrained.

Rules of thumb on HR based on age are more harm than good.

When I was competing, I found my HR could be all over the place, varying significantly in the same run, and from one day to the next.

So I just stopped tracking it and ran on feel and pace.

But high HR accompanied by reduced performance can also be a sign of any number of problems, such as arrhythmia.

Man, the responses on this thread got way too long, missing the obvious question:

ARE YOU USING A CHEST STRAP?

How did people run before the invention of heart rate monitors?

Dude, do a lactate threshold test to figure out where your true HR zones are. HR during exercise is strongly influenced by genetics. For reference, my lactate threshold HR is 194, so when I was trying to keep my runs at 150ish bpm in the past, I was pretty much running in zone 0 and wasting time getting little aerobic benefit

I appreciate all the responses. I'm using a chest strap for the numbers i provided. My Garmin gives roughly the same numbers when I use the optical sensor, except for when it latches on to my cadence instead of HR.

What's the best way to do a lactate threshold test or to get my "true" zones? I've been going off of whatever my 245 sets as my zones.

Two thoughts. First, it could be cadence lock... the wrist monitor picks up your cadence instead of your HR. If you want accuracy, you need to get a chest strap HRM.

Second, it could be that you're not in good enough shape yet to run the distance in your "easy" run and keep your HR low throughout the run.

You haven't given us your weekly mileage, distance of your easy run, or goals, so this is a bit of a guess for all of us.

If you want to improve in the 5k, you need a weekly mileage of at least 30-35mpw. If you're only doing 15 or 20, then your HR is going to be high on your easy runs because they aren't really easy.

Regardless, if you want to get better in the 5k, the first thing you need is mileage. Alternate hard and easy days.

I think, as you said, I'm simply not fit enough to have an "easy" run yet. I've been on ~20mpw for a while so I need to up my mileage. The last time I had to build a proper base was probably 15 years ago in high school and HRMs weren't exactly widespread then. So I have no idea what my heart was or wasn't doing at the time, just the pace we were running (which I'm not comparing my current pace to, of course).

I'll gradually increase mileage until I hit around 35mpw and hold it there for a little bit, checking my HR every few weeks to see if it comes down. If it's any indication, my resting HR has come down a few BPM over the last few months.

Do all your runs by feel.

Develop your own program that works for you.

Stop using a heart rate monitor, and don't listen to heart rate gurus and/or doctors.

The formula is 220-age. However, I also feel like that pace is an easy pace to hold for a long time, but my HR is around 150 the entire run, except for a spike during the run. I can hold a conversation easily, and feel like I can run that pace all day. That said, I was never a speedy guy, so my engine worked well for me, and was able to allow me to also have a decent kick in a race.

I would not worry about it unless your doctor says to worry about it.

1) you’re using the chest strap.

2) you don’t know your current max HR, so you can’t tell what the correct zones are.

3) once you find the correct zones, remember in different environments HR will change.

4) Even on slow easy long runs, if you keep the same pace, it’s likely your HR will drift upwards.

The best way to find your max Hr is the 30 min run test on a flat course. You run for thirty minutes as fast as you up can at a constant pace. If you’re new to running, like I consider I am after a couple of years of running, the difficulty in doing the thirty min test is knowing what pace to use. Sometimes I think I’m faster than I am and have to slow down. The key is to try to get your Hr up without tiring your legs. I do this by trying to keep my condense up to at least 175 with shorter steps. Faster cadence will increase your Hr, slower will tire your legs. I try to start at what I think is a slow but hard pace and if I feel decent pick it up (using cadence) in the last 10 minutes. But even just this week I went out too fast (my running plan calls for a test every six weeks). It was hotter than six weeks ago, and that.affects me.

whatever you do, don’t use the 180-age. It’s only an average in case you can’t do the test. It could be really high for some folks and really low for others.

once you get t zones right, you want to do most of your running in the z2. This will feel semi slow, but really has made a difference in my running. over two years I took my pace from 12:30 half marathon to 10:30 on 35-40 miles per week. I’m 62, so I won’t improve or be as fast as a 30 or 40 or even 50 year old. just be realistic based on your age and make sure you do your training so you enjoy it. Otherwise you’ll get burned out.

good luck.