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?