Hello everyone,
I started running in November/December 2023, and I'm very pleased with my progress (ran a half marathon in late January in 1h40', a 10 km in February in 42'23", and a 5 km in early March in 19'34"). However, I may have overdone it a bit, resulting in a hip injury that kept me from running for 3 weeks.
I've gradually resumed training since then and am starting to regain my pre-injury fitness during threshold sessions and long runs. However, I'm a bit concerned about my easy runs.
My maximum heart rate (HRmax) is 201 (achieved during a hill session and at the end of my 5 km), so I shouldn't exceed 150 HR during easy runs. Yet, I'm between 152 and 158 at 6:00 min/km (9:40 Min/Mil), and when I try to run slower, my stride deteriorates, and I develop pain in my right knee. As I've been injured before, I'm wary of taking risks by running my easy sessions too fast, but when I try to run slower than 6 min/km, the sensations are really bad. Also, I'm concerned that my easy pace don't align with any training tables (Daniels', Pfitzinger, McMillan...)
I run 4 times a week (2 easy runs, one threshold/Rep, one long run). I can maintain comfortable breathing up to 4:50 per kilometer (7:47 Mil/Min), so I'm wondering if it's worth forgetting about the 75% of Max HR guideline and running my easy runs between 5:40 and 5:20 min/km (9:07 to 8:33 Min/Mil) even if my heart rate is 160-165 BPM. Or should I stick to 6 min/km (9:40 Min/Mil) and expect it to naturally decrease as I'm still a beginner?
Thank you for your help
PS : I'm using Garmin HRM pro+ for HR data and I'm a 30 year-old male