Heart rate during easy runs

You are 15. Please don't run with a heart rate monitor.

Everyone is different and comparing HR to another person is futile. Run by feel. I actually DO run with HR info, I only use it to compare efforts for myself. Someone elses heartrate is irrelevant. And I definitely wouldn't advocate a HRM for someone at your age.

Yeah if you use a HRM before you turn 18 you'll die

heat will really increase your HR; i would just run by feel

are you kidding me asking about HR on an easy run.

Hi! I'm a relatively new runner and I started running 3x per week about 3 months ago. I was hoping to get some insight about heart rate training. I have been very, very slowly increasing my distance (for reference, I just ran my first 5k this week). I use an apple watch to track my heart rate and I am having such a hard time keeping it below zone 3 on my easy runs (for me this is about 151-179; I’m a 24 year old female). Based on my research, it seems that generally the majority of runs should be in zone 2 (easy runs) and then a few more intense runs/ speedwork. No matter how slow I go, I cannot seem to keep my heart rate below 160 (usually between 162-169)! I mean I am going as slow as I possibly can, basically between a 12 to 14 minute mile to purposefully try and keep my heart rate down but I simply cannot! Is heart rate something that takes time? Should I just not worry about keeping runs ‘easy’ for now? Should I incorporate strength training to help with this? Any advice to a newbie is greatly appreciated!

Personally I just ignore all metrics and data on easy runs. What pace should my easy run be? Irrelevant. What should my heart rate be? Irrelevant. Just go by feel. If it feels easy - you're doing it right.

It is difficult for new runners to keep the HR down on easy runs. You have limited aerobic endurance and running 3 miles is going to get the rate up even if it seems like a short distance.

So, yes, the heart rate is going to take time. Just go for your runs at a rate that you feel is OK. I would honestly not look at the data for months, maybe longer. Take your time slowly increasing your mileage / frequency of running and the runs will eventually become conversational in nature. After doing it for a long time, talking not this year probably, you'll find it becomes super easy to shift gears into different paces (i.e. "zones") without even looking at your watch.

Orewa,

You should just post this question as a thread. (You'll get a lot of help.)

I ran by HR last 2 years. I just started training for this year and still am adding to base fitness using HR., but am switching to velocity training in bout 6weeks.

we're having a lot of these kind of posts where someone posts a seeming "starter" post in the middle of the thread, which suggests someone is (or both are) a bot

Modern optical HR monitors are pretty decent, but susceptible to error. The most common error I've observed is picking up your cadence instead of your heart rate. Surprise surprise, most people have a cadence of 160–180. Sometimes it kind of gets caught in between. I know my easy running HR is ~140bpm. I know my cadence is around ~170spm. Sometimes I'll be on an easy run and it's just bouncing around between 140 and 170. If I tighten the strap, it typically corrects itself. And then the tight strap gets uncomfortable and I remember that I really don't care about my heart rate and I just focus on running easy.

Electromagnetic fields can also mess with your heart rate monitor. If I run under high voltage lines and past a large office building or school, I will get strange readings. I laugh when it suddenly spikes to 210 (My tested max HR is 190) warm up jogging at 9-minute pace next to building with a huge WiFi network.

Vee Eye Tee,
I think U need to change your eyes.(No diss intended). As you look thru messages, you really should be looking to understand, answer and not just blab out your own agenda diarrhea.

Your comment obviously would make a (this) new runner NOT post and ask. (Good job genius..) #Threadkiller

Thank you for your "Bot" insight tho. Yeah, I'm obviously a bot, dumbazz.(please note the last word is bolded. That s probably not a bot s work.)

On another note, Do you even run? or u here for the action n blah blah, (WOW I'm important..) ??

i ran through college. i still run.

i didn't call you in particular a "bot." i do that when the post doesn't add up, eg, kids claiming they can run 2 miles same pace they run the 1600.

you in particular, i took at face value but i implied you were asking a silly question. quite different, not hard to understand. and you got several comments other than mine, then pretended i killed the thread, which does not compute.

your times are fine but not great. so you're not some slowpoke throwing up high HR so much as walking, which sounds like a health thing. you're not saying you're feeling sick doing these slow runs, or even fast runs. you're telling us you can/are doing the runs at a talking pace, so it doesn't sound like you're not doing the slow runs "slow enough." you then after doing these runs put up solid race times you wouldn't do if you were ill. heck, i'd bet the times are steadily dropping over time.

in short, every signal, every data point that counts -- except some watch -- says things are fine. you're doing ok times, they aren't exploding back upwards, and you're not telling us you feel sick when doing the slow runs you're concerned about. if you didn't have the watch on your wrist, this thread wouldn't even happen.

also, the guy a couple posts above me said basically the same thing in less sarcastic terms.

along his lines, we always had fun on long runs, you didn't have to tell us to take it easy, and we were blissfully free of health watches for those runs -- as that poster suggests -- where we didn't make an awkward or worrisome thing out of the EZPZ days.

personally the better use of a HR would be the tougher and race days. yeah, there it might be interesting to literally be able to see the redline, and learn to back off in its face.

but other than "do i need to see a doctor" i don't see the point to this use. this is just making you worry about something you wouldn't worry about otherwise. to me the slow days were the fun days and i wasn't hand at neck tracking how the fun days went medically.

but people with not much running experience won't really know what easy feels like. young people will still run everything too fast and they will say it was easy but actually it wasn't really easy, it was just EASIER than an all out effort. heart rate is a useful metric to keep your enthusiasm in check.

Vee Eye Tee,
Sorry I sorta snapped at U. U seem like a good guy and not at all what I thought.. Lotsa trollers just go page to page comment to comment killing threads "Sorta exactly" like that.

FYI, I love running no watch.. Ure comments bout having one and the info r spot on.

I'm the rarerunner and we never had watches except stop and go by the coaches order at 15 years old 1 :58 800 at 17 4:05 mile I got down to a1:55 800 at65 a 4;05marathon and a 53min 10km so now I'm coaching my granddaughter for 10km and high school 1500 800 and cross-country enjoy your time and heart .will follow you

This. If one wants accuracy, get an HR chest strap to pair, if possible.