My pr for the 5k is 15:30. My max heart rate is about 200. When I run at my easy run pace, which is a 7:15 min/mile it says my heart rate is 160. That would be 80% of my max heart rate, which is too high for an easy run. The pace still feels very easy, I don't understand this. Any ideas?
It's hot.
Is this well into the run (say beyond 20 minutes). If so, my rate is quite similar even though the books would tell me it's too high. For me, an easy run probably ends around 160 (maybe averages 145-150) while a race ends around 200. I guess a hard workout would end around 180 after averaging 160 or so.
Search for, and read "Hadd's Approach to Distance Training" and see if you are a candidate based on your PRs at other distances.
Hopefully (for you) you are a candidate, because if you are the Hadd document will give you the formula to significantly improve your 5k time with proper aerobic training.
go slower
Why should he go slower if the pace feels easy for him? That's just a recipe to not improve yourself.
The heart doesnt lie. Pay attention to what it says and slow down to 70% on easy days, if thats what you want. There may be any number of factors which would cause a faster heart rate at a perceived slower pace: lack of sleep, poor diet, emotional stress, etc. etc. etc. the heart rate reflects all of that and more.
Bell Lapper wrote:
The heart doesnt lie. Pay attention to what it says and slow down to 70% on easy days, if thats what you want. There may be any number of factors which would cause a faster heart rate at a perceived slower pace: lack of sleep, poor diet, emotional stress, etc. etc. etc. the heart rate reflects all of that and more.
You just said the heart doesn't lie, but then you listed numerous factors which can affect your heart rate. If that is the case (which it is), then the heart isn't necessarily the best indicator of what energy zone you are using during exercise.
Is this easy pace heart rate higher than it usually is, or has it always been that high on easy runs?
If it's a new development, look at possibly overtraining, or, you know, the heat.
If it's always been that high, well, as long as you're in conversational-pace mode, not a problem, I think. You're not ventilating or in tempo-pace mode, right? So you're still aerobic.
I have the EXACT same problem -- only worse. If I did the proper heart rate for "easy runs" I would be WALKING! Seriously, my MAX is 175, and super-easy running gets it to 150-160. I run my 5k's at basically max 170-175. Tempos 165-170. (masters / old runner)
Another thing I did notice is that as I do a LSD run, and rack up miles, my heart rate increases as my pace decreases toward the end of the run especially! I have a theory that this is due to drop in blood volume from sweating? Am I crazy?
I only started running longer distances less than a year ago. I ran the 880 in college. I am up to 30-40 miles on alternating weeks and 16 miles in my long runs. I started racing 5k's here and there about 6 months ago and drop a couple minutes off my time every time I race one -- the latest was in 21 min. I am hoping to get that to 19 by the end of the year.
I am actually training for a Half-marathon now, and am planning to do the Chicago Marathn next year -- so this increasing heart-rate thing has got me worried. I am just using the 5k's to guage progress / paces.
spiral - nothing weird about that. even if you just maintain or even slow down, your rate will gradually increase as you get deeper into your run. only if you slow down a lot would your rate stabilize. at least that is the case with me too.
80% of max is fine
LETS MF RUN wrote:
Bell Lapper wrote:The heart doesnt lie. Pay attention to what it says and slow down to 70% on easy days, if thats what you want. There may be any number of factors which would cause a faster heart rate at a perceived slower pace: lack of sleep, poor diet, emotional stress, etc. etc. etc. the heart rate reflects all of that and more.
You just said the heart doesn't lie, but then you listed numerous factors which can affect your heart rate. If that is the case (which it is), then the heart isn't necessarily the best indicator of what energy zone you are using during exercise.
Obviously you don't quite get it. As the previous poster said, The HR is reflection of the stress on your body. If you're not eating/sleeping/ect. properly, the effort can be much more taxing your body than you intend. So your threshold pace was 5:20 on a good day, but you didn't sleep all night, 5:20 my suddenly cross you over to an anaerobic effort and you crash out sooner, or just made you work harder than you needed too, resulting in a longer time to recovery for your next workout.
You don't need to live and die by it, but at the same token, it can be a great asset. Going off your last sentence, what indicator would give you a better tell of what energy zone you're using? HR is about as close as you can get without being hooked up on a treadmill for every run.
Bumping this old thread, as I have exactly the same "issue" as the OP.
I'm in ~16:00 5k shape. Though my resting HR is 42, I'm averaging 145 on 7:30 pace runs, and 160 (with highs up to 187!) on 7:15 pace runs. These runs feel like jogs — yet when I look at my heart rate chart, it suggests I'm running at threshold pace.
I eat well, sleep 8-9 hours/night, and it hasn't been excessively hot. I understand that every heart is different, but this seems a tad ridiculous.
Would really appreciate thoughts on potential causes.
fruuuu wrote:
Bumping this old thread, as I have exactly the same "issue" as the OP.
I'm in ~16:00 5k shape. Though my resting HR is 42, I'm averaging 145 on 7:30 pace runs, and 160 (with highs up to 187!) on 7:15 pace runs. These runs feel like jogs — yet when I look at my heart rate chart, it suggests I'm running at threshold pace.
I eat well, sleep 8-9 hours/night, and it hasn't been excessively hot. I understand that every heart is different, but this seems a tad ridiculous.
Would really appreciate thoughts on potential causes.
Couldve taken that data right off my tracker. Very similar shape too. I think a posiblity is these watches guess high on the heart rate during runs and we may be underestimating our maximum heart rate.
A number of factors can affect HR
- Wind
- Terrain (flat v. hilly)
- Caffeine intake
- time of day (HR values higher or lower for you depending on when you run, for example lower in the evening than in the morning)
- sleep
- dehydration
- medications
- lower blood volume
- heat
I always think in minimum effective dose. If 7:30 pace is helping you get there why the need to go 7:15? Running faster on your easy runs should be a byproduct of increased fitness from adaptations. You can't force improvement. If you want to get faster carefully add more volume to the easy runs. I feel that once you are in the 65-75 MPW range for a 5k runner you body is getting the ideal stimulus for that race distance.
I wouldn't freak out about this. The fact that 7:30 pace feels like a jog is a good thing. It also probably a sign that you need to increase milage if you want to see further adaptations.
Caffeine doesn’t affect exercise heart rate... stop spreading falsities
fruuuu wrote:
Bumping this old thread, as I have exactly the same "issue" as the OP.
I'm in ~16:00 5k shape. Though my resting HR is 42, I'm averaging 145 on 7:30 pace runs, and 160 (with highs up to 187!) on 7:15 pace runs. These runs feel like jogs — yet when I look at my heart rate chart, it suggests I'm running at threshold pace.
I eat well, sleep 8-9 hours/night, and it hasn't been excessively hot. I understand that every heart is different, but this seems a tad ridiculous.
Would really appreciate thoughts on potential causes.
I used to be extremely similar to you. The problem is you never learned how to run relaxed and easily.
Those 7:XX pace runs feel like jogs muscularly, but they're obviously not easy for you if your heart rate is in the 180s.
You need to practice running relaxed. This is a skill that can be trained and requires specific training. Training at 5:00 pace won't help you run relaxed, you'll just plateau.
Jog and keep slowing down until you find that your heart rate is actually around 100 bpm and your mouth is closed and breathing imperceptible. This will be around 10 minute pace, probably. Aim to be slower than any old or fat people out jogging nearby. You might be going walking pace and feel very awkward. It might actually feel easier to speed up, but don't. Keep practicing this for the first 10-15 min of every run, and again at the end. After 4-8 weeks of this you should be running sub-7 pace at the same low heart rate and suddenly you'll be recovering a lot faster.
Because Garmin heart rate monitors are a piece of sh*t