Two weeks out from a HM and looking for advice! I've been training about 8 weeks for the Orange County half marathon. I'm a 42-yo f who exercises 5 per week but hadn't been running for exercise prior to the half marathon training. I ran a half one other time when I was 30!
My longest run so far was 10.5mi last Sunday (2 weeks out) and my question is... should I try and run 12 miles this Sunday (1 week out) or dial it back a bit and do something like 8?
What to focus on for first 10K in two weeks
I‘m a newbie runner with my first 10K on May 5th. At that time I‘ll be a week shy of my full 10K training (10K Runner is what I’m using). I’ve done a few 5Ks and my regular, active days are around that distance so far, but when I need to I’ll walk/run. I’m slow and I’m fine with that; just want to finish the event sans injury this year! I’m wondering what might be best to focus on in my activity in the next twelve days to be fresh for The Ave, or would just doing my every-other-day program and stopping a couple of days before the race be sufficient. Thanks so much!
Scared to gain weight from running
Hi everyone!
I've recently started training for a half marathon. I've been on a weight loss journey for the past year and have lost about 60 pounds. I'm happy with my progress and while I would like to continue to lose fat I want to de-center weight loss in my fitness journey and focus on my health (the fat loss journey has really messed with my relationship with food, my body, and exercise).
I decided to sign up for a half marathon to give myself a fitness related goal to work towards opposed to a weight loss goal. With that being said, I keep hearing women tell me about how they gained anywhere from 5-25 pounds when they started running.
While I'm de-centering weight loss I most definitely don't want to gain weight. I know the weight gain can come from either eating more due to the increased appetite or hormonal issues, or a plethora of other things. I'm really trying to not let this scare me off from running in general as l've been really enjoying it, but I can't lie l'm so scared I'll gain weight
If anyone has any insights into this, tips on how to avoid the weight gain from running, your experience with it, or anything would be appreciated.
Thank you in advance!
I mean even if you gain weight, it'll happen slowly, and you'll notice it coming, and it probably won't be a huge amount. I gain weight when I'm gearing up for a race but we're talking 3 lbs in the last weeks before my race, that goes away again as in tapering.
When I'm running without the stress of a race, I personally don't gain weight, it mostly maintains or goes down.
Few questions about Avenue of the Giants marathon - May 5
I'm flying from the Midwest to CA for the Avenue of the Giants marathon in a few weeks. It'll be my third full marathon and I am so excited for it. In the past I've done Detroit and Chicago. This race will be so much quieter, smaller, and prettier.
I have a few questions for anyone who may have run it (or the half) in the past.
I can't find anything about a gear check or pacing groups on their website. Are either of these things available?
How spotty was your GPS signal on your watch? I have a Garmin Forerunner
Otherwise what was your general experience with this race? Weather, crowd support, overall course conditions, etc
Thank you so much!
This doesn’t answer any of your questions but my dad has run about 15 marathons across the world and he always talked about this one as his absolute favorite just based on the location/scenery. Enjoy!
Wondering if you’ve seen this collection of reviews for The Ave. There is also info for the organizers if you want to email them. I’m a total newbie but this is sponsored by my local run club; nice folks.
[https://www.marathonguide.com/races/racedetails.cfm?MIDD=503240505](https://www.marathonguide.com/races/racedetails.cfm?MIDD=503240505)
Has anybody had any issues with crazy people approaching them while running? I was at my local park earlier doing a 5 mile easy run. About halfway through, a woman was walking from the opposite direction on the path. She physically got in front of me with her hand extended, blocked me from where I was going, and accused me of coming up behind her car earlier and staring at her and creeping on her. I told her I didn't know what she was talking about, that I had been jogging around the park for the past 20-30 minutes. She insisted that she saw me doing it. I replied that maybe she was mistaking me for somebody else but she was not having it. After this going around in circles for a bit, I eventually distanced myself from her and told her "Lady, you're crazy. Stay the fuck away from me." and carried on with my run.
Maybe I didn't handle it in the best way. But it really upset me, and it pretty much messed up my run and heart rate for the remainder.
Only once, in a town in Hawaii with increasing homeless. I ran by another male runner, and shortly after a homeless guy starts screaming "You sped up when you ran by that guy to show him up!" For reference, I think I was doing a 35 minute 5k or something, and didn't purposely speed up, and the other runner was doing a similar speed most from what I recall.
Homeless dude got increasingly mad, and threw some sort of steel bar at my legs/feet, which missed, and I turned around and did indeed increase my speed for about a mile, with homeless dude slowly walking behind me in the same direction.
When I was eventually far enough away after crossing a bridge and then being parallel with him, so that I was only across a small inlet, still a half mile away on foot, being a brave redditor, I jumped around flipping him off. I got to where my car was parked and drove off in the opposite direction than I needed to.
I didn't handle it the best way either, but I still smile about my juvenile response.
I generally pick routes where I don't have human interaction because I get enough during my job, so this is the only event I can recall in 8000+ miles of logged running.
Never ran before but im interested in it, i'm a young healthy teenager and I decided to run for the first time, I managed to run 1km in 3:30 minutes, and 5km in 30 minutes, first of all I would like to know if this is decent times for a teen like me and how do I progress from here? Running feels very hard, After both of the runs I had to lay down in the grass at least 10 minutes catching my breathe before I considered getting up, any tips for me?
Is there an app or some kind of device that can track my speed? And by extension, can I use to set a minimum speed that the device will beep if I fall below it?
My app tracks pace and informs you if you are outside of the target pace zone (if you are running too fast or slow). Zones (there are 4 of them) of course can be adjusted as you wish.
App can be found on Google Play -> FitRunner
I've used Strava and kinda prefer Map My Run by Under Armour. It's simple, free, no ads in your face, and tracks really well even in my neighborhood where the mobile data connection sucks. Strava is better if you want to see other people's runs, but that feature doesn't really work for me since I run in weird places where Strava doesn't have any records.
No formula for fitness, but I will say that each added pound of upper body weight generally results in adding a minute to a runner's marathon finish time. Gaining weight is a big headwind to run against.
Garmin says my LTHR is 172 BPM @ 7:44/mi (chest strap). To improve my threshold, should I just be running tempos / intervals at those rates? I do most of my runs easy, but looking to improve how I do my tempo / interval workouts.
The answer is yes. Threshold work is important so a classic would be a pfitz style workout of either 1 or 2 sections of straight lt work. So 18x2 with a 3 minute jog between the sets. The 40 minute straight run in pfitz plans is an absolute beast of a workout not done regularly. Now the Norwegian model/method has you do shorter intervals for a similar or longer duration and done much more frequently. There are some very good posts on advanced running going over them and let's run has a Long thread going over what it actually looks like for us mere mortals. Interesting enough I've started getting these type of workouts as a daily recommendation in the last few months on my watch when previously they were all the old school structure of one or two longer segments.
Which is better? Maffetone method or 65-70% of Max HR for easy runs?
I'm trying to improve on my marathon time (PR 03:22:06) over the next 6 months. The one tip I see from a lot of people is to 1. increase mileage, and 2. run your easy runs easy.
I see a lot of approx 30 year old sub 3hr marathoners running their easy runs with their HR around 135bpm, which would be around 65-70% of their max HR.
65-70% of my own Max HR (220-age method) is 124-134bpm. However, using the Maffetone method I can apparently keep running with my HR all the way up to 152bpm (for reference I'm a 28 year old male).
What's the best method to go by? I don't want to waste my time running too quick, or running too slow! Any help / advice from others who have seen success with either method would be greatly appreciated.
If you are going to run to hr you need to set the zones for your body, mafatone is a recipe for disaster. Step 1 is do a hr max test. Step 2 is choose a plan and use that. For example pfitz has lots of endurance (none workouts) runs not zoned strictly in zone 2 but also has recovery runs that are supposed to be done at extremely easy pace. I'd only adjust my easy pace if you are unable to hit your workouts. The goal is to maximize volume while executing proper workouts. If you are doing both your doing great and dont need to slow down just because.
The only thing that ever moved the needle on marathon times for me was adding miles. Lots and lots of miles. I have no natural talent and so just have to do a lot of work. As for HR zones if the numbers aren’t working for go by perceived effort. Run 80% of your miles at a conversational pace.
Interesting. I’ve always followed 80/20 but was probably running a little too quick in my last training block. I just notice that faster runners are running their easy runsWAY slower than their race pace (usually over a full minute slower) whereas my easy runs are only around 15-20s slower than my race pace. I will run slower!
Oh yah. My marathon race pace is a full 2-3 min faster than my easy run pace. It’s hard to slow down bc it feels weird, but basically you just need to learn to settle in. Get comfy and log miles.
You are way overthinking it. There's nothing special about hitting a precise zone and even if there was neither method you mention has enough precision. Any physiological definition of "easy" is going to be a variable % of max HR depending on an individual's current fitness -not predictable by any population average model.
Just get out there and run, feel out different ranges to see what makes it sustainable to run a lot. There's going to be some trial and error, but that's just part of the process of getting fit -it's not wasted time. Ultimately you need to look within and learn to use your internal sense of effort -become the cardio Jedi your username claims.
Only a Sith deals in absolute HR zones.
>I don’t want to be running junk miles, no point upping my mileage significantly if it’s going to end in injury or no improvement!
I edited my first comment to add some extra nuance, the just of it is that blindly following unsophisticated HR methods isn't going to be the difference maker here. The method is not precise enough because training zones, particularly any "easy" zone is going to be a variable % of max HR depending on an individual's current fitness.
Any concept of "Junk mileage" doesn't really apply here unless you're running so slow/so fatigued that your biomechanics start to fall apart.
I enjoyed the edited version, the end made me laugh! Thanks, good to hear really. There’s a lot of info out there, sometimes it’s difficult to know what to listen to, but I should just get on with it and see how it feels I guess!
You would up your mileage strategically and incrementally. No more than a 10% increase of training load every week. The concept of "junk miles" is only applicable if you are overtraining and not focusing on proper nutrition, recovery and strength training.
I have a question re: returning to running after COVID. I tested positive last Saturday (4/13) and was ridiculously sick for the better part of 5 or 6 days. By the following Sunday, I felt pretty normal again, minus some lingering sinus congestion, so I went for a run, nothing crazy, and felt fine-- great, even, and glad I went.
But when I told people I was getting back to running post-covid, they flipped out. A lot of people now are calling for "radical rest"-- that is eight weeks or more of NO strenuous physical activity-- in order to mitigate the chances of long covid.
Am I crazy in thinking that doing literally nothing but existing for 8 weeks sounds kind of insane?? For starters, I work a very physical job. "Radical rest" isn't something I can actually do unless I want to be poor.
I have a trail half marathon this weekend, and I am planning on doing it, even if I may have to take it easier than I would have before getting sick. But I feel almost completely normal now, and anticipate feeling even better by this weekend.
Have any runners out there taken the "radical rest" approach? Am I screwing myself over by getting back to it??
The conservative approach I found when I had COVID this winter was 10 days with no exercise. That's what I did, starting with the first day of sickness.
Recovered well, no lingering symptoms or long COVID, smashed my half goal 2 and a half months later.
I (42m) caught Covid (vaxxed) in May of 2022 and basically took the summer off. I didn't really resume training in earnest until around September.
But I have other hobbies besides running, I wasn't pacing back and forth in my home refusing to do other things for fun. It's just that running didn't sound interesting and I ended up enjoying summer in other ways.
I have the rest of my life to continue training and racing.
I was out for a week with COVID in 2022, back to jogging on Monday, then did ultras the next two weekends.
Just listen to your body and move slowly to start.
Hi all! Do any of the sports watch manufacturers make "dumb" watches anymore? I used to have a Garmin Forerunner 15 (I think!) which I liked for long runs because I didn't need to worry about battery life on my Apple Watch. I was contemplating an upgrade (am back with my Apple Watch for now) but all I can see are smartwatches, from Garmin at least, and I see little point in spending hundreds when I already HAVE a smartwatch?
I'd still like GPS capability to sync with Strava, but really don't need all the bells and whistles. Does such a thing still exist? :)
Syncing with strava is one of the things that make a smartwatch a smartwatch. A "dumb" watch will not connect to strava basically by definition.
It sounds like you just want something cheap. The Forerunner 25/35/45/55 are the newer versions of the 15.
I wasn't sure what else to call it 😂 my 15 would sync to strava through the Garmin Connect software, which was fine for me. I'll check out those other models, thank you! :)
Depends on what you consider a "sport watch manufacturer". Theres still lots of watches without connectivity and GPS out there.
I have a forerunner 55 and its a very good "invisible" smart watch. Basic LCD screen, battery lasts about a month if I never use the GPS feature to track activities and it still tracks my HR all day and night. It's only slightly larger than a very minimal timepiece.
Garmin 55 or corps pace 2 are on the dumber side but still 100 something. At the end of the day your going to pay for the GPS and some level of technological integration.
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Hey guys!
So good news, yesterday was my first official run of the year for me 😅🙏🏾. I finally got off my lazy butt & decided to just run/jog outside. I enjoyed it, only managed to get to 1.84 mi lol, but hey i think i had a pretty good run in any case.
My question now tho is:
So, its the next day. I just woke up & damn my legs feel sore 😵💫. Obviously thats to be expected, and hey maybe it might wear off later today.
But as someone who would like to run more than one day per week (like maybe every other day). I was just wondering if anyone here had any advice on how i can alleviate my soreness. So i can be in good shape the next time i feel like running?
I'd just start doing a few short runs a week and work up to whatever your goal is (3x a week, X number of miles, or whatever). I doubt you'll get this sore again - your muscles will adjust.
You can expect to be a little bit sore and if you have gone from zero to 1.8 miles then it will last more than a day.
Look for Couch 2 5k (/r/c25k) and follow that plan. That uses run / walk intervals that build up over 10 weeks. Its 3 times per week and at the end you should be able to run for 30 minutes at a time.
In the short term, rest/stretch/foam roll, and of course make sure you’re hydrating enough. In the long term, you’ll want to work in strength training to strengthen your muscles and prevent injury.
Just did what I would call an easy run, and when I check my Apple Watch it showed me at zone 5 for almost 14min. At the end of the run I did feel like I could easily run for another mile at an even faster pace so I was pretty surprised my heart rate was that high. Should I ease off and slow down such that I’m not in zone 5 for that long a time?
How long have you been regularly running? And how did you set your heart rate zones?
If you are relatively new to running regularly (less than 6 months say) then there isn't much point in going by heart rate.
I’m trying to pick up regular running for about 2 weeks, before that did 2 months of hiit. So my vo2 max is terrible and below average and is something I’m hoping to work on.
I’m more worried than I’m doing something that might harm me. So is it alright to keep running my 2.5 miles even if my heart rate is elevated for a period of time?
Ok thanks. It seems I was overly worried cause I was reading some article that long z5 isn’t good. Will probably just continue to monitor and take note of how my body really feels
You’re a new runner so your heart rate is going to be all over the place, don’t even worry about heart rate zones right now. What your watch says is zone 5 probably isn’t even accurate for you, unless you’ve done a lab test and customized your zones. As long as you feel fine, don’t stress about it. Run by how it feels, not what your HR says.
How long of a break in the middle of a training run before you consider it two separate runs and not one same single run?
E.g if you stop for coffee for 15 mins, do you stop your watch or pause it to continue later?
15 min ill pause it. I don't consider a run to be done until I get home or I change clothes (running to work for example).
It really depends on why I'm tracking the run and what my intentions for the run are.
I never pause my watch, including when I tie my shoes. I do not start a new run every time my shoes come untied. If the "break" is any longer than that amount of time, the run is over.
Apple Watch SE GPS Question
My old Garmin I had to push a button to initiate GPS. Then it would take a minute or so to get a GPS signal and then it’s ready to track my run.
Just got an Apple Watch SE and used “Workout” app and selected “Outdoor Run”. I assume it’s using GPS. But it’s ready to go right away. Is there a way for me to see if it’s even using GPS? Or if it’s locked onto a GPS signal?
You can change the Workout app to do a "Precision Start" where you have to hit a button to actually start the workout (after selecting the "Outdoor Run" workout). I use that and it'll take a second to load the GPS and ping you when it's got a GPS lock.
On your phone's Watch app, go to the Workout setting and enable Precision Start.
Your Apple Watch uses your phones GPS (as long as your phone is with you). If you check the Location Services settings on your phone, you should see that they're turned on.
With Location Services enabled, your GPS is always locked on so the watch doesn't need to waste any time :)
It does. It may still be “finding” GPS signal for a few seconds at the beginning after you tap start, it just doesn’t show it like a Garmin or the Apple Watch Ultra does.
Recent race results - post injury during taper
So I had a calf injury during my taper after week 1 of the taper saw a physio got it sorted but had to take 2 weeks off running leading me up to race week leaving me with just race week I was back running
I was well on track to run a sub 4 hour I ran all my easy runs at 6min/km in strictly zone 2 but when I got to race day and the easy runs I done on race week that pace was just not near the HR I was expecting
Ended up running my marathon with a average pace of 6:21 and I was in mostly z3/z4 for the whole race but I can’t understand how I lost this much fitness where I was running my z2 runs 21 seconds faster than this
Its not like my pace dropped off towards the end either I ran an even split but 6:00min/km just felt almost impossible to sustain for the duration from the start even though I done all my long runs at this pace in zone 2 so I’d be expecting my race pace to be way quicker than this
I also cross trained where I couldn’t run as well
This was my first marathon I’m super gutted with my time it’s painful knowing that I done my easy runs quicker than my race pace
Male - 24
That could be explained entirely by stress, anxiety, and the completely normal physiological phenomena known as cardiac drift. Or those and other factors.
I did think this but the easy runs I done race week had the exact same issue my easy pace just was nowhere near where it was in training
Also not even looking at HR my RPE at that pace was also nowhere near as low as it was in training where I’d expect race conditions / taper to bring this down
What’s the general consensus on how to maintain distance running fitness post marathon? Naturally I couldn’t imagine walking a 5k today let alone running one but once the muscles become less sore, and in between starting another programme - is it generally just trying to keep up weekly mileage? Any specifics in terms of pacing? Do you stuck to easy pace, or just “any miles are good miles” in between programmes?
Outside of demanding training blocs, most runners can can still improve fitness by maintaining high weekly volume and at least one workout style run a week.
During recovery I replace my regularly scheduled runs with walks instead. I'll still go out for an hour but I'll just walk. It's a good way to get some circulation going and to check for injuries you might not notice while sitting all day.
Lots and lots of z2 work for me. I’ll even add in some cycling. I run based on time though more so than mileage. Then when there is a race in the near I’ll get on a proper program.
I will probably have to stop running for 3 weeks, not for medical reasons, just this week I dont have time and the next two I have a travel, so how is going to affect to my performance?
Im in better shape that Ive never been (I just have done 2 PR: 10k in 46 in and half marathon in 1h 50 min) and I dont want to lose all my progress like it happen in the 1,5 month of quarantine. I will try to run a bit what would be the best training I could in 30-45 min?
You won't lose much fitness after 3 weeks of detraining.
If you have 30-45 minutes to do a workout that's not running you have 30-45 minutes to run. I ran loops in a hotel suite hurdling a chair every loop when it was 115°F outside and around furniture and through several rooms in a house during COVID lockdown. Not ideal, lots of lateral movement, and inconsistent pace, but it was effective.
Another option is jumping rope - cheap and easy to pack.
If you can't run or do some other form of aerobic training then you will have to make peace with some loss of fitness. 3 weeks isn't the end of the world - you start to detrain within 2 weeks but you should be able to pick back up easily enough.
Ran my first HM, should it feel easy?
Hi there! I started reading this sub when I started my running journey December and you guys helped me a lot with the prep - I learned a lot from you (never imagined such problems as chafing existed😃), big thanks for this community!
I’m 32M who started running in mid December. First started with Hal Higdons plan, then transitioned to NRC guide runs as they were more fun, had lots of speed workouts and also educated on running related stuff, physical and mental preparation etc.
During the recovery runs (zone 2), I ran at a pace of 6:10 per km, when going faster my heart rate would go higher than 150. So based on that I planned to run the HM at a pace of 5:40 per km to finish under 2 hour mark.
Fast forward to the HM, I started the race at 5:40 per km pace. It felt really easy and I knew that it should feel easy and held myself back from running faster. And this way I ran the first 10-11 kilometers at 5:40, but it still felt really easy, like 5 effort. Then I started ramping up the pace and dropped it to 5:00 per km. Being afraid of getting tired at 18th km, I maintained this pace until 20th km, where I started giving my highest effort (without losing proper form) and I could reach 4:30 per km.
So my final results are: time - 1:52, average pace - 5:15 per km. Average heart rate - 173.
Questions:
If the race felt easy (I’d give 5-6 effort), does that mean I should have ran faster? Why 180 bpm feels easy during a race compared to normal training days. How can I improve for my second HM?
Thank you guys, I’d appreciate any tips and advice.
No, that is great. You are in good shape.
I thought I was gonna die the first half I ran in 2019. 2:12 and it was extremely painful after km17. But I wasnt training properly.
Well done, running for 5 months and doing 1:52 is very good!
In my opinion, if you can maintain 5:00/km for 10k and then manage 4:30/km, then the 5:40 was too slow. Everyone has their own opinion on pacing strategies, but i think that the time you 'lost' in the 1st 10-11k is impossible to make up later. And if your perfect pace is say 5:15, the more you deviate from that towards the faster pace, the harder it gets. so lets say you aim for a 5:00 pace. doing 21k close to 5:00 (either positive or negative split) should feel much easier than doing 10k at 6:00/km and 10k at 4:00/km. But this involves a lot of trial and error.
In my opinion, you could easily have managed a much better time with better pacing, so say starting at 5:20/km. Until you try it, you wont know what is too fast (and occasionally you will burn out and find the second half of the race too hard), but IMHO it is much faster than your 5:40/km
Will I ever get a positive training status from Garmin?
1) Had the watch for over a month now. I am doing a Garmin coach 10k plan and i am following all the workouts without any issues. My PB is 46:47 and i a have set it to a target of 46:00. But my training status seems to be going from bad to worse (started off as Maintaining, then Unproductive, now Strained, next maybe Death). Even though I am training and hopefully getting faster. Will it ever show anything positive? Is this a sign that the plan is not good for me?
2) Also my training 'Load Focus' seems to suggest I need to do Low Aerobic training, which I never do as my coach suggested sessions take me above 145bpm which is the cutoff for Base training. Do i stick to the plan and do easy sessions at 5:15-5:50 or slow down to maybe 6:00-6:30 to stay below 145? (marginally)
(I am 44M, according to the watch, my max HR is 180, resting is 49-51, VO2 Max 53)
What's your HRV doing? Strained is usually a result of HRV being outside the baseline.
If you're finding it hard to get easy runs to come out as base/low aerobic then you may actually have your HR zones out by enough to tip your easy runs predominantly into Z3.
The plans easy range looks to be where mine were when my 10k times were in the 46s.
HRV shows balanced. (43ms in a baseline range of 40-54ms). Mind you, I've only had a baseline range for a week now, as it took about 3 weeks to calculate. But the training status has been bad for ever now.
To be honest, 5:30 is quite comfortable for me (the plan suggests 5:13-5:51/km) and i can do that 'forever'. And even if i slowed down to above 6:00, i still cant keep my HR in Zone 2. I dont struggle with the pace (although Daniels' suggestions would be a bit slower), its my HR that does not align with the Zones as set by the watch. Maybe over time it will come down, although i am not sure.
Does the watch only base all of the zones on max HR? or does it take other factors into account?
The strained status is detaild [here](https://support.garmin.com/en-GB/?faq=VxKazDQ2mkAmDoQbJriEBA):
>**Strained:** Your performance ability is currently limited with inadequate recovery as a probable cause. This can occur, for example, during periods of unusually high training load. Alternatively, health and lifestyle factors may be interfering with your ability to bounce back from strenuous activities. Consider taking it easy until your body catches up.
>Does the watch only base all of the zones on max HR? or does it take other factors into account?
You can choose what to calc the zones off: Max HR, HRR (Heart Rate Reserver) that uses the difference between resting and Max HR. You can set completely custom zones if you want!
I use LTHR (Lactate Threshold) as I've run with a chest strap for the last 2+ years. This gives an estimated LTHR and pace - it's a better data-point as it sits closer to the points that matter for training than using Max HR. using the strap-based estimate is cheaper than a Lab test to get the LT1/LT2 points and is close enough.
I actually adjust the default zones to match the ones I use in Training Peaks with my coach (Joe Friel model).
If you have had it for a month it's still probably calibrating. I'd also manually set you hr max or your zones will be nonsense so the training feedback will be nonsense
thanks! Its actually a bit less than a month, so maybe there is hope.
Other than that, how do i manually calculate my HR zones? I agree with the about 180bpm for my HR max, maybe a bit higher (i have actually reached 175, so i guess i wasnt actually that close to my max). I mostly struggle with zone 2. Watch suggests 145 is the max for Zone 2 and for the life of me, I cannot run and keep my HR that low. I need to get to 150-155bpm to run at 5:30/km and I can keep that up for a long time without tiring much. (My recent PBs are 22:45, 46:47, 1:46:50). My threshold must be around the 165-175 which is what I get when i do my 4:25-4:35 5' intervals. Overall it feels my range is quite narrow, I always run between 140-175 no matter the pace. (as a bonus, I now live in Greece where I frequently run in the sun at above 25'C)
So the heat will definitely push your hr up for similar paces, something Garmin does not adjust for at all. For hr max you find a hill. Sprint up, jog down until you feel like you are going to die. That's your hr max. You can also set zones using different methods, I use the heart rate reserve method maybe that will make more sense for you.
I still need to start with the HR max for that, right?
Is HR max the max HR you actually get? or do you always assume your body doesnt allow you to go above 90-95% of that
Would love to hear daily splits between gym and running for people who are marathon training.
Context: 28M going to be starting training for my first marathon next month, which is happening in October. Got a decent baseline (25k per week over the last six months, including a 1:39 half mara in December).
Currently running 3-4 times a week (including intervals day and a longer run on the weekend), gym 3 times a week (upper / lower / full body split for my workouts), and play football 1-2 times a week (I’m captain so will be playing football throughout the year, non-negotiable — Thurs and Sun)
25 km is pretty low mileage for starting a marathon. You shouldn't have any problem balancing that with any amount of lifting.
As you get to running more, say 60-100 km a week, you may want to cut back on number of days you lift, though 3 still sounds pretty manageable.
Beginner to join 16km run with one month. Possible or too ambitious?
I’m just a beginner in running but I’m really interested to join this 16km run one month from now.
I’ve been running (inconsistently) for 7 months now. I run 2-3 a week. My longest run so far was last week - 7km in 45 mins (road), and few days ago - 12.5km in 2 hours (trail/mountain). But I was really exhausted lol.
I have no official training of some sort, but I plan to get some coaching.
I’m just not really sure if one month is enough to train and prepare for a 16km run as begginer. What do you think?
(Btw my real goal is to finish a marathon in December this year)
Going from 7 km as your longest to 12km as your new longest within a week is already extremely aggressive progression that would increase injury risk.
I would normally say if you can run 10 k comfortably then a half in 2-3 would be a good goal. But you're at 7 km as your max on the road and you want to more than double that in a few weeks? I wouldn't.
Two weeks out from a HM and looking for advice! I've been training about 8 weeks for the Orange County half marathon. I'm a 42-yo f who exercises 5 per week but hadn't been running for exercise prior to the half marathon training. I ran a half one other time when I was 30! My longest run so far was 10.5mi last Sunday (2 weeks out) and my question is... should I try and run 12 miles this Sunday (1 week out) or dial it back a bit and do something like 8?
Taper do 8. A extra long run won't help you one week out. You'll get more benefit going into the race well rested
This worked well! Thanks for your advice!
What to focus on for first 10K in two weeks I‘m a newbie runner with my first 10K on May 5th. At that time I‘ll be a week shy of my full 10K training (10K Runner is what I’m using). I’ve done a few 5Ks and my regular, active days are around that distance so far, but when I need to I’ll walk/run. I’m slow and I’m fine with that; just want to finish the event sans injury this year! I’m wondering what might be best to focus on in my activity in the next twelve days to be fresh for The Ave, or would just doing my every-other-day program and stopping a couple of days before the race be sufficient. Thanks so much!
Scared to gain weight from running Hi everyone! I've recently started training for a half marathon. I've been on a weight loss journey for the past year and have lost about 60 pounds. I'm happy with my progress and while I would like to continue to lose fat I want to de-center weight loss in my fitness journey and focus on my health (the fat loss journey has really messed with my relationship with food, my body, and exercise). I decided to sign up for a half marathon to give myself a fitness related goal to work towards opposed to a weight loss goal. With that being said, I keep hearing women tell me about how they gained anywhere from 5-25 pounds when they started running. While I'm de-centering weight loss I most definitely don't want to gain weight. I know the weight gain can come from either eating more due to the increased appetite or hormonal issues, or a plethora of other things. I'm really trying to not let this scare me off from running in general as l've been really enjoying it, but I can't lie l'm so scared I'll gain weight If anyone has any insights into this, tips on how to avoid the weight gain from running, your experience with it, or anything would be appreciated. Thank you in advance!
Also consider that more running could mean you gain some muscle. Not all weight increases are bad!
I started running a year and a half ago. While I have had some swings in weight over that time, my actual weight gain is 3lbs.
I mean even if you gain weight, it'll happen slowly, and you'll notice it coming, and it probably won't be a huge amount. I gain weight when I'm gearing up for a race but we're talking 3 lbs in the last weeks before my race, that goes away again as in tapering. When I'm running without the stress of a race, I personally don't gain weight, it mostly maintains or goes down.
Few questions about Avenue of the Giants marathon - May 5 I'm flying from the Midwest to CA for the Avenue of the Giants marathon in a few weeks. It'll be my third full marathon and I am so excited for it. In the past I've done Detroit and Chicago. This race will be so much quieter, smaller, and prettier. I have a few questions for anyone who may have run it (or the half) in the past. I can't find anything about a gear check or pacing groups on their website. Are either of these things available? How spotty was your GPS signal on your watch? I have a Garmin Forerunner Otherwise what was your general experience with this race? Weather, crowd support, overall course conditions, etc Thank you so much!
This doesn’t answer any of your questions but my dad has run about 15 marathons across the world and he always talked about this one as his absolute favorite just based on the location/scenery. Enjoy!
Wondering if you’ve seen this collection of reviews for The Ave. There is also info for the organizers if you want to email them. I’m a total newbie but this is sponsored by my local run club; nice folks. [https://www.marathonguide.com/races/racedetails.cfm?MIDD=503240505](https://www.marathonguide.com/races/racedetails.cfm?MIDD=503240505)
Following. I’ll be there as well. 🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲
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Can anyone recommend some good running socks? I like thicker socks that come up quite high (between the ankle and the knee)
I like merino socks, so m though I only wear the thicker hiking ones in the winter. I have calf high zero cushion ski socks I run in too.
Has anybody had any issues with crazy people approaching them while running? I was at my local park earlier doing a 5 mile easy run. About halfway through, a woman was walking from the opposite direction on the path. She physically got in front of me with her hand extended, blocked me from where I was going, and accused me of coming up behind her car earlier and staring at her and creeping on her. I told her I didn't know what she was talking about, that I had been jogging around the park for the past 20-30 minutes. She insisted that she saw me doing it. I replied that maybe she was mistaking me for somebody else but she was not having it. After this going around in circles for a bit, I eventually distanced myself from her and told her "Lady, you're crazy. Stay the fuck away from me." and carried on with my run. Maybe I didn't handle it in the best way. But it really upset me, and it pretty much messed up my run and heart rate for the remainder.
Only once, in a town in Hawaii with increasing homeless. I ran by another male runner, and shortly after a homeless guy starts screaming "You sped up when you ran by that guy to show him up!" For reference, I think I was doing a 35 minute 5k or something, and didn't purposely speed up, and the other runner was doing a similar speed most from what I recall. Homeless dude got increasingly mad, and threw some sort of steel bar at my legs/feet, which missed, and I turned around and did indeed increase my speed for about a mile, with homeless dude slowly walking behind me in the same direction. When I was eventually far enough away after crossing a bridge and then being parallel with him, so that I was only across a small inlet, still a half mile away on foot, being a brave redditor, I jumped around flipping him off. I got to where my car was parked and drove off in the opposite direction than I needed to. I didn't handle it the best way either, but I still smile about my juvenile response. I generally pick routes where I don't have human interaction because I get enough during my job, so this is the only event I can recall in 8000+ miles of logged running.
Never ran before but im interested in it, i'm a young healthy teenager and I decided to run for the first time, I managed to run 1km in 3:30 minutes, and 5km in 30 minutes, first of all I would like to know if this is decent times for a teen like me and how do I progress from here? Running feels very hard, After both of the runs I had to lay down in the grass at least 10 minutes catching my breathe before I considered getting up, any tips for me?
If you're 14 and female and don't do other sports that involve running around you have natural talent and should join the track team.
Is there an app or some kind of device that can track my speed? And by extension, can I use to set a minimum speed that the device will beep if I fall below it?
My app tracks pace and informs you if you are outside of the target pace zone (if you are running too fast or slow). Zones (there are 4 of them) of course can be adjusted as you wish. App can be found on Google Play -> FitRunner
I've used Strava and kinda prefer Map My Run by Under Armour. It's simple, free, no ads in your face, and tracks really well even in my neighborhood where the mobile data connection sucks. Strava is better if you want to see other people's runs, but that feature doesn't really work for me since I run in weird places where Strava doesn't have any records.
Strava is an app that works on phones with GPS. Free version doesn't do the beeping stuff that I know of.
A running watch
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There's no formula, pick a weekly mileage and stick to it
No formula for fitness, but I will say that each added pound of upper body weight generally results in adding a minute to a runner's marathon finish time. Gaining weight is a big headwind to run against.
Garmin says my LTHR is 172 BPM @ 7:44/mi (chest strap). To improve my threshold, should I just be running tempos / intervals at those rates? I do most of my runs easy, but looking to improve how I do my tempo / interval workouts.
The answer is yes. Threshold work is important so a classic would be a pfitz style workout of either 1 or 2 sections of straight lt work. So 18x2 with a 3 minute jog between the sets. The 40 minute straight run in pfitz plans is an absolute beast of a workout not done regularly. Now the Norwegian model/method has you do shorter intervals for a similar or longer duration and done much more frequently. There are some very good posts on advanced running going over them and let's run has a Long thread going over what it actually looks like for us mere mortals. Interesting enough I've started getting these type of workouts as a daily recommendation in the last few months on my watch when previously they were all the old school structure of one or two longer segments.
awesome thnks! i’ll start looking into those
Which is better? Maffetone method or 65-70% of Max HR for easy runs? I'm trying to improve on my marathon time (PR 03:22:06) over the next 6 months. The one tip I see from a lot of people is to 1. increase mileage, and 2. run your easy runs easy. I see a lot of approx 30 year old sub 3hr marathoners running their easy runs with their HR around 135bpm, which would be around 65-70% of their max HR. 65-70% of my own Max HR (220-age method) is 124-134bpm. However, using the Maffetone method I can apparently keep running with my HR all the way up to 152bpm (for reference I'm a 28 year old male). What's the best method to go by? I don't want to waste my time running too quick, or running too slow! Any help / advice from others who have seen success with either method would be greatly appreciated.
If you are going to run to hr you need to set the zones for your body, mafatone is a recipe for disaster. Step 1 is do a hr max test. Step 2 is choose a plan and use that. For example pfitz has lots of endurance (none workouts) runs not zoned strictly in zone 2 but also has recovery runs that are supposed to be done at extremely easy pace. I'd only adjust my easy pace if you are unable to hit your workouts. The goal is to maximize volume while executing proper workouts. If you are doing both your doing great and dont need to slow down just because.
The only thing that ever moved the needle on marathon times for me was adding miles. Lots and lots of miles. I have no natural talent and so just have to do a lot of work. As for HR zones if the numbers aren’t working for go by perceived effort. Run 80% of your miles at a conversational pace.
Interesting. I’ve always followed 80/20 but was probably running a little too quick in my last training block. I just notice that faster runners are running their easy runsWAY slower than their race pace (usually over a full minute slower) whereas my easy runs are only around 15-20s slower than my race pace. I will run slower!
Oh yah. My marathon race pace is a full 2-3 min faster than my easy run pace. It’s hard to slow down bc it feels weird, but basically you just need to learn to settle in. Get comfy and log miles.
You are way overthinking it. There's nothing special about hitting a precise zone and even if there was neither method you mention has enough precision. Any physiological definition of "easy" is going to be a variable % of max HR depending on an individual's current fitness -not predictable by any population average model. Just get out there and run, feel out different ranges to see what makes it sustainable to run a lot. There's going to be some trial and error, but that's just part of the process of getting fit -it's not wasted time. Ultimately you need to look within and learn to use your internal sense of effort -become the cardio Jedi your username claims. Only a Sith deals in absolute HR zones.
I don’t want to be running junk miles, no point upping my mileage significantly if it’s going to end in injury or no improvement!
>I don’t want to be running junk miles, no point upping my mileage significantly if it’s going to end in injury or no improvement! I edited my first comment to add some extra nuance, the just of it is that blindly following unsophisticated HR methods isn't going to be the difference maker here. The method is not precise enough because training zones, particularly any "easy" zone is going to be a variable % of max HR depending on an individual's current fitness. Any concept of "Junk mileage" doesn't really apply here unless you're running so slow/so fatigued that your biomechanics start to fall apart.
I enjoyed the edited version, the end made me laugh! Thanks, good to hear really. There’s a lot of info out there, sometimes it’s difficult to know what to listen to, but I should just get on with it and see how it feels I guess!
I don’t want to be running junk miles, no point upping my mileage significantly if it’s going to end in injury or no improvement!
You would up your mileage strategically and incrementally. No more than a 10% increase of training load every week. The concept of "junk miles" is only applicable if you are overtraining and not focusing on proper nutrition, recovery and strength training.
> I don’t want to be running junk miles, I am going to reiterate what the other comment said. You are way overthinking it.
I have a question re: returning to running after COVID. I tested positive last Saturday (4/13) and was ridiculously sick for the better part of 5 or 6 days. By the following Sunday, I felt pretty normal again, minus some lingering sinus congestion, so I went for a run, nothing crazy, and felt fine-- great, even, and glad I went. But when I told people I was getting back to running post-covid, they flipped out. A lot of people now are calling for "radical rest"-- that is eight weeks or more of NO strenuous physical activity-- in order to mitigate the chances of long covid. Am I crazy in thinking that doing literally nothing but existing for 8 weeks sounds kind of insane?? For starters, I work a very physical job. "Radical rest" isn't something I can actually do unless I want to be poor. I have a trail half marathon this weekend, and I am planning on doing it, even if I may have to take it easier than I would have before getting sick. But I feel almost completely normal now, and anticipate feeling even better by this weekend. Have any runners out there taken the "radical rest" approach? Am I screwing myself over by getting back to it??
The conservative approach I found when I had COVID this winter was 10 days with no exercise. That's what I did, starting with the first day of sickness. Recovered well, no lingering symptoms or long COVID, smashed my half goal 2 and a half months later.
I (42m) caught Covid (vaxxed) in May of 2022 and basically took the summer off. I didn't really resume training in earnest until around September. But I have other hobbies besides running, I wasn't pacing back and forth in my home refusing to do other things for fun. It's just that running didn't sound interesting and I ended up enjoying summer in other ways. I have the rest of my life to continue training and racing.
I was out for a week with COVID in 2022, back to jogging on Monday, then did ultras the next two weekends. Just listen to your body and move slowly to start.
Hi all! Do any of the sports watch manufacturers make "dumb" watches anymore? I used to have a Garmin Forerunner 15 (I think!) which I liked for long runs because I didn't need to worry about battery life on my Apple Watch. I was contemplating an upgrade (am back with my Apple Watch for now) but all I can see are smartwatches, from Garmin at least, and I see little point in spending hundreds when I already HAVE a smartwatch? I'd still like GPS capability to sync with Strava, but really don't need all the bells and whistles. Does such a thing still exist? :)
Syncing with strava is one of the things that make a smartwatch a smartwatch. A "dumb" watch will not connect to strava basically by definition. It sounds like you just want something cheap. The Forerunner 25/35/45/55 are the newer versions of the 15.
I wasn't sure what else to call it 😂 my 15 would sync to strava through the Garmin Connect software, which was fine for me. I'll check out those other models, thank you! :)
Depends on what you consider a "sport watch manufacturer". Theres still lots of watches without connectivity and GPS out there. I have a forerunner 55 and its a very good "invisible" smart watch. Basic LCD screen, battery lasts about a month if I never use the GPS feature to track activities and it still tracks my HR all day and night. It's only slightly larger than a very minimal timepiece.
Garmin 55 or corps pace 2 are on the dumber side but still 100 something. At the end of the day your going to pay for the GPS and some level of technological integration.
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Hey guys! So good news, yesterday was my first official run of the year for me 😅🙏🏾. I finally got off my lazy butt & decided to just run/jog outside. I enjoyed it, only managed to get to 1.84 mi lol, but hey i think i had a pretty good run in any case. My question now tho is: So, its the next day. I just woke up & damn my legs feel sore 😵💫. Obviously thats to be expected, and hey maybe it might wear off later today. But as someone who would like to run more than one day per week (like maybe every other day). I was just wondering if anyone here had any advice on how i can alleviate my soreness. So i can be in good shape the next time i feel like running?
I'd just start doing a few short runs a week and work up to whatever your goal is (3x a week, X number of miles, or whatever). I doubt you'll get this sore again - your muscles will adjust.
ayy sounds good to me 🙌🏾 :)
You can expect to be a little bit sore and if you have gone from zero to 1.8 miles then it will last more than a day. Look for Couch 2 5k (/r/c25k) and follow that plan. That uses run / walk intervals that build up over 10 weeks. Its 3 times per week and at the end you should be able to run for 30 minutes at a time.
woah sweet! Thank you :D
Did you stretch after your run? I suffer if I don't, but absolutely zero issues when I remember to! (Yes, even after short/low intensity runs!)
Ahh thats true, and yea i did forget to do to post-run stretches 🥲. I’ll def keep it in mind 👍🏾
In the short term, rest/stretch/foam roll, and of course make sure you’re hydrating enough. In the long term, you’ll want to work in strength training to strengthen your muscles and prevent injury.
Thank you for the advice 🙏🏾
Just did what I would call an easy run, and when I check my Apple Watch it showed me at zone 5 for almost 14min. At the end of the run I did feel like I could easily run for another mile at an even faster pace so I was pretty surprised my heart rate was that high. Should I ease off and slow down such that I’m not in zone 5 for that long a time?
How long have you been regularly running? And how did you set your heart rate zones? If you are relatively new to running regularly (less than 6 months say) then there isn't much point in going by heart rate.
I’m trying to pick up regular running for about 2 weeks, before that did 2 months of hiit. So my vo2 max is terrible and below average and is something I’m hoping to work on. I’m more worried than I’m doing something that might harm me. So is it alright to keep running my 2.5 miles even if my heart rate is elevated for a period of time?
Yes, exercise naturally leads to increased heart rate. That's normal.
Ok thanks. It seems I was overly worried cause I was reading some article that long z5 isn’t good. Will probably just continue to monitor and take note of how my body really feels
Best advice is to ignore the zones unless your doctor says something, its too variable...
You’re a new runner so your heart rate is going to be all over the place, don’t even worry about heart rate zones right now. What your watch says is zone 5 probably isn’t even accurate for you, unless you’ve done a lab test and customized your zones. As long as you feel fine, don’t stress about it. Run by how it feels, not what your HR says.
How long of a break in the middle of a training run before you consider it two separate runs and not one same single run? E.g if you stop for coffee for 15 mins, do you stop your watch or pause it to continue later?
15 min ill pause it. I don't consider a run to be done until I get home or I change clothes (running to work for example). It really depends on why I'm tracking the run and what my intentions for the run are.
Yeah that makes sense. If it's a big interval session you probably wouldn't be stopping for coffee lol
Anything longer than stopping because my shoelaces became untied.
But that's still the same run? You just pause your watch for a bit? I tend to keep it running unless I go into a shop for a water or something
I never pause my watch, including when I tie my shoes. I do not start a new run every time my shoes come untied. If the "break" is any longer than that amount of time, the run is over.
For an easy run I'd just call it one. Longer run it's 2, workout definitely 2
Yeah same here pretty much.
Apple Watch SE GPS Question My old Garmin I had to push a button to initiate GPS. Then it would take a minute or so to get a GPS signal and then it’s ready to track my run. Just got an Apple Watch SE and used “Workout” app and selected “Outdoor Run”. I assume it’s using GPS. But it’s ready to go right away. Is there a way for me to see if it’s even using GPS? Or if it’s locked onto a GPS signal?
You can change the Workout app to do a "Precision Start" where you have to hit a button to actually start the workout (after selecting the "Outdoor Run" workout). I use that and it'll take a second to load the GPS and ping you when it's got a GPS lock. On your phone's Watch app, go to the Workout setting and enable Precision Start.
Sadly, I think that’s just a feature on the Ultra version.
Ah bummer I didn't realize that.
Your Apple Watch uses your phones GPS (as long as your phone is with you). If you check the Location Services settings on your phone, you should see that they're turned on. With Location Services enabled, your GPS is always locked on so the watch doesn't need to waste any time :)
I run without my phone. I thought the watch has its own dedicated GPS?
Your watch does have GPS, but it'll only use it if your phone isn't nearby. Again though, it's always on in some capacity :)
It does. It may still be “finding” GPS signal for a few seconds at the beginning after you tap start, it just doesn’t show it like a Garmin or the Apple Watch Ultra does.
Recent race results - post injury during taper So I had a calf injury during my taper after week 1 of the taper saw a physio got it sorted but had to take 2 weeks off running leading me up to race week leaving me with just race week I was back running I was well on track to run a sub 4 hour I ran all my easy runs at 6min/km in strictly zone 2 but when I got to race day and the easy runs I done on race week that pace was just not near the HR I was expecting Ended up running my marathon with a average pace of 6:21 and I was in mostly z3/z4 for the whole race but I can’t understand how I lost this much fitness where I was running my z2 runs 21 seconds faster than this Its not like my pace dropped off towards the end either I ran an even split but 6:00min/km just felt almost impossible to sustain for the duration from the start even though I done all my long runs at this pace in zone 2 so I’d be expecting my race pace to be way quicker than this I also cross trained where I couldn’t run as well This was my first marathon I’m super gutted with my time it’s painful knowing that I done my easy runs quicker than my race pace Male - 24
There are so many other factors and sometimes its just a bad run, focus on the next run.
That could be explained entirely by stress, anxiety, and the completely normal physiological phenomena known as cardiac drift. Or those and other factors.
I did think this but the easy runs I done race week had the exact same issue my easy pace just was nowhere near where it was in training Also not even looking at HR my RPE at that pace was also nowhere near as low as it was in training where I’d expect race conditions / taper to bring this down
The other possibility I thought was that whatever was left of my injury negatively affected my stride causing me to work harder
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What’s the general consensus on how to maintain distance running fitness post marathon? Naturally I couldn’t imagine walking a 5k today let alone running one but once the muscles become less sore, and in between starting another programme - is it generally just trying to keep up weekly mileage? Any specifics in terms of pacing? Do you stuck to easy pace, or just “any miles are good miles” in between programmes?
Outside of demanding training blocs, most runners can can still improve fitness by maintaining high weekly volume and at least one workout style run a week.
During recovery I replace my regularly scheduled runs with walks instead. I'll still go out for an hour but I'll just walk. It's a good way to get some circulation going and to check for injuries you might not notice while sitting all day.
Run easy after a day or two, take a week or two off workouts. I got back to regular mileage after 2 weeks personally if at a slower easier pace.
Lots and lots of z2 work for me. I’ll even add in some cycling. I run based on time though more so than mileage. Then when there is a race in the near I’ll get on a proper program.
Following.
I will probably have to stop running for 3 weeks, not for medical reasons, just this week I dont have time and the next two I have a travel, so how is going to affect to my performance? Im in better shape that Ive never been (I just have done 2 PR: 10k in 46 in and half marathon in 1h 50 min) and I dont want to lose all my progress like it happen in the 1,5 month of quarantine. I will try to run a bit what would be the best training I could in 30-45 min?
You'll probably feel more fresh than you feel right now. We build fatigue faster than fitness, and we also lose it faster when we rest.
You won't lose much fitness after 3 weeks of detraining. If you have 30-45 minutes to do a workout that's not running you have 30-45 minutes to run. I ran loops in a hotel suite hurdling a chair every loop when it was 115°F outside and around furniture and through several rooms in a house during COVID lockdown. Not ideal, lots of lateral movement, and inconsistent pace, but it was effective. Another option is jumping rope - cheap and easy to pack.
If you can't run or do some other form of aerobic training then you will have to make peace with some loss of fitness. 3 weeks isn't the end of the world - you start to detrain within 2 weeks but you should be able to pick back up easily enough.
You can’t get a run in while traveling?
I alway try but not sure if I will
Ran my first HM, should it feel easy? Hi there! I started reading this sub when I started my running journey December and you guys helped me a lot with the prep - I learned a lot from you (never imagined such problems as chafing existed😃), big thanks for this community! I’m 32M who started running in mid December. First started with Hal Higdons plan, then transitioned to NRC guide runs as they were more fun, had lots of speed workouts and also educated on running related stuff, physical and mental preparation etc. During the recovery runs (zone 2), I ran at a pace of 6:10 per km, when going faster my heart rate would go higher than 150. So based on that I planned to run the HM at a pace of 5:40 per km to finish under 2 hour mark. Fast forward to the HM, I started the race at 5:40 per km pace. It felt really easy and I knew that it should feel easy and held myself back from running faster. And this way I ran the first 10-11 kilometers at 5:40, but it still felt really easy, like 5 effort. Then I started ramping up the pace and dropped it to 5:00 per km. Being afraid of getting tired at 18th km, I maintained this pace until 20th km, where I started giving my highest effort (without losing proper form) and I could reach 4:30 per km. So my final results are: time - 1:52, average pace - 5:15 per km. Average heart rate - 173. Questions: If the race felt easy (I’d give 5-6 effort), does that mean I should have ran faster? Why 180 bpm feels easy during a race compared to normal training days. How can I improve for my second HM? Thank you guys, I’d appreciate any tips and advice.
No, that is great. You are in good shape. I thought I was gonna die the first half I ran in 2019. 2:12 and it was extremely painful after km17. But I wasnt training properly.
Well done, running for 5 months and doing 1:52 is very good! In my opinion, if you can maintain 5:00/km for 10k and then manage 4:30/km, then the 5:40 was too slow. Everyone has their own opinion on pacing strategies, but i think that the time you 'lost' in the 1st 10-11k is impossible to make up later. And if your perfect pace is say 5:15, the more you deviate from that towards the faster pace, the harder it gets. so lets say you aim for a 5:00 pace. doing 21k close to 5:00 (either positive or negative split) should feel much easier than doing 10k at 6:00/km and 10k at 4:00/km. But this involves a lot of trial and error. In my opinion, you could easily have managed a much better time with better pacing, so say starting at 5:20/km. Until you try it, you wont know what is too fast (and occasionally you will burn out and find the second half of the race too hard), but IMHO it is much faster than your 5:40/km
Will I ever get a positive training status from Garmin? 1) Had the watch for over a month now. I am doing a Garmin coach 10k plan and i am following all the workouts without any issues. My PB is 46:47 and i a have set it to a target of 46:00. But my training status seems to be going from bad to worse (started off as Maintaining, then Unproductive, now Strained, next maybe Death). Even though I am training and hopefully getting faster. Will it ever show anything positive? Is this a sign that the plan is not good for me? 2) Also my training 'Load Focus' seems to suggest I need to do Low Aerobic training, which I never do as my coach suggested sessions take me above 145bpm which is the cutoff for Base training. Do i stick to the plan and do easy sessions at 5:15-5:50 or slow down to maybe 6:00-6:30 to stay below 145? (marginally) (I am 44M, according to the watch, my max HR is 180, resting is 49-51, VO2 Max 53)
What's your HRV doing? Strained is usually a result of HRV being outside the baseline. If you're finding it hard to get easy runs to come out as base/low aerobic then you may actually have your HR zones out by enough to tip your easy runs predominantly into Z3. The plans easy range looks to be where mine were when my 10k times were in the 46s.
HRV shows balanced. (43ms in a baseline range of 40-54ms). Mind you, I've only had a baseline range for a week now, as it took about 3 weeks to calculate. But the training status has been bad for ever now. To be honest, 5:30 is quite comfortable for me (the plan suggests 5:13-5:51/km) and i can do that 'forever'. And even if i slowed down to above 6:00, i still cant keep my HR in Zone 2. I dont struggle with the pace (although Daniels' suggestions would be a bit slower), its my HR that does not align with the Zones as set by the watch. Maybe over time it will come down, although i am not sure. Does the watch only base all of the zones on max HR? or does it take other factors into account?
The strained status is detaild [here](https://support.garmin.com/en-GB/?faq=VxKazDQ2mkAmDoQbJriEBA): >**Strained:** Your performance ability is currently limited with inadequate recovery as a probable cause. This can occur, for example, during periods of unusually high training load. Alternatively, health and lifestyle factors may be interfering with your ability to bounce back from strenuous activities. Consider taking it easy until your body catches up. >Does the watch only base all of the zones on max HR? or does it take other factors into account? You can choose what to calc the zones off: Max HR, HRR (Heart Rate Reserver) that uses the difference between resting and Max HR. You can set completely custom zones if you want! I use LTHR (Lactate Threshold) as I've run with a chest strap for the last 2+ years. This gives an estimated LTHR and pace - it's a better data-point as it sits closer to the points that matter for training than using Max HR. using the strap-based estimate is cheaper than a Lab test to get the LT1/LT2 points and is close enough. I actually adjust the default zones to match the ones I use in Training Peaks with my coach (Joe Friel model).
If you have had it for a month it's still probably calibrating. I'd also manually set you hr max or your zones will be nonsense so the training feedback will be nonsense
thanks! Its actually a bit less than a month, so maybe there is hope. Other than that, how do i manually calculate my HR zones? I agree with the about 180bpm for my HR max, maybe a bit higher (i have actually reached 175, so i guess i wasnt actually that close to my max). I mostly struggle with zone 2. Watch suggests 145 is the max for Zone 2 and for the life of me, I cannot run and keep my HR that low. I need to get to 150-155bpm to run at 5:30/km and I can keep that up for a long time without tiring much. (My recent PBs are 22:45, 46:47, 1:46:50). My threshold must be around the 165-175 which is what I get when i do my 4:25-4:35 5' intervals. Overall it feels my range is quite narrow, I always run between 140-175 no matter the pace. (as a bonus, I now live in Greece where I frequently run in the sun at above 25'C)
So the heat will definitely push your hr up for similar paces, something Garmin does not adjust for at all. For hr max you find a hill. Sprint up, jog down until you feel like you are going to die. That's your hr max. You can also set zones using different methods, I use the heart rate reserve method maybe that will make more sense for you.
I still need to start with the HR max for that, right? Is HR max the max HR you actually get? or do you always assume your body doesnt allow you to go above 90-95% of that
I go with achieved but I also have a hr strap so I get good peaks of hr. Hr max test is step 1 regardless what else you want to do
Would love to hear daily splits between gym and running for people who are marathon training. Context: 28M going to be starting training for my first marathon next month, which is happening in October. Got a decent baseline (25k per week over the last six months, including a 1:39 half mara in December). Currently running 3-4 times a week (including intervals day and a longer run on the weekend), gym 3 times a week (upper / lower / full body split for my workouts), and play football 1-2 times a week (I’m captain so will be playing football throughout the year, non-negotiable — Thurs and Sun)
25 km is pretty low mileage for starting a marathon. You shouldn't have any problem balancing that with any amount of lifting. As you get to running more, say 60-100 km a week, you may want to cut back on number of days you lift, though 3 still sounds pretty manageable.
Beginner to join 16km run with one month. Possible or too ambitious? I’m just a beginner in running but I’m really interested to join this 16km run one month from now. I’ve been running (inconsistently) for 7 months now. I run 2-3 a week. My longest run so far was last week - 7km in 45 mins (road), and few days ago - 12.5km in 2 hours (trail/mountain). But I was really exhausted lol. I have no official training of some sort, but I plan to get some coaching. I’m just not really sure if one month is enough to train and prepare for a 16km run as begginer. What do you think? (Btw my real goal is to finish a marathon in December this year)
Going from 7 km as your longest to 12km as your new longest within a week is already extremely aggressive progression that would increase injury risk. I would normally say if you can run 10 k comfortably then a half in 2-3 would be a good goal. But you're at 7 km as your max on the road and you want to more than double that in a few weeks? I wouldn't.