Who else feels like running at Z2 is surprisingly hard?
I do for sure.
I’m pretty sure my Z2 is correct in my HR range of 120 bpm-130 given that I run in this zone for 2hrs at a time and it works out as well if I use the 80/20 plan web calculator based on my LT (my fast intervals also work out correctly as well.)
At HR120bpm it’s a mildly annoying pace and at 130bpm it’s hard enough that even though I’m not huffing and puffing (I routinely run this pace every weekend for 1.5-2hrs), I can’t listen to music anymore as I have to focus to keep up the pace. I’m seeing 7:45-8:00/mi around that 130HR pace, so def not chilling.
I could definitely do conversation with full sentences, but by no means would I be enjoying it! It’s def not just ‘easy running’ for me where I can be enjoying a friendly conversation and not even thinking about the run effort one bit.
Z2 isn’t hard aerobically for me, but sometimes it’s hard from a musculoskeletal perspective. If I’m not careful, my form changes with slower running to the point of being inefficient.
I have steered away from zone 2 running. In particular by heart rate, I feel that it becomes more of a moderate effort than truly easy.
Try this calculator by Tinman Elite coach Tom Schwartz. His “easy” pace guideline is at least 2 mins per mile slower than what you could run for a 5k today. https://runfastcoach.com/calc2/index.php
Yes, I have definitely felt like Zone 2 is tough! I do 80/20 training, and it’s quite a difference when a run workout calls for just Zone 1 vs a short warmup in Zone 1 and then predominantly Zone 2.
sounds like you just need to go off your RPE for a bit and slow down. forget the zones and do what your body tells you to do.
This sounds right.
I’m a bike person, I should run slower than I do. But I’m stupid. Either way, my true Zone 2 pace is so slow that even on only like 4mi/wk I can pretty much go run a 1/2 marathon at Zone 2 pace and feel fine. Probably start getting bored.
I had to test this theory the other week when I dropped my car key half way out on a 10k at lunch and didn’t notice till I got back. Hence my forum topic about that on here recently! Facepalm, idiot, moron I was.
I learned how to run a low Z2 pace that second 10k!!!
I have steered away from zone 2 running. In particular by heart rate, I feel that it becomes more of a moderate effort than truly easy.
Try this calculator by Tinman Elite coach Tom Schwartz. His “easy” pace guideline is at least 2 mins per mile slower than what you could run for a 5k today. https://runfastcoach.com/calc2/index.php
Yeah, that’s def slower,although I still come in at “easy Tempo” pace which sounds about right for upper z2 HR using that chart.
I love running at “easy” pace of 9:00+/mile, but I don’t get to run many of those miles on the 80/20 plan! (Granted, it also has you running less than 30mpw for most plans, so something has to give - I ran LOTS of 9-11 min/miles when I was marathon training at 70mpw. LOTS!)
Side topic, but is there a zone system that everyone considers “standard” when throwing out zones? This is the 2nd thread I just read where a zone is specified without the context of a system. Is Coggan 7-zone implied unless otherwise stated?
Who else feels like running at Z2 is surprisingly hard?
I do for sure.
I’m pretty sure my Z2 is correct in my HR range of 120 bpm-130 given that I run in this zone for 2hrs at a time and it works out as well if I use the 80/20 plan web calculator based on my LT (my fast intervals also work out correctly as well.)
At HR120bpm it’s a mildly annoying pace and at 130bpm it’s hard enough that even though I’m not huffing and puffing (I routinely run this pace every weekend for 1.5-2hrs), I can’t listen to music anymore as I have to focus to keep up the pace. I’m seeing 7:45-8:00/mi around that 130HR pace, so def not chilling.
I could definitely do conversation with full sentences, but by no means would I be enjoying it! It’s def not just ‘easy running’ for me where I can be enjoying a friendly conversation and not even thinking about the run effort one bit.
Something is off here and I think it’s your expectations. You say zone 2 is (1) mildly annoying; (2) you aren’t huffing and puffing; (3) you run this pace for 1.5-2 hours regularly; and (4) you could (albeit, barely) handle a conversation. All that sounds about right except the conclusion you draw that it all
equates to a surprisingly hard run. Putting aside the fact that any run will be “harder†if you do it for 2 hours, I don’t think anyone of us consider a long run that has the above characteristics to be a “hard†pace. The part about inability to listen also seems way off to me but that’s personal as I can listen to music in any zone. Personally, as another poster said my legs get fatigued if it’s longer but I don’t find the pacing the least bit taxing from a HR perspective.
What can I say, that’s how I feel with Z2. Maybe I’m just a wuss when it comes to Z2 running!
Note I’m not saying it’s an objectively HARD run. Its’ not - I do plenty of Z3-Z4 and even Z5 stuff, and its a lot harder, for sure.
Still, I’d be lying to say it’s all easy street for me at Z2. When that 80/20 plan calls for 90 minutes at Z2, even though aerobically I’m not dying, I’m going hard enough that it’s would be seriously annoying if someone was running and was expecting to be all chatty. And as said, I can’t even do audiobooks at high z2 - that gets annoying too, while at Z1, I love listening to audiobooks, even for 2 hrs.
But as said, I’m pretty sure it’s a ‘real’ Z2 for me, given that I run it weekly without a megabeatdown, and for sure I don’t get into Z3-5 which I also know from doing that later in the week (those line up as well correctly HR wise).
For sure though, it’s very clear to me that I would obviously get faster by doing a lot of volume at this pace, especially given the pace picks up as I get more fit. I’m not sure I’d say I feel that way with Z1, where you really wonder if you are improving with all those Z1 miles. (I still feel strongly those Z1 miles are a critical base for long stuff for marathon training, though. Not as much so for Oly triathlons given you’re likely running <30mpw.)
Its really really hard for me to run in Zone 2, but its more mental than physical. It just feels so slow that it drives me crazy.
I literally NEVER feel that way (anymore).
I do come from a pure running background though, so I’ve never really run slower than the equivalent of training for a 20:xx 5k for the past 25 years, so it’s probably not too surprising.
Similarly, my lack of swim background as well as my super limited swim training time absolutely leads to atrociously slow Z2 HR times in the pool. Like really sad.
Just knocked my numbers into this and Zone 2 on there ranges from a steady pace to very easy for me, I tend to follow the Jack Daniels running paces.
Currently increasing my miles, taking the covid break as a reason to do a running block, I’ve averaged 10mpw for the last couple of years and so far this year ive worked myself up to 30mpw all on a diet of easy/steady paced runs depending on how the legs are feeling on the day. But I wouldnt run them all steady which would be the top end of this 80/20 zone 2 because i wouldn’t recover (220lbs runner).
I find HR and breathing not to be an issue and the majority of the time they feel great, but you do get days where you are fatigued and ‘easy’ pace doesnt feel easy muscularly and you cant wait for it to be over… but I mean it certainly doesnt feel tough like a 5k/10k/tempo kind of pace where you are breathing harder and having to work for it, the pace is still easy to hit.
Z2 isn’t hard aerobically for me, but sometimes it’s hard from a musculoskeletal perspective. If I’m not careful, my form changes with slower running to the point of being inefficient.
That’s exactly what happens to me. Per heart rate if I stay in my true Z2 (zones based off track testing) then I find I have a hard time keeping my form and cadence where it feels comfortable and I end up hurting from it as in pain, not effort. My run becomes almost a shuffle and it gets ugly. I’ve found if per my HR I’m more high Z2/low Z3 I can keep the cadence and form that feels good and let’s me build. It’s a slow build and it’s a process but it’s kept me more injury free and given better results.
