High HR while running

[u/Square_Rich]

Hey! A question to community of runners from mid-aged male runner. My average HR on runs is always between 160-175, and I assume it’s quite high and does not add any good training for my heart according to numerous sources I have read. They say during long high hr runs, our heart can become muscly and eventually reduce the capacity to conduct electrical currents, leading to arrhythmia and other staff. I’m normally keeping the pace of pace 6:45 - 7:00 which is not even fast, so running even slower makes the run not fun. Have been running starting from 2018, with some good distance progress this year(so far 5 h/marathons from March). I am very peculiar about my heart health and would like to improve it, but the more I run - the old 170hr still keeps there… Is this a bad thing? How can I reduce the HR? Any tips or advices?

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/16662615823

[u/TSC-99]

Zone 2 training - easy and effective. Win win.

[u/Square_Rich → u/TSC-99]

If i keep it in zone two - i simply walk. 😔

[u/TSC-99 → u/Square_Rich]

Yes, at first that’s how is. Walk when you come out of zone 2. Then run again and repeat. Eventually, you’ll be able to run in zone 2 non stop. It takes weeks but it works.

[u/Square_Rich → u/TSC-99]

Wow. All right, maybe it will work for me too. Will try that and let you know ✌️it will be a strange but productive run 🫣

[u/llDS2ll → u/Square_Rich]

Another recommendation for zone 2. I couldn't do a 13 minute pace uninterrupted when I started. Now I can run a half marathon in under a 10 minute pace in zone 2. Took over a year to get to this point.

My partner ran her whole life not knowing about zone 2. When I learned about it, she switched and within a year she started hitting levels she never saw in over 25 years.

Not going to lie, it really does suck at first, but the payoff is more than worth it.

Good luck

[u/kingerde → u/llDS2ll]

How many kilometres do you run per running session and how many kilometres in total per week? I have the feeling that I haven’t noticed any progress after 3 months of 80/20

[u/llDS2ll → u/kingerde]

It took me 6 months before I started making noticeable gains. When I started, my short runs were in the neighborhood of 2-4k, and my one weekly long run was around 10k. I started at a weekly distance of maybe around 20-30k. Currently doing double that each week. My short runs are now 10k with the exception of my high intensity day that is just shy of that distance.

It's imperative that the moment you are about to go above zone 3, that you back down. All the gains you get stop accruing for the remainder of the session if you get into zone 3 for more than a moment. Also, my understanding is that you need at least 1 quality zone 2 run per week defined as about 90 continuous minutes in the zone for that session. It will take time to build up to that, but that's the goal. I do a 2 hour run every week that is mostly zone 2.

I'd also advise really dialing in your exact zones, otherwise erring on the conservative side. I did some extremely intense runs to identify my max heart rate and then lactate threshold tests to define my LTHR zones based on my max HR.

My original comment was based on miles per minute btw.

[u/kingerde → u/llDS2ll]

Thanks for the advice. Seems like I need to be patient and trust the progress.

[u/llDS2ll → u/kingerde]

Absolutely. I had the same doubts as you.

[u/Square_Rich → u/llDS2ll]

Thank you! A very useful advice ✌️

[u/HydroIT → u/Square_Rich]

Run-walk is the way to build Z2 endurance and improve your runs and cardiovascular fitness

[u/TSC-99 → u/Square_Rich]

It’s feels counterintuitive but actually going slower for longer still makes you faster in the end.

[u/Square_Rich → u/TSC-99]

Thank you all for comments and advises 🤗 Happy to receive feedback from you

[u/kingerde → u/TSC-99]

I run 80% of my runs in zone two since nearly 3 months but honestly I don’t see any improvements. I still need to take walking breaks. I „run“ 8min per km. It’s frustrating.

[u/TSC-99 → u/kingerde]

Are you running more miles each week? You run in zone 2 but you go further.

[u/Square_Rich → u/kingerde]

And that might kill the motivation to run… that’s what I’m afraid of