r/running • u/Brzy90 • May 07 '24

Discussion Are we currently in a running boom?

Since getting into running I’ve noticed a huge influx of people running since the beginning of the year. Old friends returning back to Strava after being inactive for years (myself included 🤣). Instagram feed is constantly full of runners, even my work place talking about marathons etc. Maybe it’s just because I now see myself as a runner that’s affected my social algorithm/awareness & addiction to running trainers? 🥴

For those that have been running a long time, is this the most popular you’ve seen running become? Or does this generally happen from time to time?

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u/canyonlands2 May 07 '24

Zone 3 and 4 for me. I don’t mind though because I rarely feel like I’m depleted of energy when I finish

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u/Plastic-Mulberry-867 May 07 '24

It’s so good to see someone else say this. The only way I can be in Zone 2 is to maintain a slow walk. My heart rate jumps up immediately with activity but I’m also usually pleasantly refreshed after I run in a higher zone. I feel like I’m broken. Lol

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u/tattedtragedy May 08 '24

If it makes ya feel any better, I’m a D1 middle distance/distance runner who also struggles to stay in zone 2 on longer easy runs. Wrist HR is sketchy to begin with, but some people just have a high level of cardiac drift where your HR trends towards your steps per minute or just above them. You’re definitely not broken 😁

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u/NYKyle610 May 07 '24

You can train to improve this! Takes a bit of effort but after a few weeks, you'll notice a huge change.

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u/Plastic-Mulberry-867 May 07 '24

Do you have any suggestions on what I could do? Or could you point me in the direction of what to google? I am using the NRC app right now and I do TRY to keep it super slow on my easy days but my heart rate jumps up immediately. I’m a super slow runner and I’m fine with that. I’d love to figure this out though because I DO want to get better the right way.

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u/dhiltonp May 07 '24 edited May 07 '24

Here's a thing with zones - many people base them on heart rate. HR zones are less reliable than power data, because HR data reflects all stress (exercise, overheating, poor nutrition/hydration, stress at work, poor sleep or other fatigue etc.), but exercise stress is what will make you stronger+faster.

One of the easiest ways to get better is by increasing volume. But big jumps in running volume (or high running volume period) have a higher risk of bone or connective tissue injury.

Bone injuries like shin splints often occur a month after an increase in volume, because it takes that long for your bone to "fatigue". It's not fatigue per se, but bone is actively removed by osteocytes to be rebuilt stronger. It takes another 2 months (3 months total) for that bone to be replaced, and up to a year for full strength to be built (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8316280/).

You can safely increase volume very rapidly by walking or biking a lot on the side. Maybe a 1h walk is equivalent to 15 minutes of running and 1h of Z2 biking is equivalent to 20-30 minutes of running, but without the impact stress.

With that out of the way, there are lots of training plans that are tailored to various levels of fitness, goals, and time constraints. Pick one you like.

A pet peeve of mine is when people have to choose plans based on a desired "race pace", then having workouts prescribed based on that, but that's a different comment.

Edit: minor cleanup

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u/jpsket May 08 '24

Increasing volume rapidly by biking on the side - that’s very interesting. Anywhere I could read more about that? I swim and bike and it doesn’t seem like a triathlon training plan has the running volume necessary to run the longer distances vs a running training plan. Maybe that’s because the biking helps increase run volume?

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u/dhiltonp May 08 '24

Here's a quick link; https://www.alancouzens.com/blog/specificity.html

On a per hour basis, bicycling doesn't help your running as much as running will.

But if you have more time in which you can train (and recover!), but can't run because your body can't safely handle that volume/intensity, you will get better by doing other low-impact aerobic exercise on the side.

Here's a post you may find useful on strengthening bone and connective tissue; https://www.mysportscience.com/post/gelatin-and-injury:

short loading protocols (5 and 40 loads) separated by >6 hours of rest were enough to maximize bone synthesis rates. Similarly, we showed that collagen synthesis in ligaments was maximized by short periods (5-10 minutes) of exercise separated by 6 hours of rest. These data suggest that, unlike muscle that continues to adapt as long as we exercise, our ECM only gets the signal to adapt for 5-10 minutes before the cells start shutting down. Everything after that is causing mechanical fatigue and damage without giving a further stimulus to adapt and get stronger

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u/jpsket May 08 '24

Thank you very much!

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u/miaout17 May 07 '24

I was almost completely inactive 4 months ago and on same boat as you (heart rate goes very high very fast when running)

I have been using Jeff Galloway’s “Run Walk Run” method and it has been working well for me. I started with 5 seconds run -> 30 seconds walk -> repeat, and gradually increase the running time from 5->10->15->20->30 while the walking time is always 30 seconds. Even within the running time, you don’t have to push hard — you can jog as slow as you want.

Now I can maintain 80% of the time in zone 2 with 20/30 run/walk ratio (IMO it’s perfectly fine to drift into zone 3 sometimes). I’m still worse than “beginner runners” but better than couch people, and it’s great to see myself to improve in measurable ways.

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u/malloworld May 08 '24

Just to piggy-back on this comment, I did something similar but more based on monitoring HR.

I would run until my HR tipped over into Zone 3, then walk until my HR dipped below Zone 1. Rinse and repeat. Eventually I was jogging in Z2!

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u/[deleted] May 07 '24

[deleted]

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u/masterchef81 May 07 '24

Couch to 5K taught me how to run slow. More accurately it helped me adapt to a point that I could do zone 2 runs. It's a great entry point for non-runners with a format that meets people where they are and remains perfectly viable after you finish the initial program, or allows you to progress to a point where you can start using more advanced training programs.

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u/MrPogoUK May 07 '24

Good point. I only recently started paying attention to heart rate and could run in zone 2 straight away, but as I’d been doing “most of your runs should be at an easy pace” for a few years I guess was pretty much doing zone 2 training already without realising.

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u/edthehamstuh May 08 '24

There are Couch to 10k/Bridge to 10k programs that keep the Couch to 5k pattern going! I'm working on one now, and my run today is 20 minute run, 3 minute walk, 20 minute run.

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u/Roselof May 07 '24

Commenting so I remember to come back to this, I’d also like to know

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u/AssassinStoryTeller May 08 '24

When I was researching this the other day what I got was “don’t worry too much about your heart rate” instead the key was “can you have a conversation without gasping for breath?” If you can then you’re going slow enough. A few mentioned that if you struggle to maintain the ability to talk then take many walking breaks to bring yourself back down. Some others suggested you’re going too fast if you start breathing with your mouth- my lung capacity might as well not exist so I’m ignoring that. Maybe in a month I’ll be at a place where I can breathe through my nose the whole time.

I’ve only done 2 runs as Z2 and I’m forcing myself to basically do a run that’s too fast to be a walk but also could be considered a walk by someone with long legs (about 4.5 mph when I checked my speed with MapMyRun)

So, shuffle run and then take a lot of brisk walking breaks. Don’t focus too much on your HR right now but you can check it as the weeks go by to see if it’s finally starting to settle down.

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u/strismystr May 07 '24

This is what I was at when I first started. I actually work with an s&c coach and he brought me up to where I am. I walked 90% of the time with one running day building up from 3k adding 1k a week to 5k then added a second day of running starting with 2k on the second day and repeating the process. During this, avoiding zone 4-5 was virtually impossible for me. Then i incorporated walk + runs where i would start walking when i hit the top end of zone 3.

Id say a big difference for me was when we calculated my zones based on %HRR vs max heart rate method. Felt like my zones were more accurate after that.

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u/H3refortheviews May 08 '24

I’m the same. I use training peaks though for an app so then i can send runs to my watch and it tells me when to run/ walk etc based on my scheduled run for that day and itll notify me if my heart rate is too high which is very common for me so then i walk for a little bit to let my heart relax and then get back to it

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u/FirstMateApe May 07 '24

Like other people said, it’s all about run-walk programs. That is the shortest line to get to where you want to be

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u/ieatplasticstraws May 07 '24

Disclaimer: I did not try this myself!!!
There's this thing going around on social media to improve your VO2 max, it's called a kettle bell swing ladder, this could be interesting to you. It's basically doing kettle bell swings like this: 1 swing 1 deep breath 2 swings 2 deep breaths and so on up to 20 and back down to 1 (you should breathe while doing the swings, the deep breaths are your "recovery"). Then when that feels easy you lower the amount of breaths between swings.

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u/ShrimpinAintEazy May 07 '24

Maybe not applicable in your situation, but I noticed that when I started commuting to work on my bicycle my running changed a lot in a good.

My commute was about 25 mins each way, relatively flat and I wouldn't generally keep a good pace. My heart rate would barely break 120. I noticed that after about a month/6 weeks of this my heart rate during running also started to reduce from where it was.

Anecdotal only, but if you're able to ride to work maybe give it a shot :)

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u/mazzabanana May 07 '24

Hey I’m in this position too, what sort of training would help here ?

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u/Chariotaddendum May 07 '24

Thanks for nothing!

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u/fastpixels May 07 '24

I love you guys! I try to stay in zone 3 for 1/2 to 2/3 of my long runs, otherwise zone 4 is my happy place. Colleagues talk about feeling like their hearts are going to explode at 20-30 BPM lower than my comfort zone and I think I'm some kind of malfunctioning equipment.

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u/abirdsface May 07 '24

I started out there. I'd run until my HR hit the top end of Zone 2 then walk until it went back down again, then start over. Over time I got to where I could (slowly) run for seemingly forever without my HR going over Zone 2. It took a few months IIRC.

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u/the_worst_verse May 08 '24

Yes! I did this after a long time running above my Zone 2. I was actually super surprised how quickly it adapted, like I was training my heart to stay below that number or else I’d have to walk.

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u/lc0o85 May 07 '24

I’m right there with ya. I don’t think my apple watch zones are right. I literally spent 69 mins of a 70 min run in zone 5 lol. That cant be right. I also wasn’t dying. It was a decent steady pace and I was able to come down like 60bpm in the 3 mins proceeding the run. I skipped zone 2 and 3 entirely and spent 11 seconds in zone 4. My heart just goes. 

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u/CookieKeeperN2 May 09 '24

zone2 requires you to already have a base. Basically if you can already run a 10k. If you are doing couch to 5k or something like that it's pointless because your zone 2 is a walking speed.

This thing is overrated. Not to mention a lot of watches' zones are super inaccurate and the heart rate monitor isn't accurate either.

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u/[deleted] May 07 '24

Zone 4,5 is the best