Have just acquired a Garmin Forerunner 45 watch and it has confirmed what I suspected for a long time namely I am running too fast during training. I completed the C25K programme in Spring last year and can now do a continuous 5km run but one thing that has not improved much over time is my speed.
One is supposed to keep within 50-70% of one's maximum heart rate during training whereas in one short test run today of the watch I was well over this most of the time in fact I was in Zone 5 for 61% of the time. This is probably the reason for my lack of progress in speed, in that I am trying too hard.
Many of the comments on this site say that one should not run too fast but without proper measuring equipment such as this watch it is difficult to determine whether or not one is too fast in training.
This Garmin watch is really for beginners at running but that is what I am and if I progress to doing longer runs than 5km then I will upgrade to another watch if I think this would be useful.
Written by
Comte
60minGraduate
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I've got the Forerunner 45 and really like it.For a long time I set it up to show my HR zones on my runs to help keep within the lower ones. It seemed to help
🙂 My old Garmin Forerunner 35 has seen me through the first 5 years of running.
Being able to measure the distance run pretty accurately, and being able to check your pace “in run” , are the two most important bits of data for me, although you develop a feel for the latter as you gain experience. I am using three paces at present; 7:30/k for easy pace long runs, 7:00/k for quicker long runs and easy short runs and 6:30/k for “quicker” short runs. I mess about with these speeds depending upon the state of my fitness at the time. For extending distance, I agree that slowing down is the way to go; just a question of you finding your own happy pace. Picking up pace is a separate exercise best focussed on short runs and/or intervals. Enjoy your progress and your watch. 👍
You should also take into account that you are still a relatively new runner. My heart rate was also very high after I completed c25k almost 2 years ago. I used to panic when I saw how high it was. You will find that you will eventually settle down as time goes by.
If you want your Garmin heart rate zones to make any degree of sense, Comte , you need to personalise them. The default setting on my Forerunner 45S was the 220 minus age formula, which is way out for me.
I find Garmin can certainly provide lots of data, but very little information. So I personally prefer to run by perceived effort, which works better for me than heart rate or pace numbers.
Have fun finding the best way to make Garmin work for you!
Remember it is just a watch. When you become more experienced at running and listening to your body you will be able to automatically pace yourself. Also don’t knock the technology, you don’t need anything fancier or more advanced than a Forerunner 45. I have a Forerunner 35 and I love it. Does everything I need it to do. It’s the older version of your watch.
A good tip is to set your display up to monitor distance, pace and time. And set your pace to display your average pace.
I’ve turned off all the smart features on my watch. It might be a smart watch but it should never have an opinion. Never allow it to tell you that your training is sub optimal. Happy running.
Another happy Forerunner 45 owner here. Like you, for the greater part of most of my runs my HR seems to be in the 'Maximum' zone. As Cmoi says, running by perceived effort works really well.
Thanks to checking my HR on my watch so often I can usually guess pretty accurately what the watch will tell me. According to the 220-age formula my maximum HR is 155.
If I'm doing, say, a 5k I'm happiest if my HR is no higher than 140-150. According to Garmin this is in the 'Maximum' zone but I still have a lot of oomph available at this level.
If HR goes much above 150 I get a nasty tight feeling in my chest, which goes away when I slow down, breathe deep and relax. I can't physically keep going at speed for more than a few seconds if my HR is over 160, it's too uncomfortable. Maybe there's some truth in the calculation lol.
The other week I deliberately tried to keep my HR down around 130 (Threshold) and it felt pretty unnatural.
By the way, I'm not a fast runner and being fast is not something I aspire to, but I am faster than when I started. Doing speed runs, intervals etc seems to speed me up, as does running in company (the competitive spirit gets triggered)
I’ve not got much quicker after nearly 3 years - can run a lot further though.
Default Garmin HR zones seem to be way out. It uses 220- your age as a default.
I only got sensible readings when I paired it with a chest strap and let it workout lactate threshold (don’t know if the 45 supports this). However with a bit of experimentation, you can personalise the zones. You need to find your max HR and work backwards.
Easy conversational pace, should be showing as zone 2-3 on your watch.
I found that having a pair of bone conduction ear phone blue toothed to my 245m with the pace every minute was a real bonus as I didn't have to look at the watch.
Don't forget, too, that you should start each run slowly, and build up pace as you go. Some say 80% of your running should be at a lower HR zone, but put in one or two shorter faster runs, like intervals or fartleks.
Have you checked on your uploaded data what you zones correspond to? What your zone 5 heart rate actually is? There are a couple of ways on Garmin Connect to set your zones, have a play around there.
Thanks for sharing this, Comte! I read your post and many comments with interest because I kinda want a gadget to measure my heart rate... Then I stumbled on an article that made me pause (again): They recommend newer runners use perceived exertion rather than gadgets... You can read it here - just sharing as some food for thought! runnersworld.com/beginner/a...
Thanks for all the valuable comments. I have read every one but cannot reply to every post. Whatever one thinks of the usefulness of this type of watch it certainly gives one a new perspective on one's running.
I’ve had the forerunner 35 since 2018 when I graduated . Having seen all the problems everyone has with their more sophisticated watches I’m happy to stick with this until it dies. 😂.
if you haven’t already, you can adjust the HR zones on your watch to match your body. So the max is what you reach in a fast run rather than the 220 minus your age formula .
I find that a parkrun, a slower long run and some intervals training each week works well for me. There are some guided runs on the NRC app which are useful ways of sticking to your plans. Have fun with your new toy
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