An Easy 50 Minute Run 😊👍🏃‍♀️

[Jools2020]

I decided this morning to do a Zone 2 run. It’s not often that I’ve had the determination to do this for the whole run! What usually happens is that I start off with good intentions and as soon as my heart rate increases, I don’t try and get it under control again - so the run ends up like all my other runs - increasing pace throughout the run.

I want to get back to running for longer though - and the best way to do this is to focus on the time spent on my feet with an easy effort. The fact that it’s still humid out there was the deciding factor!

So off I went on my warmup walk. I turned round and glided into a run. I think I stayed in Zone 1 for the first kilometre! I know that on this route there is a slight incline. I did encroach into Zone 3, but I slowed down and went back into Zone 2 again. Splits, of course, were all over the place! At the end of the 50 minutes I was close to 5K so I just ran on a couple of minutes. When the run was over, I wasn’t even out of breath and just glided into my cool-down walk.

It’s not so easy to do an easy run 🤣. If I don’t watch the zones I naturally increase pace and before I know it, I’m running in Zone 4. Garmin confirmed, though, that it was an easy effort!

Home for ☕️ and 🥣

😊🏃‍♀️👍

[SueAppleRun Graduate10 60minGraduate]

Oh Jools, how clever of you, a nice gentle pace and heartrate, and what a lovely looking place to run,

[Jools2020 Graduate10 in reply to SueAppleRun]

Thanks, Sue. It felt good not to push myself at any stage during the run!

[SueAppleRun Graduate10 60minGraduate in reply to Jools2020]

That's my next run, slow and steady then I'll see what works best for me, I jeffed it this morning

[Jools2020 Graduate10 in reply to SueAppleRun]

Good to have choices! 😊

[Runninggirl59 60minGraduate]

Excellent run Jools, easy means enjoyable in my book 😀

[Jools2020 Graduate10 in reply to Runninggirl59]

Definitely! 😄

[Gthants 60minGraduate]

Ok, that sounds excellent ... but - what is Zone 2/3/4 and how do you know you're doing it?

[Jools2020 Graduate10 in reply to Gthants]

I have my watch set up to tell me which heartrate zone I’m in. For easy effort, I like to stay in zones 2/3. Hard effort - Zone 4. Zone 5 I can’t sustain for long! Also - you can look at the stats afterwards. I could write pages 🤣 but probably best if you do some research if or when you think it might be useful 😊

Here’s a snapshot of the zones in my run this morning, from the Garmin app.

[Gthants 60minGraduate in reply to Jools2020]

That would be interesting for me - my heart rate is much elevated anyway!

[HeavyFoot Graduate10]

That’s a great idea. How do you check your zone level? I only have the poverty model 😂 Garmin Forerunner 45 and only see zone levels after saving at the end of the run.

[Jools2020 Graduate10 in reply to HeavyFoot]

I have the heart rate zones set up on my watch (Vivoactive 3). I can swipe the screen to see the full display - but I also have it set up as a decimal readout on the main screen of my watch face. So …. If I’ve just gone into Zone 3 for example, it will read 3.1. I seem to remember it took a long time to get my head round it!

[Teresa1632 Graduate10]

I've been trying to do this too, but it is so flippin hard! Well done sticking to it. You've given me hope - now I know it can be achieved!

[Jools2020 Graduate10 in reply to Teresa1632]

It can be hard and some days, for whatever reason, my heart rate is really difficult to get back down again. I can’t always do it. Sometimes it seems easier. There are so many different factors at play. If I can’t do it I just stop focusing on it and carry on with a steady run.