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Pace and HR on the run

Jon BergmannJon Bergmann
in General Training Discussions

 This morning as I was doing my brick the workout called for a Z2 run for 25 min.  I went with my pace (A 7:48 pace) and my HR was not even close to a Z2 zone.  It was more Z4.  Any ideas.  Was I pushing it too hard?

Thanks

Jon

Comments

  • mattsullmattsull

    Hi Jon,

    This has been coming up a lot with newer folks. I would not pay too much attention to your HR. Go by power and pace. I didn't even wear my strap today for either my bike or run.

    I have found that forcing myself to hold pace has forced me to work much harder. That's one of the reason's that I think pace is more effective. There can be a large drift with HR. Your pace can fluctuate quite a bit when going by HR, depending on multiple reasons. A 7:48 mile is a 7:48 mile! You earned the right to run at that pace by testing.

    Hope this helps.

  • Jon BergmannJon Bergmann

     thx.  that is what I was thinking.  I will hold the pace.  

  • mpaliosmpalios

    Jon, I had the opposite happen to me this morning.....I had the 2x2M at Z4.  I got nowhere close to Z4, and I was going 10" faster than my Z4 pace (oops on my end).  I was actually high Z2 for maybe 3.5 of the 4 miles.

    I'm thinking that my zones are way off or I did my test when it was ~70 degrees, and now I'm running when it's ~60 degrees.  So, I just don't worry about it.  I'm pretty sure that my times/suggested paces are close to on target.

     

  • Dave TalloDave Tallo

    A small piece to add here, Jon ... how's your hydration in these brick runs? I sweat off a ton of fluid during a FT bike session, and unless i'm making very deliberate efforts to hydrate during the bike, I can go into the bricked run rather dehydrated. As a result, I occassionally experience a substantially higher HR.

  • William JenksWilliam Jenks
    I continue to wear my HR strap, mainly as a secondary indicator, but I basically agree with Matt. It makes you work harder to push a particular pace in the long run.

    HR advocates will make the reasonable point that pace is subject terrain and conditions (e.g., temp, winds). However, HR just isn't the power-meter stand-in we all kind of wish it were, either. It's also a fatigue meter, a hydration meter, etc. :-)

    If you train by pace and you decide to make an adjustment due to terrain/weather, you are at least being conscious about it and making a rational decision...e.g., I'm going to allow myself an extra 15 sec/mile because the wind is so hard in my face. With HR, you don't have to think like that, I'll agree. But the big drawback is that too many things tweak the HR...it's not just the "power" that you're putting out.

    Another reason I tend to work harder using pace - which may just be me, not a general phenomenon - is that my MP and HMP are at a pretty high PE and HR (all things being equal). This has effectively raised the bar for my middle-intensity work, i.e., the stuff less than threshold, but faster than "easy"....stuff that used to be zone 2 HR is now faster than it used to be.

  • Brenda RossBrenda Ross
    I just did my first bike ride with power and I stayed in the wattage assigned, but was a good 10 beats lower than HR assigned. I will stick with power assigned?
  • Nemo BrauchNemo Brauch
    Brenda- train based on the power assigned and for now, just observe what that means in terms of Heart Rate. As you get more comfortable using the power meter and understanding how all these numbers work together, you'll be able to use the HR information to make adjustments on race day (or in training) when things don't seem to be lining up the way they usually do. The HR info becomes a seconday piece of information you use to troubleshoot later on. But for now, as a noob to Power- just ride to the watts.
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