Heart Rate Training – 6 Practical Steps

In response to my 30-day challenge one of our RunRunLive members Judith sent in a response with a wonderful undertaking of this short quest.  She is learning how to heart rate train and more specifically how to train in zone 2.

A quick review for the uninitiated.  Most runners use a 5-zone HR method.  HR is used to accurately measure your effort level independent of pace and time and other conditions.  It is good for us old folk for whom pace is no longer a great indicator of effort level.

Why do athletes care about heart rate training?  Because it builds aerobic fitness.  What is aerobic fitness?  It is the physical capacity to race.  Consistent aerobic training as part of your base building causes your body to adapt at the cellular level by, among other things, making more mitochondria.  But, I’ll leave the science to someone else.  The big point to remember is that you only get these aerobic benefits if you can train in zone 2.  You don’t get them if you train in zone 3.

If you look at your effort level on a scale of 0 to 5, with zero being sleeping, 1 being walking 2 being basically a slow idle, 3 starts to get into tempo 4 is getting into racing and 5 is all out.  On the surface running in zone 2 sounds like it wouldn’t be a challenge.  For people who have never practiced HR training, running in zone 2 is the biggest challenge.  It was for me when I started.  It will be for you.

Getting to and maintaining zone 2 is not natural until you practice it.  That’s why I love Judith’s idea, because an introduction to the zone 2 practice is perfect for a 30 day project.

Here’s the big reveal; before you understand the practice of HR training, when you go out for an easy run, you are typically running in zone 3.  Before acquiring the discipline of heart rate training your effort will naturally float up to a zone 3 before it starts getting uncomfortable.  Then you just sort of hangout there at that effort level, not too hard, not too easy.  That’s our natural training set point.

This creates an interesting situation where to run at an easier effort level you need to focus.  It requires practice.  It is harder than you would think.  I’ll give you some tips from my experience for your HR practice.

1. First, your body takes some time to warm up. This includes you heart.  Don’t expect to immediately drop into zone 2 when you start running.  The older you are the longer it will take.  For example; it may take 10 -20 minutes for my body to warm up and find a zone 2 heart rate.  My first tip to you is don’t look at your watch for the first 10-20 minutes.  Just run easy.  The, when you’re good and warmed up, you can practice getting into Z2.  You might even stop and resettled yourself at the 1 or 2 mile mark before you start the practice.
2. Second, getting into and staying in zone 2 will feel unnatural at first. Don’t get frustrated.  Treat it as a practice, a discipline and a learning experience.  Don’t beat yourself up.  When your effort level creeps into zone 3 for no apparent reason, don’t get frustrated.  Instead treat it as an opportunity to practice getting back into Zone 2.
3. Third, try to get into zone 2 by adjusting your form. Pull up those shoulders.  Have a straight head with a loose neck. push the hips forward, run with your feet underneath you.  Hands high and loose.
4. Next, once you have your form nice and clean, try to relax into that form. Let all the tension drain out of your head and face and shoulders and arms.  Unclench your fists – shake out your hands if you must.  Smile a little.  Focus on your breathing.  Take nice big breaths in through your nose and mouth and nice big exhales out the same.  Use your lungs and your diaphragm.  Feel the rhythm of your breathing.
5. Next, focus on your cadence. Zone 2 running requires a light, quick, easy cadence.  Picture your feet hitting the ground lightly and quickly, pat, pat, pat.  Look at your watch and time your left or right foot strike for 10 seconds.  Multiply that by 6 and it should be within 3 beats of 80.  If it is too slow focus on getting that light quick turnover.
6. Finally bring it all together. The form, the cadence, the breathing and try to integrate all of this into your practice.  Now when you are out running you’ll be able to walk down this checklist of form, relaxation and cadence.  You’ll notice that your HR will start adjusting faster, and you will get to the point where you can almost instantaneously control your heart rate.  That is one of the indicators of great aerobic conditioning, when you can recover your HR quickly in a workout.

It will be hard to master. It will take a couple weeks to turn the corner.  It requires practice.  That is what makes it a great 30-day project.  If you’re serious about HR training you will need to practice it.

HR sessions tend to be longer as well.  Most of my aerobic training runs are between 1 and 2 hours long.  With HR training, you train by time, not pace or distance.  I only have time and HR zone in my Garmin display.  That keeps me from worrying about pace.

After a couple weeks of practice you should find that you are running the same pace that you used to train at in zone 3, but now you are comfortably doing it in zone 2.  This means you’re burning less energy.  You are going faster and farther with less effort.  This is the payoff.  This capacity comes in quite handy in a race.

Practice.