Are you looking to improve your running performance by understanding the right effort levels? Zone 2 running, often referred to as easy running, is the key to building endurance while avoiding burnout—let’s explore how training in the correct zones can help you reach your goals.
Zone 2 is often misunderstood because 1) it is hard to generalize what that pace or effort is for the masses and 2) it’s hard to compare it to non-endurance athletes because it doesn’t translate well to other sports.
What is Zone 2 Running?
Zone 2 running doesn’t need a daily celebration. It’s foundational. If Zone 2 were Math Class, it would be doing multiplication facts correctly on a test about fractions. Zone 2 running is the building block, the foundation, of all other runs you do.
Zone 2 running is the running you do before you start adding workouts into your training. It’s running that is easy in nature and doesn’t require a lot of recovery. It’s running that is enjoyable, where you can stop and smell the roses.
Easy running is the stacking of the bricks in your training.
Why Zone 2 Running is Important
Zone 2 running doesn’t need a daily celebration. It’s foundational. If Zone 2 were Math Class, it would be doing multiplication facts correctly on a test about fractions. Zone 2 running is the building block, the foundation, of all other runs you do.
Zone 2 running is the running you do before you start adding workouts into your training. It’s running that is easy in nature and doesn’t require a lot of recovery. It’s running that is enjoyable, where you can stop and smell the roses.
Easy running is the stacking of the bricks in your training.
Common Misconceptions About Zone 2
– Zone 2 is a different pace for every runner.
– Your [Garmin] watch is most likely not set up for accurate zones according to your true heart rate.
– Zone 2 running requires you to run within a certain percentage of your maximum heart rate. If you don’t know your true maximum HR, then you don’t know your Zones.
– Saying you ran in Zone 2 is great, but only if your heart rate matches what you say you did. For example, let’s say I crush a “Zone 2 run”, and share it on Instagram, but my HR data says I was in the 170s, well, then I wasn’t running in Zone 2, that’s for sure.
How to Train in the Correct Zones
Is it important to know your heart rate zones? Eh. It’s helpful if you know your max heart rate, but if you don’t know what your max is, then you can’t determine your zones anyway.
Instead of focusing on what your watch says is Zone 2, you should focus on perceived effort. If your run feels easy and your heart rate confirms this, then you’re probably in the right zone.
If you get done your run and you are doubled over, then it’s possible you’ve left easy running and gone into a higher zone. This isn’t the worst thing in the world to do, but if you do it too frequently, you aren’t allowing your body to adapt to the benefits of easy running.
The Pitfalls of Running in the Wrong Zones
If you find yourself running in the wrong zone on any given run, you may not find it’s that big of a deal. If your easy run should be done between 8:30 and 9-minute pace, what’s the big deal if you crank it down to 7:45s per mile? Honestly, one run won’t make a big difference. A week of too-fast runs may not even make a big deal… But week after week of running too fast will lead to some lasting issues that really only slow running or time off will help fix.
- Slower runs allow you to recover
- Helps you build mitochondria and stronger capillaries
- Failure to adapt to harder runs
- Higher mileage requires more easy miles; lower mileage you might be able to run a bit faster
Practical Tips for Effective Zone 2 Training
1) Heart Rate Monitor
Training via a heart rate monitor is a very useful tool if you know your max heart rate. If you do, great!
Here’s what you’d do:
Using your max heart rate, different percentages equate to different training zones. The percentages below are based on max heart rate!
- Easy running: 65-79%
- Tempo running: 80-90%
- Threshold running: 88-92%
- Interval (5k) running: 98-100%
You can train within these zones based on the percentage of your maximum heart rate. I wrote an entire blog post about heart rate training and you can read it here.
2) Based on Paces
In this current climate, races are hard to come by, but if you have a race or a race effort available to use the data, and you feel your race performance is an accurate representation of your current fitness, you can use the race performance to indicate your training paces.
Personally, I use a combination of Jack Daniels’ formula and Tinman’s calculator to come up with training paces for myself and the runners I coach.
If you’ve run a 5k in 20:00, you can put that data into either calculator and determine current training paces for workouts.
Find both of their calculators in the links above.
3) Based on Feel
This method is the hardest to get correct because it is less driven by science/data and more by intuition and feel. Coaching runners and instructing them to run by feel is open-ended and takes some trust that they won’t run too fast or too slow.
An experienced runner will fare much better running by feel than someone who has just started. A newer runner probably will struggle to find their threshold pace/feel because they haven’t done a whole lot of running at this effort level. All running feels the same and the difference between an easy run and an interval run is blurred.
Conclusion
Zone 2 is easy running. If your watch is properly set up with correct/accurate zones, then use those zones to help keep you in “easy run effort” for those types of runs.
But if your watch isn’t set up to know your max HR, then use the talk test: if you can talk in full sentences, your run is easy enough.
Stack multiple weeks and months of easy running and then incorporate quicker running like tempos, thresholds, and intervals.
Whether you’re unsure about your heart rate zones or want to make sure you’re getting accurate data, I’m here to help.
Need help running in the correct zones? Do you or someone you know want to get expert training advice in the form of a running coach? It might be time to get a coach to help get you over the hump.
Remember, you can benefit from having someone write the training for you so you can focus on executing!
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