Types of runs…please come in

[Anonymous]

Runners, what is on your weekly schedule in terms of types of runs? How many Zone 2, speed, hills, tempo?

I am running 17-20 miles a week and all are at Zone 3. Goal is to get faster and also increase mileage slowly.

Thx!

[Anonymous]

I’m obsessed

[Anonymous]

I do a long 5 mile run on the weekend, and during the week I do a 30 min interval run before crossfit about 3x a week.

[Anonymous]

I generally do 3-4 runs per week, all zone 2/3. Usually 2-3 at 3-3.5 miles and 1-2 at 4-5 miles. I live in a super hilly area, so they are unavoidable.

[Anonymous]

OP here, does anyone do strictly zone 2 long runs and separate zone 3 interval/HIIT runs?

[Anonymous]

Most runs should be easy - zone 1 or 2. A couple quality days should have some z4 or z5. There is far less benefit doing some or most of your runs in zone 3.

[Anonymous]

Depends on the weather. If it's nice all week, I will only run outside. That is 2-3 30-40 minute runs and one 60+ minute run that I drive to. If it's raining, really cold, or I'm busy on my workout day, I'll take it to the basement and do a Peloton run (intervals) on my treadmill, maybe a strength class. The long, endurance runs are zone 3 or 4 and the intervals are zones 2-zones 5.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here, does anyone do strictly zone 2 long runs and separate zone 3 interval/HIIT runs?

I barely break a sweat on zone 2 runs. It's hard enough staying in zone 3. I made a running post a few weeks ago and people kept asking why I was focused on my heart rate. I don't get it.

[Anonymous]

80/20
80% of your running should be zone 2 long slow distance
20% should be tempo zone 4 and above.
Zone 3 is hard enough to slow recovery, but not really hard enough to get the benefit of speed work

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:80/20
80% of your running should be zone 2 long slow distance
20% should be tempo zone 4 and above.
Zone 3 is hard enough to slow recovery, but not really hard enough to get the benefit of speed work

I can basically never sustain zone 4. I don't know how people do this. I would have to sprint the entire time and I can't do that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here, does anyone do strictly zone 2 long runs and separate zone 3 interval/HIIT runs?

This is basically my pattern, but I run for fun so I'm not super strict about maintaining a schedule. I mostly do 30 to 45 minute runs in zone 3 or zone 3/4 HIIT type runs, and one 60 minute zone 2 run per week. I know you're "supposed" to mostly do zone 2 runs but I run for sanity and clarity and the faster runs do it for me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:80/20
80% of your running should be zone 2 long slow distance
20% should be tempo zone 4 and above.
Zone 3 is hard enough to slow recovery, but not really hard enough to get the benefit of speed work

I can basically never sustain zone 4. I don't know how people do this. I would have to sprint the entire time and I can't do that.

This isn't how training zones work. Zone 4 (tempo) should be sustainable for an hour, though that should be a hard hour. If you're struggling to do "zone 4", the you don't have your zones set up correctly. If you're using heart rate to set your zones, then you need to do a test run to set up your zones. If you're using pace, then you either need to do a test run or use recent race results to set up the zones.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:80/20
80% of your running should be zone 2 long slow distance
20% should be tempo zone 4 and above.
Zone 3 is hard enough to slow recovery, but not really hard enough to get the benefit of speed work

I can basically never sustain zone 4. I don't know how people do this. I would have to sprint the entire time and I can't do that.

This isn't how training zones work. Zone 4 (tempo) should be sustainable for an hour, though that should be a hard hour. If you're struggling to do "zone 4", the you don't have your zones set up correctly. If you're using heart rate to set your zones, then you need to do a test run to set up your zones. If you're using pace, then you either need to do a test run or use recent race results to set up the zones.

Yes. This is helpful. I have been using heart rate. I'll do as you suggested.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:80/20
80% of your running should be zone 2 long slow distance
20% should be tempo zone 4 and above.
Zone 3 is hard enough to slow recovery, but not really hard enough to get the benefit of speed work

This is an accurate summary of the current expert consensus. However, it's hard to build up both volume and intensity, especially as you get older. I was a casual runner but have increased this year and am an early 50s man. Over about 3 months I gradually built up my mileage from about 10 miles to to 25-30 m per week, almost all of which was at a much slower pace - 10+ minute miles - than I had been running when I was doing less. If I had tried to run that much more at a faster pace, I probably would have injured myself. Though when I did a mile trial, it was 6:50, so that slow high mileage paid off.

Now I'm slightly increasing the speed of my slow runs, from about 10:15 to 9:45, and mixing in one run that includes some shorter, faster intervals. Maybe in a few more months, I'd add a little more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:80/20
80% of your running should be zone 2 long slow distance
20% should be tempo zone 4 and above.
Zone 3 is hard enough to slow recovery, but not really hard enough to get the benefit of speed work

This is an accurate summary of the current expert consensus. However, it's hard to build up both volume and intensity, especially as you get older. I was a casual runner but have increased this year and am an early 50s man. Over about 3 months I gradually built up my mileage from about 10 miles to to 25-30 m per week, almost all of which was at a much slower pace - 10+ minute miles - than I had been running when I was doing less. If I had tried to run that much more at a faster pace, I probably would have injured myself. Though when I did a mile trial, it was 6:50, so that slow high mileage paid off.

Now I'm slightly increasing the speed of my slow runs, from about 10:15 to 9:45, and mixing in one run that includes some shorter, faster intervals. Maybe in a few more months, I'd add a little more.

Agreed. Zone 4 for an HOUR seems like a big ask, especially if the runner is inexperienced, older, or both.