Zone 2 Running After 50: How I Actually Use It

 When I first started running, I didn’t even know what Zone 2 was. I just thought running was exercise, and if I was going to exercise, I should put in some effort.

I thought running slowly wouldn’t give me much of a workout, and I didn’t think it would be much fun either.

So once I warmed up, I would naturally start running faster. My heart rate might stay fairly low for the first 10 minutes or so, but it would climb as the run went on. By the end, I sometimes saw my heart rate above 160 bpm.

I knew my heart rate was high, but I had the wrong idea about what to do about it. I thought that pushing myself harder would make my heart stronger and eventually help lower my heart rate when I ran. Because of that, I would often push hard toward the end of a run, even when I was already tired.

My Heart Rate Wasn’t Coming Down

For a while, I kept running that way, and most of my runs ended up looking almost like progression runs.

I expected that as I became a better runner, my heart rate would eventually come down.

But that didn’t seem to be happening. I was getting more used to running, but my heart rate was still climbing high during many of my runs. That was when I started paying more attention to what my heart rate was doing.

Learning to Stay in Zone 2

My interest in Zone 2 actually started with my Apple Watch. I noticed the Heart Rate Zones on the watch and started wondering what they meant. As I looked into them, I learned about Zone 2 running and decided to give it a try.

When I first started trying Zone 2 runs by myself, I could usually stay in Zone 2 for a while. But I kept wanting to run faster. Sometimes I even wondered if my Zone 2 was set too low. Looking back, I think it was simply because the effort felt easy. I felt like I could run faster and still carry on a conversation, so I would pick up the pace.

By the end of the run, I was often in the higher part of Zone 3, and sometimes even around the middle of Zone 4. Finishing an entire run in Zone 2 was rare.

As I kept practicing, I noticed that I wasn’t finishing my runs with my heart rate as high as before. More often, I was finishing closer to the border between Zone 2 and Zone 3, or somewhere around the middle of Zone 3.

A Zone 2 run still doesn’t mean I spend the entire run in Zone 2. I spend some time in Zone 3 too. I’ve gotten better at controlling my effort, but I still need more practice.

Once a week, I also run in the morning with my wife. She is newer to running than I am, so I slow down quite a bit to match her pace. Running with her showed me that I could slow down much more than I normally did and still enjoy the run. Because I’m following her pace, I rarely find myself speeding up without realizing it, and slow jogging has started to feel more natural to me.

How I Run Zone 2 Now

When I do a Zone 2 run, I use a custom workout on my Apple Watch. I set the first 10 minutes to Heart Rate Zone 1, then set the next part of the run to Zone 2.

One of my Apple Watch custom workouts for a Zone 2 run

On my Apple Watch, my current Zone 2 is 129–138 bpm. That’s the range I use for these runs.

Once I’m in the Zone 2 portion, I don’t try to hold a particular pace. If my heart rate moves into Zone 3, I slow down and try to bring it back into Zone 2.

I also use heart rate alerts, so I don’t have to keep checking my watch while I run. If my heart rate moves outside the target zone, the watch lets me know.

What I Pay Attention to Now

I was surprised by how comfortable a slower run could feel. I was still running, but I didn’t feel like I had to push myself the whole time.

Even after running for more than 30 minutes, I was still sweating and felt like I had gotten a good workout. Compared with my harder runs, though, the fatigue afterward felt much lower. The next day, my body felt lighter, and my legs didn’t feel nearly as tired.

At one point, I remember thinking, “I could run like this every day.”

After that, I started looking at my pace a little differently.

Staying perfectly in Zone 2 for every minute isn’t really what I’m looking for. I want to see what happens to my heart rate as I keep training this way, especially at paces I already know.

I’m curious to see what happens over the next few months. If I can run one of my usual paces with a lower heart rate, that’s the kind of progress I’d like to see.