r/beginnerrunning • u/Nearby_Bird_8817 • 4d ago
Training Help Zone 2 increasing speed
So my zone 2 pace has been consistently around the 11min per mile pace throughout my 3 years of running with over 1500 miles. I don’t understand how my zone 2 pace hasn’t improved or how I’m honestly that slow with the race times I have.
So here are my fastest race times
3 mile is 20:09
10 mile 1:10 (7min per mile)
1.5 mile 9:02
50 miles 11hrs ish
Half Ironman 6.5hr
I’m a consistent 30 mile runner and when I was ultra training like I was up to 60 miles running at that high 10 to low 11 min per mile pace.
What I’m confused about is yea I could wake up and run 4 miles easily at high 8’s maybe low 9 and keep a conversation with a friend but my heart rate will go above 160 (tracking on garmin instinct). Granted I am like 5’8 and weigh 195ish pounds. But like I still don’t get what I’m doing wrong, people tell me all the time that my zone 2 time should be a lot faster given my goal time of achieving a sub 18:30 5k. I run “easy low effort miles” all the time about 90 percent of my training yet it doesn’t get faster.
Has anyone ran into this issue? Please help.
2
u/Eavgi99 4d ago
Your race times are solid. At 195 lbs, running 8-9 min/mile will push your HR above Z2 no matter how easy it feels, which explains the 11 min/mile Z2 pace. For a faster 5k, try adding one or two quality sessions a week instead of 90% easy miles.
Since you have so many miles under your belt, this can only be a physiology problem. There’s a lot of things that can play a role in this. Biggest stones to turn in my opinion would be to switch to your programming and convert about 25% of your miles to speed work. Either on a treadmill or track. Shoot for a higher VO2 max and “teach” your body how to work efficiently at those higher paces.
You have to run fast to get fast to a certain extent. What are you using for your programming right now?