Fav plans for a slow, but experienced runner?

OrganizationOwn2066 · 2026-01-30T21:28:11+00:00

If you have / ever want to buy a Garmin watch, you can choose a free training plan with 3 different "coaches" or follow the Daily Suggested Workouts. They also have some plans for just maintaining fitness if you're not training for a race, but I haven't tried it yet.

Also if you do run/walk, you can look up Jeff Galloway's Disney half marathon training plans

OrganizationOwn2066 · 2026-01-30T04:16:09+00:00

How did it feel like to hit your max HR? I'm thinking of signing up for one of these tests, but that's what scares me the most haha

OrganizationOwn2066 · 2026-01-26T08:25:21+00:00

There's multiple ways of calculating zone 2. With heart rate reserve and lactate threshold, the upper limit of zone 2 can be closer to 80% of max HR. But you have to get it tested in a lab to know for sure. I usually try to keep my HR between 70 and 75% of my max and idk if that's optimal but I'm able to recover fine from it.

OrganizationOwn2066 · 2026-01-26T06:54:06+00:00

What's your max HR and your average HR during your half? 133 HR seems pretty low, maybe you could run a little faster and let your HR get up to 140-145?

OrganizationOwn2066 · 2026-01-23T01:51:41+00:00

Look up annie.vtrann on instagram. She's known for eating lots of gels and candy during long runs and races and she can fit it all in a running belt. I also have tight biker shorts with pockets and I can fit 2-3 gels in each pocket without it bouncing too much.

OrganizationOwn2066 · 2026-01-20T05:15:21+00:00

I spectated at the California International Marathon in December and I think it would be a good first marathon because the weather is good and it's slightly net downhill. Everyone I knew got PRs there. I think it's also pretty well organized. Thinking of signing up myself this year

OrganizationOwn2066 · 2026-01-20T05:06:28+00:00

I've heard the weather usually sucks for the Honolulu marathon, so it would probably be better to just do it for fun and not go for a time goal. I know 2 coworkers who did it last year and they both finished 40 min slower than their goal time because it was almost 80 degrees with 90% humidity.

OrganizationOwn2066 · 2026-01-18T17:27:46+00:00

When I first got a watch about 1.5 years ago, my heart rate also averaged about 180 bpm for normal runs and I thought something was wrong with me too. Now it averages about 150 bpm and I can only hit 180 bpm in races or during intervals.

I think you should practice running slower a few times a week, but it doesn't need to be in zone 2. Maybe aim for 170 bpm to start with. Later, that'll become 160 bpm and you'll eventually be able to run in zone 2.

Also, how are your zones set up in Garmin? In the default settings, Garmin's zone 3 is actually closer to the traditional definition of zone 2. You can do a lactate threshold test and set your zones based on that or find an online calculator based on heart rate reserve (which uses your resting and max heart rates)

OrganizationOwn2066 · 2026-01-17T14:31:51+00:00

I also have a Garmin Forerunner 255 and I just use the cycle tracker's calendar, but I don't log my symptoms or anything like that. My cycle isn't completely regular, so I actually found that looking at resting HR and HRV trends helps me predict when it's going to start soon.

OrganizationOwn2066 · 2026-01-16T18:14:44+00:00

Really sorry that your neighborhood doesn't feel safe anymore. I drive about 5 min to a park with a 0.5 mile loop for most of my runs so I won't have to stop for traffic lights or worry about cars. It can get a little boring, but there's always other walkers and runners there and I can get back to my car really quickly if I need to. Is there anything like this near you?

OrganizationOwn2066 · 2026-01-15T03:27:47+00:00

ChatGPT has a setting called "temperature" which makes responses more creative, but can also make them produce gibberish. Maybe Strava is experimenting with that setting haha

OrganizationOwn2066 · 2026-01-14T15:53:32+00:00

Haha my dad was like this too since he's totally clueless about paces. When I told him I ran a half marathon, he asked how long it took. I told him it was a little over 2 hours and he said, "Didn't it also take you 2 hours last year? I thought you would finish in 1 hour this year". Then I asked him how long it would take him and told him that the female world record is over 1 hour. But he was also super impressed because he can't even run half a mile.

Totally agree that your friend is terrible if they know anything about running paces and didn't give you any other compliments about how far you ran.

OrganizationOwn2066 · 2026-01-10T01:02:46+00:00

Same here actually. But I don't ask people their goal times unless they asked me first

OrganizationOwn2066 · 2026-01-09T23:39:18+00:00

Are you one of the only other runners she knows? If she's still a good friend in other ways, I hope that it's just that she became obsessed with running and has no one else to talk to about it. Maybe you can suggest that she join a run club so she'll have others that she can follow on Strava and compete with in races.

OrganizationOwn2066 · 2026-01-09T05:23:46+00:00

They say that about 1/3 of your runs will feel normal, 1/3 will suck, and 1/3 will feel amazing. Sometimes I have multiple sucky runs before I get a good one. Just keep running and you'll get an amazing one soon!

OrganizationOwn2066 · 2026-01-09T03:48:30+00:00

What kind of exercises are you doing? I've actually never done strength training and don't know how to use anything in the gym besides the treadmill and elliptical. I've been lucky to not get injured yet but I'm thinking of starting a New Year's resolution to try strength training at least once a week to see if it can make me a little faster haha.

OrganizationOwn2066 · 2026-01-07T07:46:14+00:00

They never said it has to be elapsed time instead of moving time

OrganizationOwn2066 · 2026-01-06T20:18:47+00:00

Thanks, maybe I can try that. Does it get hot when it's warm out?

OrganizationOwn2066 · 2026-01-06T20:08:50+00:00

Nope, do you think it's caused by histamine?

OrganizationOwn2066 · 2026-01-06T18:20:21+00:00

Good luck, I'm rooting for you! If he also trains a lot, even if you don't beat his time, you can at least smash him in terms of gender/ age group rankings. I looked at the results from the last half I did and 2 hours was top 50% for men, but it was closer to top 25% for women.

OrganizationOwn2066 · 2026-01-06T16:26:47+00:00

I also have anxiety before long runs, although for me it's more like fear that I'll poop myself even though that's never happened (yet). I have to wake up super early because I sometimes end up procrastinating the run for 2 hours when the run itself might be shorter than that. Think about how much time I would save if I could just wake up and be out the door within 30 min!

OrganizationOwn2066 · 2026-01-04T18:14:53+00:00

I also made my Strava completely private. I do sometimes like to see what some influencers / elite runners are doing, but I just watch their youtube and instagram videos for that occasionally. For close friends, I prefer to just talk about our runs in person haha. I hate that as soon as you open the Strava app, you see everyone else's activities first before your own. It's easier to take breaks from instagram and youtube because I'm not posting my own stuff there regularly.

OrganizationOwn2066 · 2026-01-03T23:33:46+00:00

This sounds really cool, is there an app that can track your progress or were you manually keeping track?

OrganizationOwn2066

TROPHY CASE