The Biggest Running Myth (NOT WHAT YOU THINK)

After long months of strict zone 2 training, I'd lost my enthusiasm for running. I went out on my favorite local mountain, which I'd avoided because I couldn't run it in zone 2. I started my watch, pulled down my sleeve, and just RAN. It was one of those exhilarating, enjoyable runs you never want to end. It reminded me that a certain type of workout might be what's best for your body, but your mind needs to be happy too. I make sure to do a fun, no-looky-at-the-watch zone 3/4 run in the mountains every few weeks to remind myself of why I love running so much. Thanks for a video showing me that it's not tanking my training! 😂

Thank you for this. There are certainly benefits to zone 2 and easy running, but it's gone way too far when people sorta demonize zone 3.

For me, this makes running too complicated. I JUST RUN. And enjoy that feeling

Good to hear that someone have own ability to think. One problem is that everyone is copying each other and repeating this zone 2 -thing over and over again like it would be only thing what need for training 😄

I love this video and concept in general. I totally agree with your take on adding marathon pace runs as you get closer to your peak race. I’ve done this in the past and had great results. Now at 62 years old I just did a 3:24 marathon in Chicago. Looking to crush it in Tokyo in the spring. TTFN…

Hi James, thanks for the video. One of the things you ONLINE EXPERTS don't talk about enough as far as I am concerned is geographical location and climate. There are hundreds of thousands of us who live and train near the equator. Where I live it is 30c in the middle of winter with humidity down too 85%, yes, down too. I find it nigh on impossible to run at all in zone 2 due to the climatical conditions alone. After training for 6 months in these conditions in zone 3 and then going to your country for a 700km multi day run I was flying due to the climatical changes in air temperature and my bodies adaptation to training in the heat here at home. Thoughts please?

I try to do a half marathon each month and I run it in zone 3, but mostly because it would take too long to run it in zone 2 and I'd end up even more tired. However I substitute it for one of my weekly high intensity runs to keep the overall training load down. I don't have a formal training plan though (other than aiming at about an 80/20 split).

Marathon handbook 12 week plan is all I've needed. Stock to the plan and tick the boxes . It's seen me well so far

Great explanation

The extreme focus of many running influencers on zone 2 and on all "zonology" in general is absurd! Better would be to focus on the concept of "dosage" which is the time integral of intensity (body power output). This is measuring the total energy you expended in the session...College Physics 101. Note that at higher intensity, the body is still using fat and is using it at a higher rate but just at a lower percentage of the total power. As we go above ~50-60% of our max aerobic power (MAP) glycogen becomes the dominant fuel but fat is still being burned and at a higher rate than it was in zone 2. So, at higher than zone 2 intensity, you are actually putting a higher load on your fat burning system...it's still being trained. The thing to keep in mind always is that if you increase your dosage above normal or if you exert yourself at high intensity, you will need to increase your recovery time or at least be extra careful to ensure you've recovered. So, you can have sessions of zone 2 which are long enough to bring your dosage up above normal...that's a training session, or you can do a higher intensity session that's shorter but has the same dosage. It's a little like comparing how far you can drive your car on a gallon of petrol if you drive at 55 mph vs 80 mph. You burn the same one gallon, same energy, but you go either slower and further or faster and shorter. So, Yes, there's nothing wrong with zone 3 or 4, 5 whatever as long as it's below MAP, and it is in fact the more time-efficient way to train, but anytime you do a training session, and training means you did a higher dosage than normal, an "overload", you must be sure to recover sufficiently. On high intensity sessions, about 1 out of every 3-4 sessions, always be sure that you shorten your running time so that the dosage doesn't get too far (not more than 10%) above normal. If you're not doing an overload, a training session, then you're just doing a "recovery run", and many folks' zone 2 stuff is just that, and is actually just "junk" miles, which is OK if you have the time to spend and you enjoy the running, but nevertheless, such sessions have very little/no training value...may be better just to take a short walk or sit on the sofa to recover faster from your last training session.

If you spend 15+ hours per week training then recovery is crucial and you have to train as smart as possible to get the most volume and training effect but still enough rest and recovery. Minimizing zone 3 work is smart as it only give a slight more training effect as Z2 but to a greater cost. However for normal non elite runners (ca 5 h training per week) you are getting enough recovery as long as you don’t only do threashold work and skip strength training. Just my opinion 🙂

Morning James just wondering how often should i do a heart rate test

Greetings from Brazil!!

I used Zone 2 3x a week pulling 6 miles those days Zone 3 I do Fartlek Pyramids 31 minutes and another day mile repeats at 5K race pace twice a week

My coach always has me running in zone 3. Even in zone 3 I'm slow so what I do is that I run in the lowest heart rate in zone 3 as possible. And I've seen that I've gotten faster step by step. I wish he would train me in zone 2 though. Also, according to my watch, my pace and heart rate are still in the aerobic area even if my heart rate is in zone 3.

Greetings from Brazil (2)!!!!! Kkkkkk

I just don't get this. As a 57 year old man, my max heart rate is supposed to be 169.3 which means my zone 2 is between 128 - 138. I cannot run slow enough to keep my heart rate that low. During my easy runs if I go really slow and easy (barely running at all), I can keep my heart rate in the 150s. I think I'm fairly fit and have been running about 30 miles per week for about 2 years. Is there something wrong or strange about me?

Question...won't the zones you're running differ if you're 1st starting out or starting back from a long layoff or injury, because you are so out of shape, and your fitness improves?

Isn't a tempo run around zone 3?

what annoys me is a lot of the time when I'm in zone 2, I end up walking. It feels like I'm not doing justice to my run.