Zone 2 sucks

I found myself liking Zone 2 a lot more when I started running more frequently and more volume.

Cool.

I agree with what Jason said above you.  

The 'slowness' of zone2 is something that comes up a lot here.

Honestly, if it's that easy, you're not putting enough volume in training to make it worth it. If you're going to back off intensity in training, you have to put something back in to improve results, and that is significant volume gains.

You obviously will not get any faster by doing the same or less volume, with less overall intensity.

Hopefully you're on a plan where you are gradually ramping up your volume to new heights - a minimum of 20% over your prior volume is not unusual for this mostly zone2 training approach.

It's a bit humbling at first to train at paces so much slower than your race pace, but you do get used to it.  My normal Z2 training pace is around 8:30-8:55 depending on how I feel, but I'll do the 10k portion of an Oly around 7:20-7:30 pace.

The saying goes...you don't train fast to race.  You train more to race fast.

This is essential if heart rate training is going to work.   

Mark

All I can say is I'm right there with you--it SUCKS.  Not only does it suck, but I find that even when I start a run in zone 2, I am almost incapable of keeping it there.  It is some combo of ego, stride, and muscle memory that eventually overrides the 2 :/

I can look at my Garmin data and see nothing but 4s and 5s for looooong stretches of time.

Naughty. Naughty. Naughty.

And I just had my first bout of "over reaching"...jeez, I wonder why?

I'm really trying to work on it, but it is hard. 

Maybe we should start a Zone 2 group: Hi, my name is Switch, and I have a Zone 2 problem.

How soon did start seeing improvements?

Stick with it.  I'm a believer in it.  But you have to be consistent.  I started heart rate training with the Maffetone Method (180-age, essentially) back in October and I was doing basically the BarryP running plan to build a solid running base along with it.  My first Zone 2 runs were at 10:45-11:45 pace depending on weather temp (still some real hot days in Texas then) and how I felt.  I was running 6 days a week for the first time in my life because the slower paces were letting my body recover better than if I was going hard for 3 miles or more every day.  In December, I hired a tri coach and did some LT testing (field test run/blood test bike) to get a better sense of my zones for both sports.  Turns out the Maffetone Method formula was close, but probably a little low (about 7-9 bpm) for me and below what my true zone 2 really was based off true lactate threshold.  

So I adjusted my zones and started training off that new zone 2.  But the paces stayed the same, a slight speed increase just because i was, by definition, now running slightly harder.  But I was still pretty plodding.  Now they were about 10:30 to 10:15/mi.  Still running very consistently, but now mixing in cycling and swimming during the winter months to build those bases too.  Set a PR for a 5K on December 1 at 28:00 without ever doing any speed work.  I'd never broken 28:30 before, so I was happy and seeing progress over 2 months, even though that is by no means fast...

Still kept up the consistent zone 2 training through Jan/Feb/March.  No speed work.  Paces at Zone 2 gradually fell.  January I was averaging 10:00/mi.  February I was averaging 9:40/mi.  March I was averaging 9:00/mi at Zone 2.  Did the first sprint tri of the season at end of March.  Still no speed work at all.  Weather cancelled the swim and bike so it ended up being a standalone 5K.  I ran it at 22:17 for about 7:20/mi pace, which blew me away.  I've never run that fast in my life.  Never been anywhere near 7 minute miles and certainly not for an entire race.  It's now end of April and my Zone 2 training is still going.  The average pacing probably is around 8:30/mi now at Zone 2.  

My coach is just now starting to introduce some speed work, for example, today I have a 5 mile zone 2 run, but the last mile is on a track with 8x200m zone 4 repeats.  First time any real speedwork (besides some odd strides here and there during the last 2 months) have been introduced.   

I swear by the heart rate training now.  You just have to be very consistent and be patient.  The first two months really sucked for the ego, but I am glad I stuck with it.  Now I have a real running base, I think, for the first time ever and actually enjoy running.  So, yes, zone 2 sucks.  But you should add the words "at first" because it does get better.

Good luck!

I understand completely the zone 2 sucks feeling. You won't notice gains at first. They'll seem to come at meaningless and imperceptible numbers. Then after a few weeks you start noticing that your 10:15 min/mi in zone 2 very rapidly becomes 9:30 at the exact same effort level And then 9:15. Then 9:00, and 8:45, and so on... And that 45 seconds is very significant, even if you can still run a 6 minute mile. Then the gains just keep coming as long as you keep consistent.

thanks.  i have been super happy with my progress and, like i said, i'm a firm believer in the zone 2 work now!

first two months was almost exclusively running.  i got up to 35 mpw following the BarryP running plan of 3:2:1 all at zone 2.  after i hired my tri coach in december the running volume dropped to about 20 mpw.  it's been hovering there.  some weeks 18 mpw (like this week).  my coach is making me swim a lot right now.  lost significant weight as well.  started at 205.  now at 185.  focused hard on diet in december, which made me a net loser through the holidays for the first time ever (not much then, just a couple of pounds) and lost most in jan/feb.  diet lately has been slack and i've plateaued weight-wise, but that's okay because my training volume has gone up and i'm planning on really focusing on diet again in june/july before my A race in August.   i attribute the weight loss to mainly nutrition and consistency in training.   the zone 2 work has just let me be so much more consistent because it is doable nearly every day.

This ^^^^

Both because it gets to feel faster with the volume, but also because I start to need the slower days to compensate for intensity in other running or cycling workouts.

One day, you'll look down and see that you're going pretty quick for Zone 2 and smile.

Another day not long thereafter, you'll run a race (whatever zone for the distance) and be shocked at how fast THAT actually is!

Matt