re: Why is my HR so high on easy runs?

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That's part of heart rate training. You need to shorten your stride. Focus on 90 foot strikes per minute. It is hard to maintain at first, but you get used to it. Lessens the impact on the knees.

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I'm assuming you mean 90 strikes per foot, for a 180/min stride rate. I'm around 170 as it is and I'm pretty sure I'm not overstriding.

@BRM, I'm 27, so MAF would give me a HR of 153 for my easy runs if I'm reading this correctly. That sounds pretty reasonable, as I think I can hold a sub-10 minute mile pace while staying at that.

Again, I'm only 4 weeks in to base training and I've already felt a little bit of fitness come back. That is, I feel good enough that I could go faster than the 9 minute pace I started at 4 weeks ago (I could, but I don't). Like you say, for 15mpw I probably don't "need" HR, and probably won't get injured doing what I've been doing before my fitness catches up. I was just interested in what the "right" way to do it was

I get it. Remember though especially if you’re doing your runs outside, if you limit your heart rate, you can run too slow. Your heart is also responsible for sending blood to your skin to help with cooling you down (which is why you see an elevated HR when it’s gross out) Something to consider along with other environmental factors.

Edit: at JB you said it quicker, I was trying to be diplomatic

Just did my first "correct" HR run. 11:40/mile pace. I might blow my brains out before I go through a base building phase at that pace, but I'll give it a shot

Had to stop and walk a few times to drop it back under 160

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Sub 9’s by October,

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What’re you at right now?

When I was last training consistently, my easy runs with my HR staying under150 bpm were like 7:45 to 9 min pace depending on circumstances with my 5k pace around 6/mile with my HR peaking around 190ish. I would say temperature can have a significant effect.

I've been running with a HR monitor since I started a couple of years ago. I've settled into a routine that works for me: (2) sessions at 160 HR, (1) session at 140 HR (recovery), and one speed session where my HR will max.

At my normal training rate of 160 HR, that puts my pace in the 8:30-9:30 range. The pacing depends on the heat, terrain, and your overall wellbeing. I've made the mistake of having some green tea before a session and that little bit of caffeine will wreck my HR.

My recovery rate of 140 HR, puts me in the 10-11 range. Again, it depends on the course and heat.

My first year, my max HR was 181. As I progressed, this has gone up to 187. My race pace for 10K-15K is 178 HR for about an 8:00.

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Just did my first "correct" HR run. 11:40/mile pace. I might blow my brains out before I go through a base building phase at that pace, but I'll give it a shot

Had to stop and walk a few times to drop it back under 160

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Summer in the south is an awful time to start this type of training. Not saying you shouldn't, just that it's very difficult to keep your HR down in the heat and humidity.

I had a coach when I trained for my Ironman and they threw HR out the window for runs due to the extreme variance with temperature/conditions. Relied on the Jack Daniel's method where there are tables to show your appropriate paces. You'd run a 5k at your best pace every 4-6 weeks as a test. Then reference the table to see what your easy, tempo, 10k, half, etc. pace should be. Most runs were easy. I ran a half at ~ 8:50 a mile and my easy pace was like 10:45 for reference. You obviously still tweak if it's super hot or something. But it gives a little more freedom to not have to shut it down if your HR is 5-10 BPM faster than normal. I saw my best results with that method. The Jack Daniel's book is a great read as well. Provides you with the pace tables as well as suggested training schedules for different distances.

Yep, I've got Daniels Running Formula around here somewhere, 2nd edition I think. I might go look up the pace tables to see what he recommends and how it compares to the HR method.

To whoever said I should try a ride at my MAF HR to see how it compares, you were right on. I held <153 for a 45 minute indoor trainer ride very easily. There's a huge difference between running outside in Louisiana summer vs Zwift on one monitor, YouTube videos on the other and a big arse fan blowing on you

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Got back into it about a month ago.

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8:45-9:00 easy pace

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Found your problem. Slow that down to around 11 your first couple of months. It's a bad time of year to be getting back into running and caring about your HR.