Heart Rate Training vs RPE (Rating of Perceived Exertion) for Runners | Run by Data or by feel? 

My zone 2 tops at 146 but I can vary a conversation up to 160 (almost into zone 4). I’ve been training MAF for 6 months but just went out for a half marathon race and blew up trying to push it. Going back to RPE

For me personally to stay in Zone 2 based on traditional calculations I have to run slower than I can walk, but if I were to walk my heart rate would drop too low. One thing I realized about myself is if it’s not enjoyable I will end up not doing it so I run at my own personal definition of an easy pace (11-12 mins per mile depending on elevation change). I define “easy” as a pace I could sustain all day, at least from a cardio-aerobic standpoint. I usually run 3-4 miles on a normal training day and 7+ miles on a long run day. When I check my HR afterwards it says I was in Zone 3 to low Zone 4 but certainly did not feel that way. On Tempo runs (around 10 minute miles) it will say it is above my lactate threshold but I am pretty sure that’s not correct either. At some point I would like to get professional measurements of my max HR, LT, and VO2 Max as I feel my zones are way off from the usual calculations. I have also measured both with Garmin watch and chest strap and readings are very similar so I don’t think it’s down to measurement error.

Data. Mostly pace for given plan for the day. I look at HR and zones data later but never during the run. I do find my HR does spike near the beginning before it levels out. I also use Power as a metric with a Stryd Foot pod. New subscriber and love the channel!

I genuinely think HR only works for certain people for example I feel like I can comfortably run at 165 bpm without to much issues

Data for me (MAF) - HR Chest strap which works better for me. More responsive to the subtle changes in HR than the optical wrist based on my watch. I had only been running semi-seriously for a year before I discovered MAF. The first nine months of my running journey were filled with the normal noob mistakes - running too fast, getting injured often as a result, not really progressing. As I got more into running I started watching videos on YT to learn more about it. I kept hearing that I had to slow down so I decided to give it a try. Over the next few months I slowed down quite a bit but I still refused to run slower than 6min / km. This helped me get my volume up but I still got injured and I was feeling very sapped from my running. Then I discovered MAF and everything changed. Looking back on my training log before MAF is quite something. Even when I slowed down my average HR for a run was still about 5-10 bpm higher than my MAF limit (140). At the time I remember thinking 'this is my easy pace, I'm running so slowly!' but it really wasn't anywhere close. I think the problem with RPE is that unless you are a very experienced runner /athlete or you are incredibly honest and in tune with your body, you are probably going to overrate your ability and run at a higher intensity than you should. And we all know where this leads... injury, no progress, over training. Running by HR keeps you honest and is really listening to your body. RPE, for most people, is kidding yourself that you are listening to the body when you're probably being led by your ego.

My Fitbit Versa recently stopped syncing and now after a factory reset it refuses to update. So now I have switched to running by feel for pace, not really RPE, because my exertion estimates on Strava (at a MAF HR of 111) were always hard to rate. Instead, I now jog slow to run long and just hope my heart rate is below my MAF HR. So far my pace is not creeping up, but instead gets slower the further I jog! I have got up to 60 km per week, doing a mixture of slow jogging and power/race walking, by training seven days a week. Eventually, I will invest in a Garmin watch and go back to MAF HR training, but I like being freer and not having to keep checking my watch.

I am using a treadmill by SOME data, not that I am going by heart rate. What I am looking at is my calorie count per minute. I adjust the treadmill at just a moderate speed, so that way I am burning fat calories, then I will adjust the treadmill to 0.1 MPH faster and if my calorie count doubles, that is the point where my body starts transitioning from fat to carbs. After slowing back down by that 0.1 MPH to go back into fat burn, I can call that my four out of ten RPE. At 4.5 MPH on the treadmill, the machine registered that I was burning six calories per minute. At 4.6 MPH, it was registering twelve calories per minute. Is this a good indicator of RPE?

Ironically the original Borg RPE scale was designed to reflect associated heart rates. For myself I like mixing up heart rate based and RPE. Depends on the focus of my phase of training and from session to session. I agree with you on the easy runs. The HRM keeps me honest here

I just found your channel after recently re-starting MAF running - this is my third attempt (stopped twice in the past due to frustration) and only a couple of runs in was having similar problems - chest strap not reading correctly, variation due to hills, heat etc. I think I've solved those problems now and managed a 75 minute MAF run yesterday (at a frustratingly slow <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="450">7:30</a>min/km). Just curious what your thoughts would be on training by pace instead? Eg using a few runs with a HRM to work out what average pace keeps the HR in the MAF zone, and then just running at that pace instead of checking the watch every 30 seconds. Sure there would be times when HR would spike but overall the intensity of the run would remain low. You could recheck with a HRM every few weeks to see if that pace can be increased slightly. I believe this is similar to how college and olympic rowers train using power (watts) which approximates a certain lactate level.

Feel for easy, recovery, and long runs. I'm not really thinking about any scale, but mostly pay attention to my breathing. Deep breaths. Very controlled breathing. Never gasping. Around 4 steps per inhale and per exhale. When it's time to inhale, it shouldn't feel like I'm suffocating and desperately need a breath. It took a few runs to dial in this effort. But now, it's really easy and I'm able to adjust for heat, hills, wind, etc. I'll check my heart rate after the fact and it's right on, almost always exactly where it would be if I were training by heart rate. For faster runs, I'll use pace or power (data), but then use feel do further dial things in. If I'm feeling more fatigued, it may be slower. If I'm feeling awesome, it may be faster. I should mention that I trained by heart rate for a while before switching to RPE.

Data. I began using heart rate training last year using a chesty. I found myself going hard too many times attempting to run by feel. Resulting in overtraining.

I mixed. The first hour is heart rate training. After that first hour, it's RPE. I always use chest trap btw.

I use data only for running in easy pace, but for other session, I run by feel.

Feel

zone training...but starting to use MAF method...

because of HR monitor I realized my previous "easy runs" are not actually easy

Feel with a healthy respect for data monitoring

actual low heart rate training (70% cardiac reserve, mhr evatualed on progressive test with a friend on treadmill at the gym) , therefore data!!!!

Both

Data 6 days a week with my chest strap

You cant use Borg's name now

data

Data 95% of the time