In our new Athlete’s Compass podcast, we talk with Phil Maffetone about running and riding at a slow pace in order to build your metabolic engine and fat oxidation. Is Walking the Key to Running Faster? MAF Tests and Base Training Explained - Athletica
For some of us, riding and running slowly is a challenge; we want to go fast!
How do you manage your aerobic development (endurance) rides? What tricks do you have for keeping yourself in check?
I’m always trying to follow my Athletica plan uploaded to my Garmin watch or bike computer and try to stay right at the upper limit of my zone 2. If I’m honest, I tend to creep into zone 3 a bit too much but god forbid I should not max out my zone 2 workout 
Athletica vs. Garmin Zones
One thing to bear in mind is that your Athletica zones do not sync and update your Garmin zones (annoying, I know) and Garmin uses a 5 zone method while Athletica uses 7.
If you want to learn more about Athletica’s zones you can go to the Help & Education section under your profile image on the web app or our support pages.
You can find out how to adjust your Garmin Connect HR zones here. Assuming that my Garmin max heartrate is accurate, I just make sure that I set my Garmin zones 1 - 4 at the same percentage of max HR as Athletica’s so my watch workouts correspond more or less correctly to my Athletica workouts.
Thanks for this Mark.
And don’t forget the nice Zone 2 training guide you put together @MarkB with the handy Zone 2 calculator!
Hi, i’m a bit confused about the zone 2 heart rate and the maffetone formula of 180 minus age. If i use the maffetone formula my heart rate should be around 140, (i’m 39 years old) maybe 145 given my injury free history of training. Athletica shedules my aerobic workouts at a heart rate of 130. The pace i can run at a heart rate of 145 is a lot faster than at 130, so should i run at 130 or 145? thx
Good question, Dennis. The goal is to stay in a zone when you’re running and monitor your breathing. You should be able to easily have a conversation in zone 2 - maybe not about religion or politics, though. If you’re in the zone of 130 to 140 and can easily breathe, even through your nose, you’re in zone 2. Does that help?
jep that makes it a bit clearer! i guess i 'm a little to much focused on the exact heart rates instead of how it should feel. thx
A mix of HR cap and my breathing when going uphill. If it’s climbing towards the cap I’ll drop the cadence and / or gearing. As I’m outside there’s plenty to take in, and certainly the time doesn’t drag over many hours.
One way of looking at it is what Dr. Phil Maffetone suggests as a guideline: 180 minus your age. Keep your heart rate +/- five of that number is a good target.
I’ve got into the habit of thinking about my zone 2 run as a nice relaxing time, almost like a rest day or meditation. I listen to music and let my thoughts flow, and that works well to stop me trying to go too fast.
That’s a great way of looking at it.
