Zone 2
Zone 2 running that stays zone 2
Gears is a zone 2 running app: a coach in your ear keeps you in easy, aerobic running below your first threshold, live. Your Easy gear (Gear 1) is learned from your own running, so it fits you, not a chart.
What is zone 2 running?
Easy, conversational running below your first lactate or ventilatory threshold, where your breathing first starts to work harder. In the five-zone systems most watches use, it's the second band. In Gears it's Easy, Gear 1: “The pace you could hold for an hour and still talk.” Most of what successful endurance athletes do is this kind of running (Seiler, 2010).
Why is it so hard to stay in zone 2?
Because zone 2 feels too slow, and the numbers move under you while you run.
- Heart rate lags, then drifts. It rises slowly when you speed up, then creeps up at the same pace on a long or warm run, a pattern called cardiovascular drift (Coyle & González-Alonso, 2001). Chase the number and you surge and stall.
- Hills break it. Hold your flat pace up a climb and you're out of zone before the top.
- Generic zones may not fit. Chart zones describe an average runner. Yours can sit well above or below.
- Easy feels like it should be faster. It usually shouldn't. A beep won't convince you. A voice that tells you why sometimes does.
How does Gears keep you in zone 2?
Three ways, all live, all in your ear.
1. Your Easy gear, learned from you
Gears places Easy from your running history in Apple Health (pace with heart rate), a race time, your fastest recent run or your Cardio Fitness, then refines it with every run that has heart rate. When your gears move, the coach tells you. More on personalized running zones.
2. Heart rate guards the pace
You steer by pace, and your zone 2 heart rate can only ever make Easy easier. When your heart says the pace is too much, the coach eases your target rather than let you drift into Steady. Creep above your range and it says so; come back and it says that too. More on Apple Watch and chest strap heart rate.
3. Hills at the same effort
On a climb, the coach tells you to hold the effort and let the pace go, and never scolds you for slowing. On roads you've run, it calls the hill just before you reach it. More on the hill running coach.
What does a zone 2 run sound like?
- The run starts
Off we go. Gear one. Nothing to prove yet.
- A breathing reminder on an easy stretch
Breathe through your nose. If you can't, you're going too fast for gear one.
- Creeping above the Easy range
You're creeping up. Ease off, this is meant to be easy.
- Above the range again
Slow is boring. Boring is how you get fast. Slow down.
- Your heart says the pace is too much today
Same effort, slower pace today. That's the right trade.
- Uphill
Hill. Same effort as the flat. Slower is correct here.
- Back in range
That's it. Right where we want you.
Is it OK to walk during zone 2?
Yes. Walk is a gear in Gears, not a failure. If your Easy pace is barely a jog, walking a steep hill or a minute here and there keeps the effort where it belongs; for a new runner, Easy can be a brisk walk. You'll find run-walk workouts in Find a run, and plans for new runners start with walking.
Do I need a chest strap for zone 2?
No, but it helps. In one lab comparison of wearables, a chest strap agreed with ECG most closely, and Apple Watch was the closest of the wrist devices tested (Gillinov et al., 2017). Pair a Bluetooth strap to your Apple Watch in its Bluetooth settings, or use one with your iPhone alone; a Garmin with Broadcast Heart Rate on can also feed the iPhone. With no heart rate at all, the iPhone coaches Easy by pace.
Can I do zone 2 on a treadmill?
Yes. Gears takes your treadmill pace from your steps and lets heart rate lead, which suits an Easy run on a belt. If most of your easy running is inside, turn on Indoor by default in Settings.
What Gears doesn't do
- It doesn't make Easy harder because your heart rate is low. Heart rate only ever makes a gear easier.
- It doesn't promise what zone 2 will do for you, in fat, fitness or years. It holds the effort.
- It doesn't claim to hear your breathing. Breathing reminders come on a timer.
- It isn't medical guidance. Read the health disclaimer.
Read next: Zone 2 running: how to actually stay in it and Apple Watch heart rate vs chest strap. For why the gears sit where they do, see the running physiology.
Questions runners ask
Is the Easy gear the same as zone 2?
Close. Easy sits below your first threshold, roughly what five-zone systems call zone 2. It's a pace range learned from your own running and guarded by your heart rate, so it fits you, not a chart.
Why is my zone 2 pace so slow?
It's common, especially early on, and walk breaks are fine: Walk is a gear in Gears. As your fitness grows, the same heart rate buys a quicker pace, and Gears shows that in its pace at the same heart rate line.
Can I do zone 2 training without an Apple Watch?
Yes. The iPhone runs the whole run alone. Add a Bluetooth chest strap or a Garmin's Broadcast Heart Rate for heart rate; without either, it coaches by pace.
Will the coach talk the whole time?
No, only as much as you want. Choose Quiet, Normal or Talkative, and one tap on the run screen quiets it for the rest of the run. Safety lines always sound.
References
- Seiler S. What is best practice for training intensity and duration distribution in endurance athletes? International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance. 2010;5(3):276–291.
- Coyle EF, González-Alonso J. Cardiovascular drift during prolonged exercise: new perspectives. Exercise and Sport Sciences Reviews. 2001;29(2):88–92.
- Gillinov S, Etiwy M, Wang R, et al. Variable accuracy of wearable heart rate monitors during aerobic exercise. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise. 2017;49(8):1697–1703.
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