My workout schedule included a run yesterday and another run today.  Although the amount of time that I ran changed, I completed both workouts at almost the exact same pace.  The two runs however, had very different purposes, and even though I completed both at the same pace, they were indeed very different.

Yesterday’s run was designed to be a super easy effort, recovery run.  Today was a Zone 2 ‘moderate effort’ run.  How was I able to successfully accomplish the goal for each workout, when I ran both at the same pace?  The answer lies in the route I chose to run, and the terrain involved. 

If I run from my house, then the first half mile to get out of my neighborhood, is all up hill.  The photo with today’s blog, gives you an idea of the slope involved; not super steep but not super gentle either.

For yesterday’s super easy effort run, I made the decision to not run from home.  I drove to the local High School and ran there, where it is very flat.  It has an elevation gain per mile of less than 15 feet.

In contrast, I did today’s Zone 2 run from home and it had more elevation gain; not a lot more at about 35 feet per mile, but enough to create a difference in my perceived exertion.

The other indicator that showed the difference between the two runs, was my average heart rate.  It was higher on my Zone 2 run today and peaked out at a higher rate too.   The difference between runs was also reflected in the perceived exertion rating that I gave them; I rated yesterday as a three and today as a four.

Instead of using terrain to modify my effort, I could have chosen to do yesterday’s recovery run from home and taken it super slow and easy on the uphill sections.  Physiologically, this would have had the desired result, but I find that when I go up hills super easy, I tend to change my run form significantly (I take really short steps).  This is not necessarily a terrible thing, but why not just change the terrain and maintain equivalent run form.

I talked about just two routes today, but I also have several more routes with increasing amount of elevation gain per mile.  This allows me even more room to play with effort between workouts, all while allowing me to keep good run form.  I encourage you to try different routes too; it’s good for you and also reduces the boredom, that comes with running the same route every time.