u/sloppycommitment

I am a regular runner trying to improve my aerobic fitness. I love running my neighbourhood routes, the further the better. I'm trying to do more zone 2 to be able to go further, while not being too tired to do other things with my day.

But all my zone 2 runs end up not being zone 2. As in, at constant slow pace, my heart rate creeps up throughout the run and ends up at zone 3/4.

For those of you who enjoy your zone 2 runs, do you have a similar pattern? Do you slow down when HR goes up? Do you start even slower than slow, so that HR creeps up only to a still zone 2 area?