For the older runner when one computes the heart rate for a MAF run, the rate is so low that it is difficult to keep in that range without walking. My easy runs feel easy to me, the pace for those easy runs vary. All depends how my body feels as to how fast the easy runs are. MAF isn't for me, but could work for others. On a side note, 2 miles today medium pace on a rainy afternoon.
Mileage Reporting 36er Week of 2013
- Thread starter mokaman
- Start date
35 min swim. all the time i had. tried to make it count.
4 mi run, evening, hot and humid. legs dragging like dead weight but my brain was still better off for having done it. not liking this semester. grrrrr
4 mi run, evening, hot and humid. legs dragging like dead weight but my brain was still better off for having done it. not liking this semester. grrrrr
Nick,
tofp should be from your shins. as painful as it is roll those puppies.
maf is frustrating. i'm going back to it because i see i've slowed down with Orton's plan. i can hold a fast pace but i don't think quite as well as i used to. a maf test after my race this saturday will help me decide.
tofp should be from your shins. as painful as it is roll those puppies.
maf is frustrating. i'm going back to it because i see i've slowed down with Orton's plan. i can hold a fast pace but i don't think quite as well as i used to. a maf test after my race this saturday will help me decide.
My modified Maffetone approach has worked fine for me.
I keep my eye on my average heart rate, not maximum, and regard that as a realistic aerobic rate. At 58 my raw Maffetone heart rate is 122 bpm. My 7 mile run home tonight was at 123 AHR (max was 144) and the overall average pace was 7.56 min/mi (55.36 total time). As the first 2 miles took me 17 minutes (lots of pedestrians!) the pace for the last 5 miles was quite a bit faster - but it all felt relaxed. It's taken a while to get there but I regard the time as having been well spent!
I'm loving this cool, dry weather.
Thanks - and yes, I ran barefoot. Feet took a little damage (some minor scratches and a little blood blister) but considering I hadn't done any real bf for a few weeks in the lead up, they took it well. I wrote a run report for the Germany chapter; I'll translate it when I have time.
Don't want to get into any kind of a Maffetone debate, but it seems to me your semi-pro weekly mileage (55-60 mpw, right?) might have something to do with your superb conditioning too. I know when I was cycling all day, most days, I was fit as a fiddle. I could do up to three mountain passes in a day, with a full load of gear, spare parts, water and food, no problem. That's mostly why I'm trying to up my weekly mileage now (and feebly emulating your run-commuting), while still trying to get in a few 'quality' runs, because I'm convinced just shear mileage at an easy aerobic pace can confer a lot of benefit. All the pros do it, in varying ratios. It's just a matter of finding the time and motivation for me. I still struggle sometimes with the early morning running, even though I know it's the way to go.My modified Maffetone approach has worked fine for me.
I keep my eye on my average heart rate, not maximum, and regard that as a realistic aerobic rate. At 58 my raw Maffetone heart rate is 122 bpm. My 7 mile run home tonight was at 123 AHR (max was 144) and the overall average pace was 7.56 min/mi (55.36 total time). As the first 2 miles took me 17 minutes (lots of pedestrians!) the pace for the last 5 miles was quite a bit faster - but it all felt relaxed. It's taken a while to get there but I regard the time as having been well spent!
I'm loving this cool, dry weather.
Which comes first? The "superb conditioning" or the "semi-pro weekly mileage"?
I think they form a benevolent spiral where each feeds off the other to my full benefit. I feel pretty sure that, if I were to go out hard for every run, I would have crashed and burned long ago!
I think we're saying the same thing. As conditioning improves, one can go farther (daily or weekly), which further improves conditioning. That was my experience cycling. Last year my legs were the limiting factor that kept me from increasing my mileage. Now the limiting factors are time and motivation--I've found my legs seem able to adapt OK to increasing mileage now that I've learned how to maintain them pre- and post-run.
That's why I've halfheartedly tried to speed up the process by incorporating hills, intervals, tempo runs, like the pro sites suggest, because I don't have the time or motivation to run high weekly mileage, yet I would like to get faster/improve my conditioning. I don't know of anyone who recommends going all-out every time. The ratio seems to bounce between 80-20 and 60-40, easy mileage to harder running, at least on the few pro-style sites I looked at last year. And it's my sense that the higher the mileage, the more one runs easy. And vice versa; the less one runs, the more harder runs one can or should do. I read somewhere that Ryan Hall reduced his weekly mileage from 120 to 100 mpw so that he could fit in a few more 'quality' (his term, not mine) runs, like the Kenyans do.
So, applying this idea to a lazy recreational runner like me (while adjusting the mpw of course), I should run harder if I run fewer miles per week, and run easier if I run more miles per week, given my goal of improving my running fitness at a faster rate. That's the experiment I'm conducting right now--trying to find the right mix that works best for me. Latest idea: either (1) just run 3-5 easy miles each day, with maybe one day for interval work, and one long run per week, or (2), have 2-3 quality runs per week, one long, slow run, and on the other days rest or run 1-2 easy miles run-commuting.
Anyway, with your high weekly mileage, I wouldn't think you'd ever need to do intervals or something unless you wanted to squeeze out a little more performance potential. Since you don't race, why bother, right? Likewise, I don't really see the point of a HR monitor if you've already mastered aerobic running, but we don't want to get into that now, do we?
I guess I posted yesterdays run in the wrong week, 2 miles yesterday in the rain. About 35 years ago I was running between 50 and a 100 miles per week and if HR monitors were around I'm pretty sure my HR on easy runs would have been really low as well. But you know what, we survived just fine by a combination of long and easy runs, hill and track workouts. No electronic gadgets, heck even our fuel and hydration during races was not given a lot of thought back then. I have dished the electronic gadgets for now, not missing them at all as I find my runs more relaxing now as I don't to have to worry about not achieving the numbers that one feels he has to have for that run. Maybe it easier for me as having been running back in the days of pre-electronics we paid attention as to how we felt. Like I said MAF is not for me, but I am sure it will help some people gain the experience to help them attain their goals.
I really appreciate this detail. Thanks!My modified Maffetone approach has worked fine for me.
I keep my eye on my average heart rate, not maximum, and regard that as a realistic aerobic rate. At 58 my raw Maffetone heart rate is 122 bpm. My 7 mile run home tonight was at 123 AHR (max was 144) and the overall average pace was 7.56 min/mi (55.36 total time). As the first 2 miles took me 17 minutes (lots of pedestrians!) the pace for the last 5 miles was quite a bit faster - but it all felt relaxed. It's taken a while to get there but I regard the time as having been well spent!
I'm loving this cool, dry weather.
NickW
Guest
It's not really tofp, not like I've ever had before. This is deeper if that makes sense. Oh, and I already said I've rolled the legs out in previous posts... Anyhow, yesterday the pain started easing up a little bit and I was able to start walking a little bit more normal. I still have a hard time with stairs so am giving it a little bit longer for a break to see if it continues getting better.
