Hi folks,
Well after three months of Maf running I've finally returned to 'normal' pace and have some results. You can judge for yourselves to what extent Maffetone can take credit.
So, first the numbers:
I've increased distance by 100% over the last three months, from a long run of 8km to a long run of 16km. I would push in a race to get to 10k when I began.
My Maffetone pace at 133BPM has dropped from just over 8min/km to 7:30/km over that time.
My 10k pace before I started Maffetone was about 5:50/km. Since I've returned to paced running my 10k pace has dropped as follows: 7:39/km, 7:11/km, 6:47/km, 6:16/km, 5:38/km, 5:28/km over successive runs with a couple of long runs in between. This is clearly as a result of regaining muscle conditioning for speed, and I feel I will bottom out soon, but maybe gain another 15 sec or so.
My average heart rate for a pre-maf run was about 170. My average heart rate for my last two runs was about 170 as well. My LSD heart rate is about 156 post-maf and about 164 pre-maf.
Now the subjective experience:
My recovery is much improved over my pre-maf condition. I have completely eliminated fuelling (pre and during) for 10km or less, where I would feel nauseated and ill if I didn't eat something before and drink Gatorade during a 10km run. I suffer no negative aftereffects whereas before I wouldn't really catch up with myself for a couple of hours, feeling just a bit weak and drained. I think the fuelling is the biggest difference, it is very evident to me that my body's fat metabolism has improved significantly.
Overall:
Well, it's not a slamdunk. But overall dropping about 20+ secs off my 10k pace with no speedwork at all for 3 months is actually pretty impressive. Doing so feeling significantly better physically is even more so to me. So, all in all certainly not a waste of time, but who knows where three months of regular training would have left me?
I guess we'll see in three months .
Well after three months of Maf running I've finally returned to 'normal' pace and have some results. You can judge for yourselves to what extent Maffetone can take credit.
So, first the numbers:
I've increased distance by 100% over the last three months, from a long run of 8km to a long run of 16km. I would push in a race to get to 10k when I began.
My Maffetone pace at 133BPM has dropped from just over 8min/km to 7:30/km over that time.
My 10k pace before I started Maffetone was about 5:50/km. Since I've returned to paced running my 10k pace has dropped as follows: 7:39/km, 7:11/km, 6:47/km, 6:16/km, 5:38/km, 5:28/km over successive runs with a couple of long runs in between. This is clearly as a result of regaining muscle conditioning for speed, and I feel I will bottom out soon, but maybe gain another 15 sec or so.
My average heart rate for a pre-maf run was about 170. My average heart rate for my last two runs was about 170 as well. My LSD heart rate is about 156 post-maf and about 164 pre-maf.
Now the subjective experience:
My recovery is much improved over my pre-maf condition. I have completely eliminated fuelling (pre and during) for 10km or less, where I would feel nauseated and ill if I didn't eat something before and drink Gatorade during a 10km run. I suffer no negative aftereffects whereas before I wouldn't really catch up with myself for a couple of hours, feeling just a bit weak and drained. I think the fuelling is the biggest difference, it is very evident to me that my body's fat metabolism has improved significantly.
Overall:
Well, it's not a slamdunk. But overall dropping about 20+ secs off my 10k pace with no speedwork at all for 3 months is actually pretty impressive. Doing so feeling significantly better physically is even more so to me. So, all in all certainly not a waste of time, but who knows where three months of regular training would have left me?
I guess we'll see in three months .