Maffetone Method Thread

[ElyDave]

I couldn't find a thread here for those who follow Dr Phil's philosophy so I thought I'd start one.

For those who haven't read it The Big Book of Endurance Training and Racing is a good start, or just google.

For those who are here, adn came from that other place, why not tell us what you've been doing.

For me, I spent September to Christmas building my aerobic base. Running, rowing and cycling with HR no higher than 148 (or at least not intentionally so). I had a 10km race on New Year's Eve, which had me a little worried about losing my top end speed.

I ran a PB by 1:20 secs in 44:15.
I then ran a 19:58 5km, which predicts a 10km time under 42 mins. Obviously I held onto and improved my top end as well as building the base.

That really sold it to me, even if I was a believer before.

I then went back to a shorter base building period to mid Feb when I started to build some harder efforts into my running and cycling on shorter workouts. For me, the cycling club TT season starts in April, so I'm now doing long, sub maximal intervals on the turbo trainer one a week, and a coupel of shorter runs above 148bpm. Long runs and rides are still aimed at the 148 bpm cap as the intention with these is to build towards regular 3 hour sessions as I head towards a 70 mile ultra in July, plus a couple of HMs through the year and maybe another winter HM.

Over to you.

 

[migangelo]

there are a couple of threads. no big one from like over there.
i got my garmin the end of october and started then. i've had to replace my watch twice so i only have maf tests from January. the first two showed no change but the one this month showed a drop of 40s per mile. i also see a drop of two minutes from when i first started.
it's frustrating at times but seems to be working. yesterday i ran in huaraches and was two minutes slower than bf. go figure.

 

[Chaserwilliams]

I ran all my runs for several months under 150bpm. I had good results from it all around (both from indurance and speed perspectives) and got me through my first 50 mile ultra. As of lately I haven't been running much due to work and family stuff. But I do intend on continuing down the Maffetone method trail of success.

Now if I could only eat by his teachings I think I could see incredible gains.

 

[pilotrunner]

I have also found some serious gains. Since 180-my age results in a hideously low figure, I'm using 140 as my max. Thus far, I've seen just shy of a minute per mile drop in time.

Everyone above is right, sometimes it's really hard to pull back the effort to keep the HR down, but I'm starting to see some serious gains. I'm in month three, buy the way...

Cheers.

 

[ElyDave]

Long steady run today, sticking to the maffetone aerobic heart rate as a hard cap today. Intention with this one was to start building time on my feet for July, target today being at least two hours.

Warmed up with a nice 1.85km run/walk with my 7 year-old daughter. I let her lead the pace, we ran for two street lights/walked for two or some other suitable landmarks. She did much better than last week. She's a very academic kid, loves reading, but I want her to get a bit more active as well. Then I headed out for the main event. Had to run about 10m past my house to hit the 24km, but I'm not obsessive, honest. Sorry about the huge amount of data, but I forgot to change from a 1km auto lap.

EDIT - forgot to add, my favourite moment of the run came when I passed another runner in the opposite direction. After a casual "good morning" she looked down at my huaraches, pointed and yelled "fantastic" at me with a great big grin.

Total 2:14:12 / 24.00 / 5:35 / AHR 141 / MHR152 - in total just 45 secs above the HR cap of 148
1) 5:31 / AHR 136 / MHR 152
2) 5:24 / AHR 141 / MHR 150
3) 5:32 / AHR 140 / MHR 144
4) 5:23 / AHR 139 / MHR 144
5) 5:37 / AHR 141 / MHR 148
6) 5:26 / AHR 137 / MHR 144
7) 5:47 / AHR 139 / MHR 142
8) 5:42 / AHR 142 / MHR 145
9) 5:39 / AHR 141 / MHR 144
10) 5:38 / AHR 142 / MHR 147
11) 5:40 / AHR 143 / MHR 149
12) 5:27 / AHR 138 / MHR 142
13) 5:36 / AHR 141 / MHR 145
14) 5:24 / AHR 143 / MHR 148
15) 5:35 / AHR 140 / MHR 143
16) 6:02 / AHR 140 / MHR 145 - walk break here to drink and have a bite to eat
17) 6:01 / AHR 140 / MHR 148 - took a while to get going again
18) 5:47 / AHR 143 / MHR 147
19) 5:22 / AHR 144 / MHR 147
20) 5:23 / AHR 143 / MHR 149
21) 5:34 / AHR 143 / MHR 147
22) 5:28 / AHR 144 / MHR 147
23) 5:34 / AHR 142 / MHR 145
24) 5:34 / AHR 145 / MHR 151

 

[DNEchris]

I did an 11 mile run on Friday with an overall AHR of 123. The first 2 miles were a bit quicker (7.30 pace MHR 134) than I'd wanted but after that warm up I got this:
1) 9.20 MHR 130
2) 9.10 MHR 137
3) 9.10 MHR 129
4) 9.45 MHR 127
5) 9.30 MHR 127
6) 9.45 MHR 132
7) 9.50 MHR 127
8) 9.25 MHR 126
9) 10.15 MHR 129

I did 2x5 mile loops in Central Park and the HR spikes were heading up a hill with about a 50 foot elevation change.

 

[DNEchris]

So........I decided to go out on the same route today but at a comfortable pace. All went well until I was passed by a guy running really well in VFF and I had the urge to catch him - you'll see where he passed me if you follow this link
https://www.polarpersonaltrainer.com/shared/exercise.ftl?shareTag=d2f13613e7813283ad9a0ed2e14f16c0

Friday's run is here
https://www.polarpersonaltrainer.com/shared/exercise.ftl?shareTag=e51886a515bc8dceef7e8e4727a011b4
I ran a couple of miles further today to see what a half-marathon felt like. The other difference was that Friday I was trying a pair of Altra Samsons (liked 'em) and today I was barefoot. Both routes used the CP Bridle Trail for about 70% of the distance - it's not paved.

 

[Barefoot TJ]

You couldn't find the Maffetone thread? There's a ginormous one around here somewhere. Anyone want to dig it up?

 

[pilotrunner]

Question for you more experienced Maffetonians:

We are all training at 180-age (for the most part), but at what HR do you "race"?

 

[ElyDave]

I'm not doing all of my training at 180-age any more. I'm doing that for longer runs and for soem of the shorter runs, but I've started throwing in some harder stuff as well.

Last night I did just over 10k as 2k warm up at my MAF HR, 6km tempo at MAF plus 10-15, cool down.

He only does his base building at 180-age. I'm still working out how what the balance needs to be now that I'm training for a specific event rather then just maintenance.

 

[migangelo]

i've done one 5k since i've been using the maff method. i ran at 20 hb over and finished around 35 hb over. felt fine. this sunday is the shamrock 15k. i plan to start with maf and should be about 170 or so going into my last mile. i want to start low and run at least the first half aerobic and then kick it up each mile. it's supposed to rain, which i love. i hope to make fun of everyone in waterlogged shoes!

 

[ElyDave]

Sort of did a MAF test tonight, just ran my usual 10km loop steadily, trying to stay below the limit. Turned out rather well. Went with 2km splits rather than a mile, but the idea is the same.

1) 10:20 / 5:10 / A1 34 / M 148
2) 10:04 / 5:02 / A 145 / M 151
3) 10:00 / 5:00 / A 145 / M 149
4) 10:27 / 5:14 / A 144 / M 152 - slowed for the "hill", about 15m in 200yds
5) 10:03 / 5:02 / A 144 / M149

Spent less than a minute above the 148bpm cap, and got a pretty decent flat profile there

Good luck with the race Migangelo

 

[pilotrunner]

I ran a 10K race today with a HR +25 over my training HR and that resulted in a minute off my normal training pace.

Felt great at the end of the race... Although, it WAS only a 10K.

Cheers!

 

[Barefoot Gentile]

MAF = Mosey Along Forever.

 

[Alejandro 10]

I'm officially entering this rodeo later this week with the heart rate monitor arriving tomorrow or Thursday. Incidentally, yesterday I went for what I thought was a nice slow 1.1. mile run. For craps and laughs, I decided to check my heart rate when I got back. Knowing one's heart rate starts to drop quickly when activity has ceased I hurried in and set a timer for 6 seconds. In those precious drops of time I had 17 beats. Multiply by 10 et voila, 170 beats a minute... Only 20 over my supposed max. Like others, I think I am going to find the monitor brings a rude awakening in the most subtle way. Nonetheless, I am rather excited about doing it correctly.

 

[ElyDave]

MAF = Mosey Along Forever.

Speedwork last week with 3 x 2km between 5k and 10k paces.

Easy week this week so just a bit of moseying along for me yesterday, mixed trail and road in huaraches

11.39km in 59:04.7 at 5:11 per km
AHR 141 MHR 147

More moseying today.

 

[ElyDave]

slower moseying today, slightly warmer, probably underhydrated vs yesterday, and not the best night's sleep. About 5:17 per km over 10.5km or so, but HR not as controlled.

 

[DNEchris]

Can anyone shed any light on this bit of history?
I ran my 7 miles home last night at about 7.35 pace and an AHR of 128. This morning I did my regular 5 miles to work at the same average pace but my AHR was 135.

What gives? Just caffeine?

 

[NickW]

Chris I think it is caffeine because I have this same thing happen to me from mornings to afternoons.

 

[migangelo]

well i ran a 5k on saturday, actually it was 2.9 miles. they diverted us at the end. even though i ran with my dog and had to coax him along a lot i wound up at 25 and some change. i had an 8:40 avg which would have put me at 26:33, a 2.5 min improvement from a 5k in dec. big difference with moseying along forever.