MAF

One month, no real progress. I feel like I am seeing progress on my inside runs, but not on the outside ones. This is basically a walk, not even a fast walk. Disappointing. Should I continue? Should I raise my heart rate minimum? 125 translates to a walk for me. I actually did two miles before my GPS found the satellite. It looks like if it doesn't find it before you hit start, it won't find it. I had to power it down and restart it for it to find the GPS. My inside runs are in the 14 minute range and I even got as fast as 13:48 the other day. At least that is a jog, albeit a very slow jog.

Split Time Distance Avg Pace Summary 1:06:18.8 4.15 16:00 1 16:05.9 1.00 16:06 2 15:57.2 1.00 15:57 3 15:57.6 1.00 15:57 4 16:09.0 1.00 16:09 5 2:09.1 0.15 14:47

cold outside MAF training = FAIL

I wanted to run my favorite trail today after my haircut. It was about 30 degrees, sunny, with a little wind. Normally, that would ensure a great run. However, to keep my heart rate below 125, all I could do was walk. I never generated enough heat to keep warm so rather than sabotage my MAF training, I gave it up and came home. Slowly, slowly, was able to jog six miles in the house. Yep, an hour and a half of that. And I even had new shoes to break in. Brooks Ghost 7.

I've written Dr. Phil Maffetone, the originator of the MAF training philosophy and asked if at my age would it be appropriate to let my heart beat get to 130-135? I'll be surprised if he answers. Looks like the questions and answers on his blog are several years old.

 

MAF test 2

Today's long run was my official test 2 for the MAF training, even though it's only been a little over a week. The recommendation is to test once a month, but since I'm such a data geek, I'll test it with every run. I expected today's outside run to be much slower than the inside runs. Inside is so much easier. I guess because of the constant temperature, softer surface, and no humidity.

Split Time Distance Avg Pace Summary 1:53:00.6 7.24 15:37 1 15:34.8 1.00 15:35 2 15:22.5 1.00 15:23 3 15:20.4 1.00 15:21 4 15:26.6 1.00 15:27 5 15:34.0 1.00 15:34 6 15:42.2 1.00 15:42 7 15:48.6 1.00 15:49 8 4:11.3 0.24 17:46

For the test, I'll count miles three, four, and five. Looks like I just warmed up in mile one and two. Miles six and seven were mostly walking. Actually just about everything was done walking. Your fastest should be the first after a good warm up.

The track in the distance is where I walked/ran today. Honestly there was not much running. I also found out with my heart rate staying below 125 I don't get nearly as hot. I've never ran in my headband before, today I kept it on for the full 1:53 minutes. And wore gloves. Again, I've never even kept gloves on no matter how cold it was.

MAF is so hard. So. Painfully. Slow. But I've turned this into a little science project. So I am determined to test the hypothesis, and keep it up through the winter.

Stayed warm in my fleece lined cold gear. After today's effort, my feet really bothered me. I think it is time for new socks and shoes. I am surprised because I think I've just now got about 400 miles on them, but my feet have never hurt before. The balls of my feet burned after the walk/run.

 

MAF Test unofficial

It was unofficial because I did it inside, however, I must have impoved because I didn't have to walk nearly as much. I've done three MAF sessions so far. The first was outside and I ended up walking the vast majority of of the time, the second inside where I still had to walk most of the time. The third time, I actually felt an improvement. Still painfully slow, but that is part of it.

 

I have a goal in mind. From a bloggers extended chart, if I can get my MAF test time down to 13:00 I should be able to do a 5k with 9:00 minute miles. Extended because the normal runners charts don't go past a MAF of 10:00. Obviously not many true beginners or older runners attempt MAF training. They should! If you can get past the mental of going so painfully slow, it is much less strenuous. Last night I felt I could go on for miles. I am hopeful that this will build my aerobic base such that I really can get faster with less effort. I hope to do a long run on Friday. It will be outside and I'll test again.

MAF unofficial timed trial.

Split Time Distance Avg Pace Summary 45:06.1 3.06 14:44 1 14:28.6 1.00 14:29 2 14:58.4 1.00 14:59 3 14:46.5 1.00 14:47 4 :52.6 0.06 14:07

MAF

Did my first timed trial of the Maximum Aerobic Function (MAF) test. Seriously, I walked most of the time. I slowed down to the absolute slowest I could shuffle and my heart rate would alert within about 50 steps. I could also make it alert just doing a fast walk.

Mile 1 - 15:13

Mile 2 - 15:37

Mile 3 - 16:05

180 minus my age, 55 = 125 max bpm. I tried my best to keep it between 120-125, but a few times it did get over it. I'd immediately walk or slow down if I was already walking. This is going to be really tough to stick with this for all my training runs (walks), but I do want to.

Interestingly, on the Jeff Galloway site, for a magic mile of 10:00 (my fastest), his recommended training pace is 15:00 minute miles. Pretty close to my slow MAF trial. Sounds like Jeff and Phil Maffetone are basically saying the same thing.....keep the heart rate low enough to stay in the aerobic zone rather than the anaerobic zone. Build your aerobic base to run the distance faster with the same effort. I like the fact that the aerobic zone uses fat for energy rather than carbs and sugar. That is probably why I always felt like I needed some kind of fuel for any runs over five miles. My energy would get depleted. I believe I read that when your body uses fat it is more efficient.