I have been doing MAF for over a year and although I'm much, MUCH slower, my pace has been steadily improving and my HR is decreasing. 1st MAF was 16ish/mi@140bpm :(. But now, 12ish/mi@132bpm. Still slow, just less slow AND no injuries (knock on wood). Speed work, increased total slow volume per week, and longer long runs have kept me progressing. One day I'll get back down under 10/mi
I started running 6.5 years ago, was introduced to MAF 4-5 years ago from guys in our “club”, was the only one who really ran MAF and built a nice base, I went from slowest to fastest in the group! My marathon pace went from 4:26 to 3:39 and I shaved 48 minutes off my local 50K trail race. MAF works!
Did my first month of 5 easy miles everyday for a month, and I went from a 9:18 mile average to an 8:47 mile average for my MAF tests. Keep at it my fellow Aerobic Base Builders
🙌🏼 🙌🏼 that’s exciting. I remember the first time I broke the 9:00 barrier with an 8:57 5 mile test. I never thought I would be that excited to run sub 9. Right now, the heat and humidity has taken over so that usually affects my time 45seconds to a minute when the season first changes.
I’ve been back into running for about a year. Tonight I started MAF training. Whew!!! It’s a struggle to keep my HR on target. This method is certainly a new concept for me…I typically just run based on how I’m feeling. I’m hoping MAF will help me set parameters with my training regiment and provide good results! Thanks for the information!
My fitness fell off a cliff in March, and you've convinced me to try MAF for 60 days! 5 runs in and it feels surprisingly good. I have no idea what duration/distance I'm aiming for but I'm sticking with it!! 😬
Amazing! All that stuff goes out the window with easy running in my opinion. I think the scientists say you need at least 30 minutes of aerobic activity for benefits. I aimed for an hour a day Tuesday-Saturday and a 2 hour long run Sundays with Monday off. Aiming for 6-7 hours a week and I saw really good improvement. But if I ran 50 min or skipped a day it didn’t really matter. Glad to hear it’s feeling good
At the end of the day, for most recreational runners, more ks means faster distance running. If running based on a MAF HR calculation allows you to run more, do it. Just do what you can to run more.
Scoreboard! I think I agree with each of your 5? 7? 8-9 points?? Hey, I’m doing the midlife running thing, too. MAF works for me so far -and I’m certainly not strict about it.
My five truths about MAF: 1. The bulk of the Maffetone Method book is dedicated to low carb diet, which is scientifically dubious from the perspective of endurance athletics. 2. Despite claims otherwise there does not appear to be any actual statistical analysis to justify the 180-age formula. The number was pulled out of a hat as something that seemed to work and Maffetone gives himself enough leeway to make adjustments to it. 3. The 180-age formula gives a heart rate that is generally way too high for most trained athletes to be an easy pace. If your marathon pace can be maintained at MAF heart rate, it isn't really an easy pace. 4. There is literally nothing in The Maffetone Method that says anything about speed work. It does mention that speed work is beneficial but it actually recommends against going faster than the 180-age formula ever and it gives no guidelines whatsoever about how much speedwork should be done, making the whole thing vacuous. If you run 90% of your runs at close to max HR and 10% at exactly MAF hr, you are "still doing maffetone". If everybody is doing Maffetone then nobody is. If Maffetone Method is "just another fancy word for aerobic base building", then why would you not say that instead of giving what essentially amounts to an academic huckster more credit than he deserves? Why are we making it out like Phil Maffetone invented running easy and essentially letting him copyright the concept? 5. There is no evidence that MAF does better than following an actual polarized protocol at preventing injury or improving performance. None of Dr. Maffetone's studies do a comparison of different protocols but do a study against a control group that is doing their "normal training schedule". In particular, the one study that I can find, shows that their non-MAF group had a 62% injury rate. This seems incredibly dubious to me. A legitimate comparison would be to a protocol where all running was done at a legitimate sub lactate turning point heart rate while base building. No such study exists.
Thanks 🙏🏼 for taking time to share these insights, Frank. For me, as a beginning runner stumbling across Maffetone via Floris Gierman, it presented a system in digestible terms. Like Seiler said, most well-trained athletes were doing 80/20 and just not calling it that. But when you call it that, people grab a hold of it more easily. So, I think you’re totally right. I don’t do low carb. The 180 formula is generic and doesn’t apply to my higher heart rate. Well- trained athletes with big aerobic systems do not benefit/need a billion easy miles to gain much aerobic improvement because after 10-15 years plus of running they’ve reached near their genetic potential, hence why they work to squeeze out An ounce of improvement with altitude training. I believe in the yellow book, he says once you’re MAF pace plateaus via MAF tests, to incorporate 4-6 weeks of speed work, however, he doesn’t prescribe anything , just mentions it can come from races. Perhaps he is addressing schoolers who race often in a race season ? 🤷🏻♂️ I tried minimal speed work and it didn’t work for me. This summer, July -September, I am going to do my best Frank impersonation and reach mileage I’ve never seen before. In order to do that without getting injured, I will naturally have to run slower to accomplish it, using HR as a guide but also listening to my body. Then a speed block. Then a race specific marathon block. I believe this is periodization. I couldn’t find it in the yellow book 😂. Jokes aside, he is recycling known running principles that were already established (Lydiard). Cheers
I saw that excellent Seiler TED talk about 80/20 and how the pros run that ratio of easy vs speed. My coach has basically been assigning me according to that without factoring in metrics like HR zone and so on; it’s all been effort based. Even that is challenging for me having been living and doing most of my training at 8000 ft where it’s hard for anything to feel easy since I don’t have Sherpa genes😂. However, it still seems to be working and the shift to lower elevation (and often sea level) for racing also contributes favorably. But that’s a digression; I agree that MAF seems to be one person’s plan based on long held conventional wisdom with metrics built in (and some dietary beliefs in addition?) for runners who like being able to rely on that degree of detailed structure.
I have learned my lesson never to debate @frank lehouillier. He is the most knowledgeable debater I’ve ever not met. But great point, Frank. Since Maffetone never really expounds beyond this 180-age which is WAYYYY too high for my easy, it’s not really a method. MAF is less syllables than polarized running or low heart training or 80/20 running, so that’s my only argument right now. Cheers fam.
Do you have a MAF building block routine or outline? And then what do you use for when it becomes race time? I am struggling to find anyone who describes their MAF training phase volume (3 days? 5 days? How many minutes per run, or miles?). And what about cross training? (think MAF option for triatheletes). Then when you have a goal race you do a 12 week plan? 16 week? Sorry so many questions...
I have done a 16 week plan in 4 x 4 week blocks, increasing mileage by 10% three weeks then cutting back to 50miles (a safe base for me). So 50, 55, 60, 50. The following block I went up 5 miles and stayed 60, 60, 60, 50. Then 65, 65, 65, 50, then 70, 70, taper for two weeks. I never hit this mileage, it was just the goal. When my legs were too stressed, I opted for the bike instead. The idea was to spend 12-14 hours in my MAF zone as possible. I have done 6 day weeks and 7 day weeks and find 7 days keeps blood flowing to my muscles better, as long as I jog zone 1 on that “would be day off” - but that’s just my body. In retrospect, I would add some strides 6-8 on at least 3 runs a week. And maybe 1 min fast , 1 min slow x 10 once a week just to touch on the faster stuff , if for a race. If just a MAF base build, I would keep it all MAF
I too have picked up running later on in life, at age 37. I was always an athlete when I was younger though, mainly basketball. My question: how much did your weekly mileage increase from when you started MAF method to the end of that 6 month training session? I work on my feet in the construction business, I walk 5+ miles at work for sure, and bend down and up hundreds of times during the day. It just feels very hard for me to increase my mileage because my legs just don't have it in them. I just recently started running 25-30 miles per week, with a variety of easy/tempo/interval type runs. I just can't seem to have the gusto to get to 40-50 miles per week due to the physicality of my job...which is really unfortunate, because I thoroughly enjoy running now (which seems insane since I always hated running as a kid).
The irony! In my experience, when I cut out the tempo and interval and focus on just easy runs, I can do more mileage. So I was doing 35-40 miles with speed work like you before starting and then I was running 50-66 miles for the first few months with zero speedwork . I would do 50, 55, 60 then cut back , then 55, 60, 66 and then cut back down to 50. This year I did a lot of speed work inside a half marathon block and averaged 42-45 miles every week, with two peak weeks around 50 miles. And that felt the same as 75 miles all easy. So you can do a lot more volume by running/jogging slower. Another thing to consider is the gym a couple times a week to do squats or deadlift. I know it doesn’t make much sense if they’re toast, but it helped me. (I consume a lot of protein and BCAAs though I’m not sure the bcaa do anything
@@MidLifeRunner My hip mobility is terrible. After watching a ton of Stephen Scullion vids lately and I started picking up a decent pre/post workout routine with some stretching/yoga type aspects to it. I try to do that daily regardless if I'm running or not...still doesn't seem to help my terrible flexibility, which is probably the worst you've ever heard of. I do tend to do 1-2 causal workouts at home...mainly yoga and body weight exercises, little kettle bell stuff...ya know, just easy at-home type things that I can bust out in my bedroom. I too have a high protein diet and I may have to find some squat and deadlift exercises (or something similar with the weights I have), and see if that helps. I am dying to break a 20min 5k, I'm determined to do it by the end of the year. I ran a 23:35 on Dec 10th 2022, 21:40 on Mar 11th 2023...but it feels like my heart rate to pace ratio hasn't been improving much since that Mar 11th race. I know Stephen preaches recovery...and I have to admit that my sleep schedule isn't the best, especially if I'm waking up at 5am for summer runs. I do notice that my legs feels amazing on Sunday runs after getting 2 nights of 8hrs+ of sleep, since I usually just get 6-7. My Garmin watch shows some steady improvements to my race estimates and VO2max numbers since then, but it has been a slow reduction in ETA's since then. I just don't want to to get stuck in a certain time/speed area and lose that edge and will-to-improve that I've had since I started 6-7 months ago.
@@ryanmiskin8925 I would recommend glute bridges with weights between your heels and butt. Pull in on heel. This will strengthen the hammies and help your lower core. I hold for 3 seconds at the top, making sure not to arch my back. This is what I’m doing to help fix my severe anterior pelvic tilt, which HUGELY limits my hip mobility. I think it also puts a lot of pressure on my calves and ankles. It causes my thighs to be constantly tight. So I I use a lacrosse ball to roll quads and do quad stretches . But the key is strengthen glutes, hammies, and lower core to scoop myself out of pelvic tilt. If you stay with MAF and bring down the easy pace, your fast will get faster too. I was around a 21:40 also and got it down to 20:14 after two months of all easy maf runs. I miss speed work when I don’t do it and I like to go fast, so it took a lot of discipline to stay with the easy stuff for a few months. Caution: Once I got back into speedwork , I got hurt because I had quit warming up and cooling down. I wish I had stayed consistent with good habits. Stephen scullion Is legendary. I find his videos to be very motivating
Shakespeare is witty like hip hop but you gotta know the lingo. Anyways, I’m a midlife new runner also. I’m wondering if this might give us an advantage (in joint function, not cardio) because we have less miles in the legs? Less cumulative wear and tear.
I can serve as a guinea pig, having started running at age 58. I’m not a few weeks from 72 and have had no serious injuries and am running much faster since getting a coach at age 68. I’ve never done very high mileage volume and run 4x/week. I do believe my joints will remain fresher longer with the late start and I’m naturally hoping it enhances my longevity!
I’ve read THE book and I’ve read 80/20. I still don’t know how to put a MAF training plan together. Should I just follow any training plan and make the easy days MAF?
That’s how I’ve approached it and it worked week. When I do the speedy workouts, usually the next day my body is so fatigued that my MAF pace is “recovery” or “slower than usual.” What I’m doing this block that is different…if I have two days off between a workout and a long run, the first day is recovery and the second day is zone 3. I think once you hop into a training block for a race, the best thing is to train in a range of paces, just below MP, at MP, faster than MP, threshold, interval, maf. The more your body get used to those faster paces, the more economical the heart and body get. The same way maf works with the body improving at that HR.
Yes. I like treadmill for MAF because you can incline and reduce impact on the legs. The most important thing is just to exist in your maf range as much as possible, making sure to get enough rest and recovery. I’ve heard each run or bike should be at least 30 minutes if possible.
Yes, the Maffetone method generic 180 formula for HR means it won’t be applicable to a lot of runners with various HR. I think my max is somewhere in the high 190s. So when I run my MAF HR by age it is low zone 2. The VDOT also gives such a big range for easy pace
Dude , Henry IV/V is brilliant.. Falstaff will get you laughing , you need to get watching the Hollow Crown starts with Richard II (Ben Wishaw) ands 3 generations later with Richard III , get watching and be prepared to take that point back 🤣
😂 If I have learned anything in this life it is that I do not know a whole lot. Perhaps the resentment is rooted from my college days as an English major. Shakespeare was my only “B”
COMPARISON IS UNHEALTHY Yes. I cannot stress this enough. You should only be comparing your level of fitness against your previous levels of fitness. Sure, take notes and ideas from others that are better than you in regards to training and recovery, and see what works best for you. But there is ZERO reason to try to "be like them" when you're just a casual/intermediate runner that is simply trying to get fit and improve on your times.
What I love so much about running is the fact we mortals are competing against ourselves while being inspired and supported by others. This stands as a stark contrast to my career as a professional orchestral flutist (where competition was fierce and often backbiting for many musicians). So my 2nd life as a runner has been refreshing in this respect. I think the majority of us find the community to be welcoming, Let’sRun message boards notwithstanding!
“I’m not a fast runner “ says the “sponsored athlete” 🤦🏻♂️🤷🏻♂️. 😆 just kidding Andrew Seidel, sorry I meant to say Pozza 👍🏼😆😆🤪. Well, all I can say is, I’m here for the jokes, all this training stuff to not be elite 🤷🏻♂️ why bother 😂😆. Just kidding, great info 👍🏼
Kerry, I almost stopped quite a few times in the first two weeks and especially between day 14-30. Fortunately, the needle started to move so I kept with it
I used to take adderal over 10 years ago long before I was a runner. I can’t imagine. I drank too much caffeine YESTERDAY afternoon and I woke up this morning with a higher resting heart rate. It def affects
@@MidLifeRunner I’m currently struggling to interpret heart rate data to see improvement in fitness due to the influence of the time of day on my heart rate. I think I am going to run before I take my meds over the summer or very soon after
Agreed. In my maf blocks I usually only do high end MAF on classic speed days like Tuesday, Thursday and some in the long run. And other days I go below ⬇️ MaF for more recovery. I think it’s a good sign of intermediate progress when you have to slow down below maf
This channel deserves 10k subscribers more
🙏🏼 thank you, Adam
I have been doing MAF for over a year and although I'm much, MUCH slower, my pace has been steadily improving and my HR is decreasing. 1st MAF was 16ish/mi@140bpm :(. But now, 12ish/mi@132bpm. Still slow, just less slow AND no injuries (knock on wood). Speed work, increased total slow volume per week, and longer long runs have kept me progressing. One day I'll get back down under 10/mi
🙌🏼 stay strong! 4 min faster AND 8 beats less is incredible.
I started running 6.5 years ago, was introduced to MAF 4-5 years ago from guys in our “club”, was the only one who really ran MAF and built a nice base, I went from slowest to fastest in the group! My marathon pace went from 4:26 to 3:39 and I shaved 48 minutes off my local 50K trail race. MAF works!
🙌🏼 🙌🏼 that’s awesome !
Do you eat carbs at all in your diet when MAF training or do u primarily stick with no carb diet?
Did my first month of 5 easy miles everyday for a month, and I went from a 9:18 mile average to an 8:47 mile average for my MAF tests. Keep at it my fellow Aerobic Base Builders
🙌🏼 🙌🏼 that’s exciting. I remember the first time I broke the 9:00 barrier with an 8:57 5 mile test. I never thought I would be that excited to run sub 9. Right now, the heat and humidity has taken over so that usually affects my time 45seconds to a minute when the season first changes.
I’ve been back into running for about a year. Tonight I started MAF training. Whew!!! It’s a struggle to keep my HR on target. This method is certainly a new concept for me…I typically just run based on how I’m feeling. I’m hoping MAF will help me set parameters with my training regiment and provide good results! Thanks for the information!
Best to you on the MAF journey. The heart gets a whole lot stronger after a couple of months. You’ll see good progress if you stay patient
Just : thank you
Love your humor regardless of the topic or shoe❤
Thank you 🙏🏼 Martha! I appreciate the kind words
My fitness fell off a cliff in March, and you've convinced me to try MAF for 60 days! 5 runs in and it feels surprisingly good. I have no idea what duration/distance I'm aiming for but I'm sticking with it!! 😬
Amazing! All that stuff goes out the window with easy running in my opinion. I think the scientists say you need at least 30 minutes of aerobic activity for benefits. I aimed for an hour a day Tuesday-Saturday and a 2 hour long run Sundays with Monday off. Aiming for 6-7 hours a week and I saw really good improvement. But if I ran 50 min or skipped a day it didn’t really matter. Glad to hear it’s feeling good
Thanks Andrew, keep pushing the content 👍👍
At the end of the day, for most recreational runners, more ks means faster distance running. If running based on a MAF HR calculation allows you to run more, do it. Just do what you can to run more.
Scoreboard! I think I agree with each of your 5? 7? 8-9 points??
Hey, I’m doing the midlife running thing, too. MAF works for me so far -and I’m certainly not strict about it.
😂 I should have just said “here’s an arbitrary amount of points about running that may or may not be true.” Midlife runners unite
Ok, the Maury Povich at the beginning made me think about shoe paternity testing 🤣🤣🤣 what is wrong with us (me)???
Everything
My five truths about MAF:
1. The bulk of the Maffetone Method book is dedicated to low carb diet, which is scientifically dubious from the perspective of endurance athletics.
2. Despite claims otherwise there does not appear to be any actual statistical analysis to justify the 180-age formula. The number was pulled out of a hat as something that seemed to work and Maffetone gives himself enough leeway to make adjustments to it.
3. The 180-age formula gives a heart rate that is generally way too high for most trained athletes to be an easy pace. If your marathon pace can be maintained at MAF heart rate, it isn't really an easy pace.
4. There is literally nothing in The Maffetone Method that says anything about speed work. It does mention that speed work is beneficial but it actually recommends against going faster than the 180-age formula ever and it gives no guidelines whatsoever about how much speedwork should be done, making the whole thing vacuous. If you run 90% of your runs at close to max HR and 10% at exactly MAF hr, you are "still doing maffetone". If everybody is doing Maffetone then nobody is. If Maffetone Method is "just another fancy word for aerobic base building", then why would you not say that instead of giving what essentially amounts to an academic huckster more credit than he deserves? Why are we making it out like Phil Maffetone invented running easy and essentially letting him copyright the concept?
5. There is no evidence that MAF does better than following an actual polarized protocol at preventing injury or improving performance. None of Dr. Maffetone's studies do a comparison of different protocols but do a study against a control group that is doing their "normal training schedule". In particular, the one study that I can find, shows that their non-MAF group had a 62% injury rate. This seems incredibly dubious to me. A legitimate comparison would be to a protocol where all running was done at a legitimate sub lactate turning point heart rate while base building. No such study exists.
Thanks 🙏🏼 for taking time to share these insights, Frank. For me, as a beginning runner stumbling across Maffetone via Floris Gierman, it presented a system in digestible terms. Like Seiler said, most well-trained athletes were doing 80/20 and just not calling it that. But when you call it that, people grab a hold of it more easily. So, I think you’re totally right. I don’t do low carb. The 180 formula is generic and doesn’t apply to my higher heart rate. Well- trained athletes with big aerobic systems do not benefit/need a billion easy miles to gain much aerobic improvement because after 10-15 years plus of running they’ve reached near their genetic potential, hence why they work to squeeze out An ounce of improvement with altitude training.
I believe in the yellow book, he says once you’re MAF pace plateaus via MAF tests, to incorporate 4-6 weeks of speed work, however, he doesn’t prescribe anything , just mentions it can come from races. Perhaps he is addressing schoolers who race often in a race season ? 🤷🏻♂️ I tried minimal speed work and it didn’t work for me.
This summer, July -September, I am going to do my best Frank impersonation and reach mileage I’ve never seen before. In order to do that without getting injured, I will naturally have to run slower to accomplish it, using HR as a guide but also listening to my body. Then a speed block. Then a race specific marathon block. I believe this is periodization. I couldn’t find it in the yellow book 😂. Jokes aside, he is recycling known running principles that were already established (Lydiard). Cheers
I saw that excellent Seiler TED talk about 80/20 and how the pros run that ratio of easy vs speed. My coach has basically been assigning me according to that without factoring in metrics like HR zone and so on; it’s all been effort based. Even that is challenging for me having been living and doing most of my training at 8000 ft where it’s hard for anything to feel easy since I don’t have Sherpa genes😂. However, it still seems to be working and the shift to lower elevation (and often sea level) for racing also contributes favorably. But that’s a digression; I agree that MAF seems to be one person’s plan based on long held conventional wisdom with metrics built in (and some dietary beliefs in addition?) for runners who like being able to rely on that degree of detailed structure.
I have learned my lesson never to debate @frank lehouillier. He is the most knowledgeable debater I’ve ever not met. But great point, Frank. Since Maffetone never really expounds beyond this 180-age which is WAYYYY too high for my easy, it’s not really a method. MAF is less syllables than polarized running or low heart training or 80/20 running, so that’s my only argument right now. Cheers fam.
great video.. thank you
🙏🏼
I see that Nick Cutter “the deep” back there!
Half those books belong to my wife. She likes some of those horror type books . Horrorstor etc… though I can take credit for House of Leaves
Awaiting the “Scoreboard Bitch” swag.
😂 I’m on it
Sold
Do you have a MAF building block routine or outline? And then what do you use for when it becomes race time? I am struggling to find anyone who describes their MAF training phase volume (3 days? 5 days? How many minutes per run, or miles?). And what about cross training? (think MAF option for triatheletes). Then when you have a goal race you do a 12 week plan? 16 week? Sorry so many questions...
I have done a 16 week plan in 4 x 4 week blocks, increasing mileage by 10% three weeks then cutting back to 50miles (a safe base for me). So 50, 55, 60, 50. The following block I went up 5 miles and stayed 60, 60, 60, 50. Then 65, 65, 65, 50, then 70, 70, taper for two weeks. I never hit this mileage, it was just the goal. When my legs were too stressed, I opted for the bike instead. The idea was to spend 12-14 hours in my MAF zone as possible. I have done 6 day weeks and 7 day weeks and find 7 days keeps blood flowing to my muscles better, as long as I jog zone 1 on that “would be day off” - but that’s just my body. In retrospect, I would add some strides 6-8 on at least 3 runs a week. And maybe 1 min fast , 1 min slow x 10 once a week just to touch on the faster stuff , if for a race. If just a MAF base build, I would keep it all MAF
Thank you this is helpful. Not sure I can get those miles, but I am hoping to be a 35-45/wk runner on 4 days run, 2 days bike/swim@@MidLifeRunner
I too have picked up running later on in life, at age 37. I was always an athlete when I was younger though, mainly basketball. My question: how much did your weekly mileage increase from when you started MAF method to the end of that 6 month training session? I work on my feet in the construction business, I walk 5+ miles at work for sure, and bend down and up hundreds of times during the day. It just feels very hard for me to increase my mileage because my legs just don't have it in them. I just recently started running 25-30 miles per week, with a variety of easy/tempo/interval type runs. I just can't seem to have the gusto to get to 40-50 miles per week due to the physicality of my job...which is really unfortunate, because I thoroughly enjoy running now (which seems insane since I always hated running as a kid).
The irony! In my experience, when I cut out the tempo and interval and focus on just easy runs, I can do more mileage. So I was doing 35-40 miles with speed work like you before starting and then I was running 50-66 miles for the first few months with zero speedwork . I would do 50, 55, 60 then cut back , then 55, 60, 66 and then cut back down to 50. This year I did a lot of speed work inside a half marathon block and averaged 42-45 miles every week, with two peak weeks around 50 miles. And that felt the same as 75 miles all easy. So you can do a lot more volume by running/jogging slower.
Another thing to consider is the gym a couple times a week to do squats or deadlift. I know it doesn’t make much sense if they’re toast, but it helped me. (I consume a lot of protein and BCAAs though I’m not sure the bcaa do anything
@@MidLifeRunner My hip mobility is terrible. After watching a ton of Stephen Scullion vids lately and I started picking up a decent pre/post workout routine with some stretching/yoga type aspects to it. I try to do that daily regardless if I'm running or not...still doesn't seem to help my terrible flexibility, which is probably the worst you've ever heard of.
I do tend to do 1-2 causal workouts at home...mainly yoga and body weight exercises, little kettle bell stuff...ya know, just easy at-home type things that I can bust out in my bedroom. I too have a high protein diet and I may have to find some squat and deadlift exercises (or something similar with the weights I have), and see if that helps. I am dying to break a 20min 5k, I'm determined to do it by the end of the year. I ran a 23:35 on Dec 10th 2022, 21:40 on Mar 11th 2023...but it feels like my heart rate to pace ratio hasn't been improving much since that Mar 11th race. I know Stephen preaches recovery...and I have to admit that my sleep schedule isn't the best, especially if I'm waking up at 5am for summer runs. I do notice that my legs feels amazing on Sunday runs after getting 2 nights of 8hrs+ of sleep, since I usually just get 6-7.
My Garmin watch shows some steady improvements to my race estimates and VO2max numbers since then, but it has been a slow reduction in ETA's since then. I just don't want to to get stuck in a certain time/speed area and lose that edge and will-to-improve that I've had since I started 6-7 months ago.
@@ryanmiskin8925 I would recommend glute bridges with weights between your heels and butt. Pull in on heel. This will strengthen the hammies and help your lower core. I hold for 3 seconds at the top, making sure not to arch my back. This is what I’m doing to help fix my severe anterior pelvic tilt, which HUGELY limits my hip mobility. I think it also puts a lot of pressure on my calves and ankles. It causes my thighs to be constantly tight. So I I use a lacrosse ball to roll quads and do quad stretches . But the key is strengthen glutes, hammies, and lower core to scoop myself out of pelvic tilt.
If you stay with MAF and bring down the easy pace, your fast will get faster too. I was around a 21:40 also and got it down to 20:14 after two months of all easy maf runs. I miss speed work when I don’t do it and I like to go fast, so it took a lot of discipline to stay with the easy stuff for a few months. Caution: Once I got back into speedwork , I got hurt because I had quit warming up and cooling down. I wish I had stayed consistent with good habits. Stephen scullion Is legendary. I find his videos to be very motivating
Outtake truth number 4 is the real truth🤔
😂 I almost didn’t include it. Not sure it’s a hard truth. More easy than anything else
@@MidLifeRunner haha easy for sure
Shakespeare is witty like hip hop but you gotta know the lingo. Anyways, I’m a midlife new runner also. I’m wondering if this might give us an advantage (in joint function, not cardio) because we have less miles in the legs? Less cumulative wear and tear.
😂 oh man, I’m going to lose my Shakespeare people! I do like that outlook! We have a good 10-12 years of PRs and good times ahead of us.
I can serve as a guinea pig, having started running at age 58. I’m not a few weeks from 72 and have had no serious injuries and am running much faster since getting a coach at age 68. I’ve never done very high mileage volume and run 4x/week. I do believe my joints will remain fresher longer with the late start and I’m naturally hoping it enhances my longevity!
@@levandmarthapolyakin-aaron2183 great news! Very happy for you and hope I follow in your steps! Though I have a bike for plan B.
I’ve read THE book and I’ve read 80/20. I still don’t know how to put a MAF training plan together. Should I just follow any training plan and make the easy days MAF?
That’s how I’ve approached it and it worked week. When I do the speedy workouts, usually the next day my body is so fatigued that my MAF pace is “recovery” or “slower than usual.” What I’m doing this block that is different…if I have two days off between a workout and a long run, the first day is recovery and the second day is zone 3. I think once you hop into a training block for a race, the best thing is to train in a range of paces, just below MP, at MP, faster than MP, threshold, interval, maf. The more your body get used to those faster paces, the more economical the heart and body get. The same way maf works with the body improving at that HR.
@@MidLifeRunner that makes sense to me. Thank you for the reply.
Hey, I just want to ask recently is it okay if I do my MAF on treadmill for 3 times a week and other two days outside?
Yes. I like treadmill for MAF because you can incline and reduce impact on the legs. The most important thing is just to exist in your maf range as much as possible, making sure to get enough rest and recovery. I’ve heard each run or bike should be at least 30 minutes if possible.
@@MidLifeRunner thank you for the reply okay I understand. I think your channel deserve more credit because it is informative and fun 👍
Those pace calculators are meant for ants. I have to multiply easy pace by 1.5 to stay anywhere near correct heart rate.
It all still works.
Yes, the Maffetone method generic 180 formula for HR means it won’t be applicable to a lot of runners with various HR. I think my max is somewhere in the high 190s. So when I run my MAF HR by age it is low zone 2. The VDOT also gives such a big range for easy pace
For me, easy and slow are currently the same
I think you’re doing it right then
Dude , Henry IV/V is brilliant.. Falstaff will get you laughing , you need to get watching the Hollow Crown starts with Richard II (Ben Wishaw) ands 3 generations later with Richard III , get watching and be prepared to take that point back 🤣
😂 If I have learned anything in this life it is that I do not know a whole lot. Perhaps the resentment is rooted from my college days as an English major. Shakespeare was my only “B”
I like some Shakespeare. 😄
🤦🏻♂️ you’re not alone. Many fans of Bill have commented. Maybe I’m just not on that level 😂 you need a chess rating of at least 2500
Aluminum, Aloominum
😂
COMPARISON IS UNHEALTHY
Yes. I cannot stress this enough. You should only be comparing your level of fitness against your previous levels of fitness. Sure, take notes and ideas from others that are better than you in regards to training and recovery, and see what works best for you. But there is ZERO reason to try to "be like them" when you're just a casual/intermediate runner that is simply trying to get fit and improve on your times.
Agree 💯
What I love so much about running is the fact we mortals are competing against ourselves while being inspired and supported by others. This stands as a stark contrast to my career as a professional orchestral flutist (where competition was fierce and often backbiting for many musicians). So my 2nd life as a runner has been refreshing in this respect. I think the majority of us find the community to be welcoming, Let’sRun message boards notwithstanding!
“I’m not a fast runner “ says the “sponsored athlete” 🤦🏻♂️🤷🏻♂️. 😆 just kidding Andrew Seidel, sorry I meant to say Pozza 👍🏼😆😆🤪. Well, all I can say is, I’m here for the jokes, all this training stuff to not be elite 🤷🏻♂️ why bother 😂😆. Just kidding, great info 👍🏼
My sincerest apologies Luis. I’ll be sure to supply a better stock of jokes for the marathon videos coming up
@@MidLifeRunner how is taper going? One more week and it’s race day. Man!! So exciting. Let’s go!, 💪🏼
Jeez, your Forrest Gump impression is a bit too good.
🙏🏼 thank you. I may or may not have seen it 4,000 times
I’d love to give maffetone a try but my ego won’t let me. 😂
😅👍👍👍
Kerry, I almost stopped quite a few times in the first two weeks and especially between day 14-30. Fortunately, the needle started to move so I kept with it
The maffetone method will make you almost walk if you take max dosage adhd medications lmaoo
I used to take adderal over 10 years ago long before I was a runner. I can’t imagine. I drank too much caffeine YESTERDAY afternoon and I woke up this morning with a higher resting heart rate. It def affects
@@MidLifeRunner I’m currently struggling to interpret heart rate data to see improvement in fitness due to the influence of the time of day on my heart rate. I think I am going to run before I take my meds over the summer or very soon after
As soon as you´re running 6-7 times a week, you´re certainly not going to be able to run MAF pace on all easy runs. You need to go slower
Agreed. In my maf blocks I usually only do high end MAF on classic speed days like Tuesday, Thursday and some in the long run. And other days I go below ⬇️ MaF for more recovery. I think it’s a good sign of intermediate progress when you have to slow down below maf
@@MidLifeRunner exactly, MAF becomes kind of a workout on its own