3 true MAF runs for me so far so just to show where I started from...

tuesday:

course: flat-ish 0.5 mile laps

distance: 6.5 miles

time: nearly 100 minutes

avg pace: 15:10

avg HR: 151

warmup: 10 mins of walking, 0.7 mile (0.2 to the course and 0.5 for one lap over the course)

wednesday:

course: very hilly (0.75 mile up, 0.62 mile down, 0.15 up and then start over, did this lap 3 times)

distance: around 4.5-4.6 miles

time: 66 minutes

avg pace: 14:30 total, but downhill the average pace was between 11:00 and 12:00. uphill it was still mostly running with a few secs of walks several times.

avg HR: 151

warmup: around 5-10 mins (going down and up too)

thursday:

course: same flat-ish 0.5 mile laps

distance: 3.5 miles

time: 51 mins

avg pace: 14:30

avg HR: 150

warmup: 1.2 mile walk for about 17-18 mins (1 on the course for 15 mins, and the usual 0.2 leading up to the course)

HR zone 148-152 most of the time, sometimes dropping below 148 but quite rarely. and at 152-153 I tried to slow down instantly.

same weather all the time except thursday had for temperature 4 C/39 F and the other 2 days 8 C/46 F.

and the interesting thing to note is when comparing the tendency for slowing down on tuesday and thursday (same course, just shorter time for the second workout):

tuesday:

mile 1: AHR 150, pace 14:50

mile 2: AHR 149.5, pace 15:37

mile 3: AHR 151, pace 15:16

mile 4: AHR 150.5, pace 14:55

mile 5: AHR 151, pace 15:17

mile 6: AHR 152.5, pace 15:10

last 0.5: AHR 152, pace 15:12

note in last 1 mile I had to walk a lot, before that it was continuous running.

thursday:

mile 1: AHR 149.5, pace 13:57

mile 2: AHR 150, pace 14:33

mile 3: AHR 150, pace 14:56

last 0.5: AHR 150, pace 15:04

all of that was continuous running.

I interpret that as no real slow down for first workout except there was a cardiac drift after more than 1 hour. the second one has constant slow down. btw, the hilly workout had very slight and constant slowdown but I can't give you nice mile based figures on that as the laps are a "weird" length.

anyway, is that fluctuation normal? I felt much better in the thursday workout because the starting pace was feeling good, for my knees too.

 

my question: I don't know if this day was just something extremely good or if I can hope for 1-2 more such days in future. can you share your experiences with me on this?

but, a note here, in the middle of february I would have been able to do around 13/mile for 5+ miles easily at this HR (I know this because I actually tried a few miles once) but I was stupid and kept going at the higher HR rates until the regression happened. I hope I can get back into that shape sooner or later.

 It looks like you have improved quite a bit. 13/m and windy conditions. Did you run on the same course each time?

 It looks like you have improved quite a bit. 13/m and windy conditions. Did you run on the same course each time?

yep, same course btw, the original 15:15 pace was actually quite a bit worse than I would have expected based on my pace at higher HR zones, so there  was room for improvement.

can I ask about your knee pain, is it related to running at a slow pace or is something else the cause for it?

First MAF test in a couple of years. It was hard to recognize my age and drop my MAF to 142!

Time          Distance   Split pace   Avg. HR
0:04:49	   0.48        10:02            125
0:09:45      1.00        9:29              132
0:14:19      1.50        9:08              135
0:18:43      2.00        8:49              137
0:27:42      3.05        8:33              142
0:35:59      4.00        8:44              143
0:44:49      5.00        8:50              142
0:53:43      6.00        8:54              142
1:02:51      7.00        9:07              142
1:07:50      7.50        9:58              137
1:13:04      8.00      10:30             133

Not sure what this means compared to a couple of years ago. I've dropped my MAF from 145 to 142 and this was on a treadmill versus outside, so I guess this is my starting point.

Maffetone has a table that relates MAF pace to 5k pace, but I'm not sure whether it's an average of the 5 miles or the first mile. He says 8:30 MAF = 6:45 5k pace (20:58). I'd guess I'm in a bit better shape than that (20:00-20:30?), but I guess I'll see when I run an 8k on the 14th.

good job Ron! Am looking forward to a great run report.

Got in 9mi long run this morning with the Running Family group. Ran it like I should have run last weeks half. Also said screw the hr if it doesn't come up to my target 102-107 range. I started by walking 1/2 mi, then slow jogging for rest of first mi. 2nd mi was a touch faster, and easy. It got hr to 97 or so and I kept it there since this is long run. I walked a min after each 2mi, and took long water stop at the 4.6 mi half way point. HR stayed fairly constant and lower than former target but pace felt good. I had G2 gatorade with me and took 2 slugs each walk. Had a bar and glass of G2 at the water stop, and took another to have during mi 7 or so. Right hamstring complained in mi 7 and back it down a bit.I felt good early in mi 8 and pushed hr to 102-107 range for 1/4 mi then started cool down jog/walk for last 1/2 mi.  Even with the long water stop break and 1 min walks, pace was at half marathon pace - with lower hr. Not sure what the impact of new med is. Will have to continue to monitor.