I think maf tests were more relevant pre garmin/heart monitor days, if you are sure you are training under maf and have such a device you should be seeing a trend one way or another.I do a walking maf-25 for 5 mins or so at the start of every run and is a good indicator on how the run will go and how damaging/fruitful  the previous day run was, which saves time.I am not a fan of running 5 miles at maf .

Reducing my effort by 5 beats would be the first thing I would try to see how that goes.Ignore the slower pace and just go by how you feel after the run you may end up getting quicker after a few days..running at maf did little for me.

The first thing you should do after a Maf  test ..is have a maf test.. 

 

Running by feel is not maff training. I am not sure it is any specific type of training.