I know I know I'm all over the place Maff then Lance now Lydiard.

This is going to be about me hopefully demonstrating to you how Lydiards base plan gets fast(relatively) results.

My goal this week is to improve my average pace on my 45 min out and back run by more than 1 sec to give me a first sub 12min average pace by next week.Easier said than done.

Listed below are some of the prerequisites  I have set upon myself.

1 Eat every 6 hours.

This is impossible for me as I have my breakfast too late.So i only eat twice a day starting with a very large high protein/low carb breakfast. at 9am,the less carbs I eat the longer I can stave off the hunger pangs.

No eating between meals and nothing after evening meal at 6pmish.Just drink warm water

Cut out all all high glycemic carbs similar to 2 week test but include berries  and pulses(handful).

This should help my fat burning function..maybe!!

2)5 minute walking warm up/warm down during every run.

This initial walk warm up to a particular lamp post took 5min-15sec 6 months ago and I now have it down to 4-23.keeping my pulse below 100.

This will replace my maf test and if I have done anything untoward previously my time can go to 5min+.This way i am having a daily monitor. 

3)All my runs must have a negative split.

This what makes it  a Lydiard plan.He always wanted his runners to do close to a negative split.He described the effort as your maximum aerobic capacity.I will call it my MAC heart rate ie to run as fast as I can at the same effort without slowing down.This magic MAC number(thanks Sean) for me is close to 115bpm.This could increase over time as my endurance improves.

I can assure you this is well below my maf so nothing controversial here and still in the spirit of Maffetone.No formula was used to reach this MAC number just trial and error,although 180-age-10 did get me there quickly.

4)The 5 Tibetan rites.

I do these short yoga poses every morning after my run.They seem to help me be more disciplined with my diet and improve strength and hamstring flexibility.Highly recommended!

NB  There is a warning that they can exacerbate some illnesses. No issues for me so far.

http://www.mkprojects.com/pf_TibetanRites.htm

Monday        1hr

Tuesday      1.5hr<115

Wed              1 hr

Thur               2hr<115

fri                    1hr

Sat                  off

Sunday          2.5hr <115

All at 115 and below

Today run

Laps

<form>

Shondek:

 

You are obviously giving this a lot of study and consideration.  I wonder with your age, pace and MAF, why all the study?  Skip the sugar, lower the carbs, run and enjoy.  What difference does a few seconds make?  

 

I am 56, use a MAF of 125 and run between 10:00 and 12:00 minute mile pace depending on how I feel, the temperature, humidity, etc.  I am now realizing that a few seconds do not matter much to me.  I want to be healthy, fit and avoid injury.  Any of the programs you mentioned will probably do that.

 Hi Chris,

If someone who was grossly over weight said to you I want to loose 1lb or more by next week would you say:

'...welllllllllll.....going by your age and size what difference is 1lb going to make.I am couple of pounds lighter than you and I now realise a few pounds do not matter that much to me.'

Probably not

I see your point with regard to pounds and agree with you.  When overweight normally it is important to a person to see progress by losing pounds (but see reference below to Maffetone's discussion of inches v pounds) .  

 

I do not necessarily apply that same logic to "pace."  Does running a few seconds faster make you more fit?  Does it make you lose more weight?  I am not sure.  It may, however, make you more motivated which is an important factor.

 

I just do not believe that given my age, weight, etc. a few seconds off pace is an important measurement.  I understand, however, that pace is the standard by which runners normally track their progress.  That is hard to get away from.

 

It is like Maffetone's discussion of weight.  He says to measure your waist size in inches.  If it is decreasing that is a good thing.  He says do not worry about weight.  Your weight will fluctuate and adjust.  If you are losing inches at the waist you are improving.  Inches around your waist is not the normal standard; weight is.  Thus, it is hard to not track progress in pounds.

 

Pace is comparable.  It is the standard we use to judge our progress but I question whether it is the right standard.

 

Just my thoughts..

 Point taken Chris, thanks

A few questions, Shon.

About the negative split and the MAC.  There is  heart rate at which if you can run that will produce a negative split----with the heart rate remaining steady? I look at your chart and see that your HR stayed between 115-116 on average, which is about as close as you can really get to being spot on. I noticed you slowed down in the last split. Is that when you stop the run? When it stops being a negative split?

Does Lydiard instruct going lower in intensity until you find this effort? 

Thanks. I might have more later.

--Jimmy 

First week of Lydyard/Maffetone .I was hoping for at least a 2 second improvement on last tuesdays 1.5 hr run .

Last weeks..

It was a negative split of about 8secs ..Job done..Although there was a lot of >maf which is par for the course('scuse the pun).Hear rate pretty consistent.

This mornings route ..same as above

Slightly confusing at the end I hit the lap button by mistake.It was a negative split by about 30 seconds if i remember so I must have started too slow or maybe I should have kept the heart rate down on the way back..Just realised that time of 33sec at split 9 is negative spit time.I'm not sure where I'm going with this but as long as i keep getting slight negative splits it will start to clarify itself.

My average heart rate is a couple of beats higher than last week but still in the ballpark ..not as scientific as I wanted it sorry guys.At least my average max heart rate is down Chris