Forums >General Running>MAF TEST
Hey Everyone,
I'm new to this site so not sure if there is already a thread for this but the ones I found were from 12 years ago..
I'm trying to qualify for Boston. Don't laugh, my last marathon time was 4:12 and I need to run 3:28, but I WILL do it. Anyways, after some research I learned I need to up my mileage waaayy more. I've ran 6 marathons now and for all I've ran 3-4 times per week with my mileage about 20 per week, peaking at 30. I'm sloooowly building mileage and am at 35 miles for the week now. Since I don't want to get injured for 3 months I'm doing all runs at low HR. 150 and below. I did my first maf test last month
yesterday, a month after this test, I MAF test 2.. I think in my head I slighty sabotaged it. I wanted progress so bad. I basically sprinted the first lap, my HR starting at 133 and shooting up to 160!! I spent the rest of the first mile trying to get it back down to 150. I ran the first mile at 8:11. after that I still had a hard time keeping my HR below 150 due to the first lap.. I ran the second one in 8:56 and the 3rd at 9:02. i called it quits after that since I felt like this was not a good indication. I will try again on Friday.
Who here has tried the MAF method, if so did it work for you? And how fast did you build up your mileage? Last month for MAF test 1 my mileage was around 28 and this is my first week of 35 miles. Is that too slow of a build to see more progress maybe?
Thanks!!
All systems Go!
samfromamsterdam: Congrats on your prior marathons and good luck with your Boston goal.
I'm a fan of the MAF method during the off-season and base building leading up to the final 18 week push before my goal races. I have found the MAF method to prevent injury, which was a huge stumbling block in my approach to marathon training years ago. IT band pain, knee inflammation and achilles tendon pain. I'm now to the point where I can sprinkle in a tempo day in my week of MAF-only runs and it won't induce inflammation/injury. I haven't done a MAF test in years -- because I believe in the system. I have setup some charts on my Training Log Summary page that shows my average weekly pace and HR for the last 6 months. My MAF zone HR is now 140 (used to be 145 when I first started to use MAF). After taking a year off to move from IL to FL, I've begun my base training for my goal race in Nov and I watch my pace get quicker over the weeks as my HR maintains a steady average. I also have some longer range charts that also give me a warm fuzzy that my pace is improving month by month even though a vast majority of my miles are run at conversational pace (HR = 140 for me now).
Once I get within the 18 week range of my goal race I will begin a structured program that will increase the intensity of 2 runs each weeks: 1 for lactate threshold training (intervals) and 1 for Max VO2 training (race tempo). The rest of my mileage during the 18 week buildup will be at MAF pace. I run just about every day.
That's what has worked for me -- sort of. I too am still looking for the BQ time that actually gets me to Boston -- I've done a BQ, but didn't make the cutoff when they shaved off time from the "estimated" BQ times to manage the number of runners. This time I plan to add more mileage to my year. I plan to do more miles (MAF miles) this year than my last attempt. I hope it pays off.
Good luck!
BTW: If you're not Dutch, you're not much! At least that's what my father used to say (in jest).
an amazing likeness
Just a pointer to a Group here on RA dedicated to low heart rate / MAF training, might be worth checking in.
Acceptable at a dance, invaluable in a shipwreck.