Just for info: My MAF progress (Read 1203 times)

I am into my Maximum aerobic Fitness week 3, and I love it. I just thought I would share with you all my progress up to now, and to advise any of you out there that it is the way to go. Just to let you know that my runs are not all of 4 mile in length nut I just thought I would only include these figures. In fact my mileage is on its way to 50 miles a week now. Here are some of my thoughts on my progress so far to hopefully inspire some of you: 1. When you start the training it will be hard to go so slow, but keep at it. 2. Now I am having to actually work a little to get my HR up. Speaks for itself with 2 of my miles this morning going under 8 min mile pace. 3. You get to run a lot more miles uninjured, and you actually begin to enjoy it (for me, as I was never really running 'easy' it felt sometimes like a chore) 4. More miles = more stamina. 5. I actually feel fitter, and my legs are stronger. I am only a noob at this sort of training, but I advise you guys to come on over and join the Low HR Training Group. Join by CLICKING HERE There are loads of useful articles there and I have to admit it is my fave group. Just thought I would share this. Thanks for reading and any thoughts welcome.

Eddy, Good observations and advice. In my experience (personal and research) the benefits don't really show up until around the 300-mile mark. Keep it up!

Oh, that is good to hear! I've been doing the same training, and I've seen benefits in that I have run several 40+ mile weeks, something I had not been able to do before without injury. But I am at about 250 miles of this training.. so two more weeks, and I'll be flying? Maybe not quite.. I'll take any progress though! I have been enjoying running much more than I have for a couple years. Eddy, your progress is really phenomenal. I am impressed with how fast you can run keeping your HR in check. You will probably see some great race times eventually.

Hey Eddie - It is amazing that you can still maintain that pace at MAF. I actually started LHR running about the same time as you. I have not had any real progress yet as far as increased pace, but I am begining to pile on more miles than I ever thought I would be able to. It is very icy here in Chicago, so most of my miles have been on a health club treadmill. I think I may get a shirt made that says "I could run faster if I wanted to." Good luck and I hope we both benefit greatly.

I love this! I think it all the time when I'm running outside, easy, and somebody runs past me huffing and puffing. I'm thinking, "I'd beat you in a race," which may or may not be true, but it makes me feel good about myself. Count me in for benefits!

great stuff eh, I am so happy with the benefits I am seeing, I cant see them continuing at this rate as they will plateau, but I will keep plodding until they do. Regarding more miles, I agree, I mean I double up on 2 days now (well time permitting). I fit in 17.5 miles today. I would have been seriously worn out before, but now I am planning my 8-10 miler tommorrow. Keep the comments and progresses coming.

When I was doing MAF to build my base after an injury, I ran a 15k race (The Chickamauga Chase) and it was just torture to keep my pace so slow. I was being passed by old folks with walkers, little kids, and the morbidly obese. Now I really admire all those people being out there, but still, it was extremely hard on my ego to watch them pass me up and stick with the program. Still, I did it and finished in 1 hour 47 minutes, an 11:29 pace. One year later I ran it again in 1:12:18, a 7:46 pace, injury-free. I credit MAF training with my ability to recover and build a solid aerobic base. Stick with the program, it works.

This is all very good to hear! Perfesser, I was in the same boat, there was a local half marathon I really wanted to do, but I was running actually close to a 13 minute pace.. So, I was standing there lined up at the early start, saying to myself Yes, I know you qualified for Boston a couple years ago, now you're starting with the walkers. I swallowed my pride, and it was actually a really fun time. We'll see what I do with it next year!

When I was doing MAF to build my base after an injury, I ran a 15k race (The Chickamauga Chase) and it was just torture to keep my pace so slow. I was being passed by old folks with walkers, little kids, and the morbidly obese. Now I really admire all those people being out there, but still, it was extremely hard on my ego to watch them pass me up and stick with the program. Still, I did it and finished in 1 hour 47 minutes, an 11:29 pace. One year later I ran it again in 1:12:18, a 7:46 pace, injury-free. I credit MAF training with my ability to recover and build a solid aerobic base. Stick with the program, it works.

What kind of injury did you have? How long were you off running before you started MAF? How long ago was that? You could be a MAF Poster Boy with all the marathons you run... Congrats to all of you for your patience in sticking with a difficult program. Thanks for sharing your stories

What kind of injury did you have? How long were you off running before you started MAF? How long ago was that? You could be a MAF Poster Boy with all the marathons you run...

I'm glad that someone finds my input useful! Long story short, I had pain in my right shin after a PR Marathon in November 2005, and since I had already registered for and made plans for the Honolulu Marathon a month later, and had been training extensively on the HM course, I decided not to see the doctor since I figured he would tell me not to run Honolulu. Typical bonehead runner behavior, right? In that month I basically did no training due to the pain and managed to complete Honolulu with no pain, though slowly since I had done very little training in the month prior. The next day I paid the price, as I could barely walk. Soon enough it was diagnosed as a stress fracture and it was 7 weeks before I started running again, and that was too soon as I still had pain so I took another 3 weeks then started a very cautious rehab program. I ran my first race (a 6-mile trail run) on April 1 and my first postinjury marathon on Labor Day. After the injury I followed MAF strictly except for races and trail runs and it worked well for me. MAF works very well for injury recovery and base-building but to achieve your potential you still must do some speed /tempo training. Now you must excuse me as I have been watching "It's A Wonderful Life" on NBC and it's toward the end and I'm having trouble reading my laptop screen. I mean, the Bank Examiner actually threw some money into the basket! I don't know what the problem is, but I just can't see clearly now. Later....

Good luck in Jacksonville tomorrow, Russ!!!!