Low HR Training

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Knock, Knock.. (Read 240 times)

lowgear1


Max McMaffelow Esq.

    Paradigm shift I would like to preface this with emphatically stating that I totally support LHR/MAF. Additionally, please don't construe this as a whine. Think more in terms of a status report, state of the union, whatever. After two years plus of mostly lhr/maf efforts, I can honestly say that i've made progress, and am most thankful. Of course, as a learning experience, i've made numerous mistakes, and didn't stick entirely to the principles outlined. Most egregious would be my neglect of regular maf tests. In fact, to be honest, I never did a single one, as they are defined. I did, of course, monitor my progress by comparing certain known distances and times. Again, the progress was irrefutable. Now... I'm about as atypical as you can get in so many areas compared to the mean of this lhr/maf group. Age, cardio condition, etc. I do however share the desire to become a "better" runner. So far, so good. The challenge i'm now facing is the realization that i've seemingly plateaued as never before. Not that uncommon, i'd suspect, but enough to coax me to try a little different approach. Again, while largely content with this training methodology, I often ponder the prospect of change. Sound familiar? I wonder how many among the entire running community employ lhr/maf training to the level that's represented here. The percentage of hard core maffers in the entire running universe would seemingly be quite small. The number of non maffers who are making progress, finishing marathons in decent times, and staying healthy while enjoying running, would likey be quite large, by comparison. So, I intend to pick things up somewhat. I could simply be needing a brief stimulus. A 5K race or two? How novel! Seems i've read that it's permissible under the guidelines. I'll check on that. Periodicity? Now that I think of it, hasn't it been employed with good results within this gulag community? Oh, speaking of whines..don't let my Ravens get their feathers ruffled at Three Rivers. See ya!....someone's at the door......... lg
    ♪ ♫ Hey, hey, we're Maf Monkees And people say we monkey around. ♪ ♫ (The Monkees)
    Give me 12:59 in '09, please. I deserve it! (Maf of course)..No more teens! No more teens! (ME! ME! ME!)
    ♪ ♫ I Thank The Lord For The Night Time...And I Thank The Lord For You ♪ ♫ (Neil Diamond)
      After two years, I agree it's reasonable to want to mix it up a bit...especially if you've plateaued. I'd suggest throwing in a few strides into your runs to start with.....maybe 5 x 50-100 yds at 5K pace a 2-3 times per week. I had success with that last summer.
      BeeRunB


        Hey LG, Define your plateau. What's been happening? How long has the plateau been going on? What progress did you see in your benchmark runs (you MAF test scofflaw). Datahol, please. Or not. Plateaus aren't always a sign you need speedwork. They could be a sign of overtraining and a need to cutting back. --Jimmy
        Rudolf


          I read yesterday the article - Aaken summary - sticky and got better perspective and understanding with the idea, that more than 90% of training needs to be done under 130, regardless of runners age, and of course Aaken was coaching Young guns, I am again comming to conclusion, that the usal calculated MAF HR is too high for the training. Take healthy elite runner, running a lot for many years age 25 : 180-25+5 = 160 MAF, but Aaken got Norpoth running at and below 130. The rest of training was a race pace (not faster) but short enough not to bring HR too high. My idea is simply to saty well bellow MAF HR and accumulate as much time on feet as possible and once that volume is handled well by the body and significant progress made, that the short race pace stuff would come. Aaken is using race pace of actual at the moment performance, not race pace of desired performance somewhere in the future.
            Here's what Mark Allen suggests: "Over time, however, you will get the maximum benefit possible from doing just aerobic training. At that point, after several months of seeing your pace get faster at your maximum aerobic heart rate, you will begin to slow down. This is the sign that if you want to continue to improve on your speed, it is time to go back to the high end interval anaerobic training one or two days/week. So, you will have to go back to the “NO Pain, NO Gain” credo once again. But this time your body will be able to handle it. Keep at the intervals and you will see your pace improve once again for a period. But just like the aerobic training, there is a limit to the benefit you will receive from anaerobic/carbohydrate training. At that point, you will see your speed start to slow down again. And that is the signal that it is time to switch back to a strict diet of aerobic/fat burning training. At the point of the year you are in right now, probably most of you are ready for this phase of speed work. Keep your interval sessions to around 15-30 minutes of hard high heart rate effort total. This means that if you are going to the track to do intervals do about 5k worth of speed during the entire workout. Less than that and the physiological effect is not as great. More than that and you just can’t maintain a high enough effort during the workout to maximize our benefit. You want to push your intervals, making each one a higher level of intensity and effort than the previous one. If you reach a point where you cannot maintain your form any longer, back off the effort or even call it a day. That is all your body has to give. " http://www.markallenonline.com/heartrate.asp This may be a bit aggressive,but after 2 years of Maffing,I doubt that a few strides or a couple 5ks will hurt.
              I just finished my first full year of using the MAF concept. In the last year, I have tried a number of things, in addition to running at or below MAF, and found some things that worked for me. Last spring I entered a 5k race after a MAF base period of 3 months of about 20 mpw. I did a 23:30 which was about the same as I did the previous year without MAF. Then last summer I started to add speed, because I wanted to get faster. I did intervals at 5k speed and even faster and also did tempo runs. I then entered some races in the early Fall and found that I must have overtrained. I had not improved and I felt beat up. So, I went back to pure MAF in the Fall and ran a 5k race about once every three weeks. My 5k times started to improve a little. I then went back to mixing in a tempo run, just once a week, and finally saw some more significant improvement. So, I think I found out what works for me. I found out that speed work just beats me up too much. Maybe if I were younger it would help, but I did not find it beneficial because of the recovery factor. But, tempo runs are a different story. I think they helped me the most. And they are much easier to recover from. I used the Hadd approach of picking a point just below my Anerobic Threshold. The interesting thing that I also discovered is that just like a MAF test can indicate your fitness, the tempo run was also an indicator for me of how well I could do in a 5k race. It was sort of like a Hadd Test, but only use two HRs, rather than five. If I were doing a Hadd Test (max HR=186), I would use the following HRs: 170 160 (my tempo pace) 150 140 130 (my maF pace) So, what I found was that if I did most of my running at HR=130, and occasionally ran a tempo run at HR=160, I felt like I got the most benefit, with the least amount of stress. I kept tempo run miles to less than 10 percent of overall miles. What I found was that my 5k times tended to track the pace at which I could run my tempo run. For example: When my tempo runs were 8:30 pace at HR=160, I could run a 5k race at a 7:30 pace. When my tempo run improved to a 8:10 pace, my 5k race pace actually improved to about a 7:15 pace. I also noticed that my MAF tests also improved as well. So, I have found that by sticking to these two key HRs, that I got the most benefit with the least amount of stress. During race season, running 5ks once every three weeks was my speed work. I think the biggest benefit to me was psychological. You just need to sometimes go faster. The MAF pace gets kind of boring after a while. So, I used the tempo run as a change of pace and somethng to look forward to.
              lowgear1


              Max McMaffelow Esq.

                Whoa! whoa, whoa....whoa.... "Take it out of the freezer, open a corner, stick it in the microwave, heat it, remove it, stir it"..?!..You're going to have to walk me through this.... I'm no rocket scientist, now. O.K., I'll admit that i'm guilty of "mailing it in". No maf tests, let alone any data of significance, yet i've got the audacity to roil the aerobic waters. Borderline heresy. I'll behave. I just need to convince my personal trainer that he won't lose credibility and dash his hopes for expansion, by making my "data" public. He's got a grad student Jude who seems congenial enough. Perhaps he could get me on the right track. Ironically, 4.7 miles this morning, under cover of darkness, clearest of skies, and tolerable temps. averaging 104 bpm with rare blips of 112-115. Must be making headway, as walking segments were minimal. I'm going to hold off for now on any significant modification to my training. The high school track should be usable after our recent warm up. A maf test or two couldn't hurt me. Can't promise the results will be publishable, but we'll see. Thanks for the encouragement Jimmy, Rudy, bdags, run48 That's especially interesting bdags, re Mark Allen, etc. The only problem I see, is that it makes it too convenient to jump ship at the first hint of a whine event approaching. I should be thankful. Can't imagine what a prolonged recovery would be like without being able to run. Wishing you all the best. run48, That is most interesting also. I could easily see veering off in that direction. Most seductive. Don't know if i'm mature enough to handle it though. I'd need to behave responsibly, and not like a basketball phenom walking by a tatoo parlor with cash to burn. lg
                ♪ ♫ Hey, hey, we're Maf Monkees And people say we monkey around. ♪ ♫ (The Monkees)
                Give me 12:59 in '09, please. I deserve it! (Maf of course)..No more teens! No more teens! (ME! ME! ME!)
                ♪ ♫ I Thank The Lord For The Night Time...And I Thank The Lord For You ♪ ♫ (Neil Diamond)