Low HR Training

1

New to MAF, occasional issues hitting MAF-10 (Read 17 times)

SD_BlackHills


    Hi everyone,

     

    I'm new to this forum and this is my first post.  I apologize if this issue has already been tackled but I was unable to find it.

     

    I've been MAF training for about 3 weeks now.  As most of you have reported, it has been mostly very slow going.  There has been a lot of very slow jogging and walking to stay under MAF.  For what it's worth, my MAF is 146.  Whenever I start to drift over MAF, that seems to be the point where I can no longer breath exclusively through my nose with my mouth closed.  I have not done an actual MAF test as prescribed by Maffetone simply because I really want to do them on a track to take away as much variability as possible.  The tracks in my town are all currently buried in snow, so I think I'll wait for them to melt off.  Having said that, my MAF to MAF-10 pace has been anywhere from 8:50 to 10:10 per mile on average.

     

    However, I've had 2 workouts in the last week that are outliers and I'd really like some help with how to handle the situation.  In each case, my heart rate actually started to drop below my MAF range of 136-146.

     

    The first time it happened I was about 70 minutes into the workout when my HRM was reporting a dip down to about 125 (so about MAF-21).  I increased my pace until I hit about 6:55 / mile and held that pace for just over 3 miles to end my workout before the cooldown.  My HR never even hit the bottom of my MAF range during those last 3 miles, yet it felt like a tempo run.  I was sweating pretty hard and was definitely not running easy.  I suppose I could have pushed the pace up even faster until I hit the bottom of the MAF range but it would have felt like a race and I know that is not right.

     

    The second time incident happened yesterday which was about 75 minutes into a workout in which I had hit several miles in a row at about 8:55 right in the MAF range before I had to start walking to get my heart rate back down.  When I started back up, I ran the next mile in 7:22 at 130 bpm (MAF-16) before hitting my cooldown.  I was much more comfortable than the sub 7 pace from a few days before but it was still too hard from an exertion standpoint.

     

    To make a long story short, what should you do if your perceived effort does not match your HRM feedback?  And it seems like it is probably giving me good feedback at least 95% of the time.  For what it's worth, the device I'm using is a Garmin Vivoactive HR which is a wrist worn device.  Any advice or similar experiences anyone has had is greatly appreciated!  Thank you.

    BeeRunB


      Hey SD, welcome to the forum. 

       

      For various reasons known and unknown to me, HR monitors can be wonky, sometimes. If you're running at a particular HR and holding  a steady pace, and the HRM shows suddenly that it's ten beats higher or lower, and you're not on a hill or the wind hasn't picked up 20mph, then just hold the pace. If you're not sure, slowing a little never hurts when you're trying to stay at or below MAF.

       

      As for the breathing though the nose and how it relates to MAF, there have been a few people who have come through this forum who have noticed they have to start breathing through their mouth when they get either at MAF or a little past it. If you were to graph sugar burning on a graph during a V02max test on a treadmill, you'll see a marked increase when the anaerobic system kicks in ever so slightly. This creates a deflection point on the graph, which is the MAF.  I did the nose breathing test and also found that I needed to breath through my mouth to get more air at the MAF of 142 i determined through a sugar/fat burning graph I had from a V02max test I took 6-7 years ago. This was some supporting evidence that my MAF is really at that 142 bpm (about 70% MHR), even though the formula would put me at about 125 bpm (180-55). There is also a big need for air once I get to the anaerobic threshold at around 176-178 bpm, about 88-89% MHR (that same V02max test I took also confirms this).

       

      The nose breathing thing might not work for everyone, as some might have more restricted airflow through their nostrils for whatever reason.

      SD_BlackHills


        Interesting!   Thanks jimmyb.  So the moral of the story is, "when in doubt, trust your breathing not the HRM".  And honestly, I think a vast majority of the time I can rely on the HRM except in those rare occurrences where it's reading super low and I'm gasping for air.  On the opposite side of the spectrum, I have noticed that when I get in the walk/run cycles when my HR monitor starts reporting a runaway on the high side (suddenly ramps to 160+) that I feel fine but will then notice my breathing has actually become quite labored without even realizing it.

         

        To get my MAF, I just went by Maffetone's equation which is obviously a rough estimate (180 - 39 +5 = 146).  Hopefully, that is close enough!