Frustrating MAF!

Prerequisite of feeling this article is: You are already in MAF training for weeks/months/years! If you have recently started then you can just read it, you cant feel it! Better to read this and related links on priority. 

Infinite Problems!

Let me check your inner thoughts first. Go through the following statements:

1. MAF is really boring!

2. My pace is not improving even after months of training.

3. Aah! Sometimes I really crawl to keep my HR in MAF zone.

4. Cool-down has never been even a jog for me!

5. As soon as I leave home, my HR goes above 100 without showing any mercy at me!

6. God! I could easily do 4:30 min/km for 10K. Why the hell I am doing 10K at 7:30 pace. Isn’t it ridiculous!

7. As soon as temperature rises, I have no options left but to walk.

8. I don’t feel I have done any workout even after running 10-12K. I don’t really get feeling of accomplishment, sense of achievement!

9. I am getting passed easily by runners who clocked even 30 min slower timing in last half marathon than me!

10. My friends give funny smile at me many a times in run!

11. I have now stopped sharing my runs on social media just because its timing does not look worth getting hundreds of likes and kudos!

12. I have started feeling this Maffetone method is not really for me

And many blah blah blah…

                                                       (Pic credit: bbc.com)

If any of the above feelings support your current chemical reactions happening inside the big hard structure lying above neck then don’t feel bad. Its as normal as sun rises in the east and sets in the west. Every healthy and fit endurance athlete across the globe right from 4:30 to 2:15 marathoner was sailing the same boat at some point of time. You are no exception!

Break the Problem

Lets break the problem! Is it mind which is playing tricks with you or it’s the process (Maffetone method in our case!) which should be seriously re-analyzed! 

Lets take an example of athlete named Prabhu. Lets examine his running history. He has done sub 4 full marathon. Quite a few sub 1:45 HM and 47 min 10K. He used to get some minor injury. Fit but not really healthy (Reasons could be infinite!). Now, he started MAF training in Jan’2019. His MAF test result suggests the following:

Jan MAF:       7:10 min/KM

Feb MAF:       6:55 min/KM

March MAF:  6:35 min/KM

April MAF:    6:30 min/ KM

May MAF:     6:28 min/KM

June MAF:     6:52 min/KM

July MAF:      6:55 min/KM

In the start, he wondered why he is so damn slow! But, with his mentor confidence and own patience, having faith in the process he went on improving his pace till May 1^st week at the same effort where his progress got plateaued. Now Prabhu’s big head said “This is it, now you cant progress” In June it conveyed “See! Your fitness level is deteriorating now!” In july it finally concluded “Its time to move to interval/tempo/hill etc! This is not worth it”

Prabhu never got injured in this time but mind played the tricks and he landed again in the same process. In September, he was limping with ITB again!

What Prabhu could have done is to analyze the conditions, his lifestyle, his stress level etc before making any such conclusion. Has temperature increased from 22C to 42C now? Is there any humidity? Is there any work-stress on him? Is he overtraining? Any family problem?

No, Prabhu was not ready to see the plateau. He was not interested in examining the whole scenario holistically. All he wanted is the real improvement and so we are! I would reiterate “Run for yourself! Don’t run for peers.”

Solve the Problem

Now when the problem is identified, lets jump onto the solution.  For this, lets re-visit the process and some other concepts and answer the questions:

1. Why had you started MAF?

To be injury free. To be healthy. To train aerobic muscle fiber. To be fat adapted. And above all: To be better, healthier, stronger and happier runner.

2. What MAF training demands for better progress?

a. Better nutrition (No processed Carbs, Good Fat and Moderate protein). Would not suggest to jump into keto in hurry. Many of the athletes perform optimally better when they use some amount of good natural carbs. You will have to identify your own balance!

b. Aerobic training with better posture (Lean/Cadence etc)

c. Peaceful mind

3. Are you serving the demand of question 2 properly?

Most people lag in a and c. Few over-train without realizing. Initially they were doing 1 hour run daily but now when work commitments have increased and in turn overall stress on mind and body also still they are not ready to loose fitness and running 1 hour daily!!!

4. Have you examined the environment?

You might be staying at a location where temperature varies from 5C to 48C. So, don’t panic when summer knocks the door and kill your poor pace suddenly! Its normal. Your heart is working more to pump the blood near skin so that internal temperature of body is maintained and you could still be healthy. Have patience, winter will show some amazing results if you are taking care of everything holistically.

Few suggestions for summer:

a. Avoid sun. Finish your run before sun-rise or at night. For Vitamin D, better to walk in sun.

b. Increase your water intake to keep core temperature in check.

c. Use some cooler location to run where you could easily find tree shade and cool breezes

d. Hydrate well pre/in/post work-out

e. Take care of electrolytes

f. Running apparel

g. Make deep breathing or meditation a daily habit.

5. Are you checking your life and your mind?

a. Any increase in work stress? – Reduce your training volume.

b. Any problem at home?—Solve it first. Peaceful mind is priority.

c. Any new member in family? Have become dad/mom recently?--- Reduce training volume. Jog with baby stroller to compensate the training.

Idea is to keep the body and mind in equilibrium! If any setup gets disturbed, play with your training volume. If everything else becoming harder, decrease it. If everything else becoming easier, increase it!

6. Do you know swimming? Do you have bike? Do you have hilly area nearby? Access to flyover?

Swimming and biking are relatively easier exercises than running due to buoyancy force in swimming and no normal reaction to impact the joints and tendons in biking . So, if you are still walking or crawling in MAF zone, use them as a tool to boost your aerobic muscle. You will certainly be benefited in running. Use hilly terrain/flyover to do downhill running. This way you would be easily able to run without going beyond MAF zone.

7. How is your sleep and recovery?

This is the part which is most easily left out and causing plenty of injury! Proper sleep is a must. This is the time when your muscle gets recovered, your hormones/enzymes are stabilized and your mind does limited activities. I would say this is more important than work-out to avoid any kind of injury!

8.Anything too much?

Doing too much strengthening to build muscle? Doing too much cross-training?  Too much in my opinion should be defined like “When you are going for a run with heavy legs/body/mind in the morning due to previous day strengthening or cross-training”. Too much lenient in calculating MAF range (Recalculate it!)?

9. Heat is enemy?

Make it a good friend! Whenever you go for a run in heat, think that your inner cooling system is improving day by day at the same effort. Many endurance athletes living in colder locations wear multiple layers of clothes to do heat training. You have geographically advantage over them. So, rather than getting frustrated at slower pace, take it as an advantage which will pay you in winter season. But, keep on trying aerobic interval and downhill run for better leg turnover so that when time comes  legs should support your lungs.

10. Want to change frustration into satisfaction?

Ask yourself “How bad you want a healthy life style?” “How bad you wanted a certain pace without straining so much?” “How certain athlete reached from 4:05 to 2:31 in full marathon?” 

Keep yourself away from the people who are in always race mode, always looking for a PB for social media display. They can discourage you for your slower pace and motivate you for standard training. Have enough grit and determination that you are on the right path. Discuss with people who are improving. Change the things which are hindering your aerobic progress. Finally “Enjoy every bit of it” I used to come home stressed and frustrated soul after a long run. Now even after doing 15-20K in hot humid weather, I come and play happily with my kid. This is the change I got! Pace is byproduct, it will come. I am confident about that! 

Some Tips to make MAF training always exciting:

When you are getting pretty bore with your run, try the following:

a. Cross-training:  This is something which will strengthen your aerobic base without letting you much slower. Swimming, Biking, hiking on mountains etc could give you fun making you aerobically stronger for the upcoming runs. But, running at lower HR would be most beneficial-pls remember that.

b. Aerobic intervals: Suppose your MHR is 140. Then, do warm-up to reach till 125 in slow progression and start interval then. Run fast to reach around 140 and then start jogging or walking to take HR back to 125. Repeat the same for 125 to 140. This could be from 120 to 140 also. Idea is to have 15-20 beats lesser as reference to start. Don’t forget to append cool down in the end.

c. Downhill training: Choose some hill or flyover to do it. Walk or jog uphill after good warm-up. Run downhill fast until  you reach MHR. Repeat the same. At the end do cool down.

d. interval with bike: HR on bike doesn’t rise as fast as running so fundamentals of aerobic training could be applied with bike.

Concluding remarks:

Patience is the key! Athlete doing 2:30 full marathon today was in the same shoe as yours few years back but he was not ready to doubt the process. He also failed but every time he failed, he analyzed and improved. Training at low heart rate is challenging and could be boring but few improvements in pace at same effort could give you clue that your aerobic base is improving and the whole system is. I have read stories of hundreds of athletes who improved by more than an hour in full marathon with this method and one thing is common in all- They spend more than 5.5-6 hours aerobically in a week at least. So, don’t try to see major improvement with 3-4 hours a week! Another point is diet and mental state. Take care of all.

Join our facebook group