Between C25K and finishing B210K (hoorah!!) I had a bunch of niggles and physio treatments. Time on the IC means time to read. Reading involves thinking and (in this case) maybe doing something different.
Scanning the running literature pointed me towards Phil Maffetone.
There's a simple principle here. To run relatively long distances easily, you need to run in your "aerobic" zone, where the supply of oxygen to your body is adequate to the effort you're putting in; "anaerobic" is pushing yourself into "oxygen debt". The assorted literature (going back to Lydiard) seems to suggest that at distances over 5K you really need to be in your "aerobic" zone for the overwhelming majority of your running time.
Maffetone (who's clearly had success in training endurance runners, triathletes, pilots, F1 drivers and even racehorses over many years) has a simple formula to identify your aerobic zone in terms of Heart Rate:
180 minus Age (with some adjustments for injury, medication, years of training, etc.) gives you your Maximum Aerobic number. For me that's 124. The lower limit is 10 BPM lower: 114. So that's the zone (114-124) (allegedly) where I should be doing 80% of my mileage. The idea being that as you build your aerobic fitness you'll be able to run faster without smashing the numbers (i.e. going "anaerobic"). And a lot of people have had remarkable success and huge increases in pace. And there's no connection between this HR Training approach with one based on Maximum Heart Rate. MHR doesn't get mentioned or involved.
I checked back on most of my runs from early C25K to date. I was pretty much going significantly above that "magic" 124 number most of the time. Hitting zones 4 and 5 on my HRM was pretty much guaranteed. And according to Maffetone, therein lies the potential for overtraining and injury. He takes a view that you need only a few weeks of anaerobic training when you've built your aerobic base.
So. What's not to lose? Let's give it a try.
My goodness, it's hard to do. Keeping my HR between 114 and 124 (after warming up) means a lot of walk breaks. It takes "slow and steady" to new levels of slow and steadiness. But even after a couple of weeks, I'm seeing improvements. Not massive, but definite improvements. (And by all accounts, this is a "long haul" endeavour. Think months, not weeks.) Despite C25K and B210K my aerobic fitness appears to be shocking But there's an opportunity, right? The glass if half full, not half empty.
Every run is easy. I get back feeling as if I've not done too much, not been pushed. I can run virtually every day with no niggles, no soreness, nada. A slow 10K this morning just felt incredibly easy.
Anyone else come across this, or tried it? I know it has a lot of detractors because it feels "one size fits all", but right now it feels to me like just what the doctor ordered. It feels a bit daft sometimes to be walking up a hill I'd have had a crack at running a few months ago, but I'm prepared to give this a go for a few months and see what happens.
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sallenson
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Good post from you Stephen, not heard from you for a few weeks but glad you are still training and enjoying your running. You ran a slow 10k this morning 😊 and enjoyed it, nice to know, I ran my first full 5k on Saturday in a time of 34.21 and this morning I ran my second 5k in a time of 33.40 on a different course
Regards
Alan (your 🏃 running C25K correspondent in the Highlands)
I’m reading about Phil Maffetone right now in a Christopher McDougall book called Natural Born Heroes. The book meanders a bit but spends quite a few chapters on how sugar (not fat) is the big health demon and how Maffetone has helped runners train their bodies to burn fat rather than carbs - allowing them to run faster for longer and not need to refuel.
Really interesting stuff and I’m tempted to have a go myself. I’m not sure I can completely change my diet as described in the book but what you’re doing to train in your “aerobic” zone sounds doable, but hard work. I’ll watch your progress with interest 😀
There's a lot in the Maffetone "holistic" thing that I'm not convinced by, but I'll see how it goes. And "Natural Born Runners" is a good yarn eh? Better than his first one. From the stats my fat burning %s are a shed load higher than they were. Let's see what happens. Not expecting any overnight transformation tho
The other one I’ve read is Born to Run. I’d say this one is more all over the place. It’s not the greatest read overall but it’s got lots of interesting things in it to think about. I guess I’d sum it up as I don’t particularly enjoy his writing, but I find the subjects he writes about interesting.
Sugar is addictive. I've been a sugar junky for years. I'm trying to stay off it as I've been feeling a bit rough and slow in a heavy way but have been given cake by random people for the last 2 days. Very small squares though. What's the theory on honey and maple syrup?
Sorry to break the news, but honey and maple syrup are both just different sugars. Although with more health benefits than refined sugar, especially honey, which is a natural antiseptic (or is that antibacterial), full of antioxidants, etc., so worth the switch from that angle.
I checked the GI of all three and think they all send blood sugar levels up pretty quickly. I baked tahini cookies with a lot less sugar in. I think less is the way to go, and honey instead in everything possible. Sigh! I've been really good today😐
Saw it and responded. My HRM bleeps rather than vibrates. So I need to keep an eye on it if my HR starts to drift up. But I'm starting to recognise when that happens. And looking at my HRM makes the "wogging" faster
I really Love this and its been great seeing your progress on Strava too. I must read up on this approach as, like you, I'm in this for the long run. I have adopted my own approach which is to only have 1 or 2 runs a week where I push, and the rest are just mostly comfy like my runs in the woods where I take regular walk breaks and hike up bits of hill etc so the aim is enjoyment and the mental benefits rather than busting a gut for fitness gains as those come anyway.
If there's something out there that seems to prove that you can run both "easy" and fast (cos this isn't at all about just running slow) then I'm up for giving it a go.
And 60K under my trainers this month so far with nary a niggle and no feeling tired. Briliant stuff.
It’s interesting because since graduating C25K I’ve really struggled. Some of the issues I e been getting (knees,hips) plus I seem to have lost all my breathing control fits with what you’ve said. Need to read more about it.
A quick intro. The big short-term benefit I've seen (too early to see anything "in the numbers") is just how easy everything seems now. And by all accounts this isn't about "slow running", it's about running in the right HR zone. When your aerobic base is strong you can run fast and still keep your HR low. Sounds like a good thing to me
I haven’t tried that approach but may do for longer runs. My average heart rate on my last all run 7k was 138. That is a lot lower than when I started week 7 of couch to 5k. I guess I am working down to an acceptable heart rate whereas you are, sensibly, working up. At 66 years old I guess I have to be a bit careful; but I feel fine when running in that I am not at all out of breath. Maybe we will meet in the middle !!
Maffetone would suggest that most of your runs should be 104-114 BPM, so a fair bit under where you're training atm. It might be interesting to try that range and see if you can "run" at that that or "walk/jog".
I added a link to a MAF page a bit earlier on if you want to have a look.
I was incredibly surprised (and slightly horrified) at what my "aerobic unfitness" looked like. But there's my opportunity
I have not tried MAF, but I've heard a lot about it on the Endurance Planet podcast - if you haven't already it might be worth you checking that out. In the more recent shows you will hear them mention that they've rather done MAF to death, so go back through their archives for lots of info, including interviews with Phil Maffetone himself 😊
A really interesting read Stephen and there seems to be something in it judging by your runs. And recovery from them. I am following your progress with interest now I know what you mean by Maf! Also anything that is fat burning is a positive in my opinion! 🔥 🏃♂️🏃♂️
There are more varieties of "the best training advice ever" than we'll ever hope to try in our lifetime I'm clearly late to the party with this one; people who like it really really like it and some people just turn their noses up at it because it's not full of hard -core bust-a-gut intervals. Who knows? I'll give it a couple of months at least tho
Interesting post Stephen. I'm just tapering before my first official half marathon on the 20th October so I'm supposed to be doing short slow runs which I find difficult as I only seem to have one speed. I will keep it in mind for my next run.
First of all - YAAAY!!! Congratulations on quietly graduating B210k, Stephen! 🎉🎉🎉🎉😃🏃♂️🥂🍾💥❤️
Next - good to hear from you, and thanks for posting this. Sounds interesting, so I’ll read up on it. I’ve been concentrating on getting my step rate consistently higher when running, but didn’t want to aim at that for all my weekly runs for much longer, as it meant they were all ending up about pushing speed. May try this for some runs too, as I wanted slower runs in the mix, especially if I up my distances later on. (Have my eye on trying a HM later next year now...) 😊❤️
Sadly I’ve just landed myself on the climbing IC so badly that I’ll have to see when my new shoulder injury lets me do any type of exercise other than careful pavement walking...currently doing the full set of required Physio exercises involves a lot of yelping, and nearly passing out by the end of them - not the type of Physio I’ve had to endure before, but apparently needed...😖😖😖
Thanks EG. I’m already hoping I may at least be able to run cautiously again sooner than yesterday’s screams suggested - even if I do end up being drugged up and wobbly...🙄❤️
which is evidence-based from many participant responses. They have suggested that your max heart rate is not as simplistic as (220 minus age) – mine is 16 bpm higher than the simple formula suggest – and their questionnaire takes into account a number of factors to report your 'fitness age' (mine is 23 years below my actual age!).
Their theory is that cardiovascular health comes from exercising the heart close to its maximum to increase our VO2max.
Their approach to exercise is called 4x4: four reps of running for four minutes at close to your maximum speed with three minutes active (walk) rest breaks in between.
I haven't tried their programme yet, because absolute fitness isn't my goal – I'm training to be able to run longer distances (HM maybe, after that who knows?).
Sounds complicated and also sounds like you have to have a heart monitor on you whilst running to look at all the time that you are running, is this correct?
Sallenson!!!👏🏻 Great to hear from you, I was wondering where you were😰! Hope the EJBs are behaving themselves! To answer your question, I don’t currently run at that low a HR but I do swim about there and for endurance and comfort it’s brilliant. Have fun 😁👍
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But there's an opportunity, right? The glass if half full, not half empty.
inner knee age based?
Have a predilection for Race Prediction, anyone?
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