In a deviation from the norm, in this blog I’m going to explore a training concept in running, known as the Maffetone Method of heart rate training.

But first a bit of history. My running journey started properly (I’d dabbled a bit several times before) six years ago, and has ebbed and flowed since. I run for enjoyment and am not especially fast. However, I like to think that, what I lack in speed, I make up for with willingness and enthusiasm.

At the time my brother told me about MAF heart rate training, I was just a couple of days on from a bout of covid. From past experience, I knew that it can take several weeks to get back to feeling good when running (I’m asthmatic – maybe that plays a part, who knows?). I wasn’t training for any events in particular, and just thought why not give it a go?

I did a little bit of reading up on the benefits of training in this way, and spoke to a few people who had good, positive, stories to tell. In this blog, I’ll share my journey.

What is MAF heart rate training?

Now let’s be clear, I’m no expert on these things, so anything I share will be derived from what I’ve read (which isn’t a lot – I’m a busy, self-employed, mum of 3) and my own personal experiences. Please forgive any errors – they’re not intentional. I’m also not going to go into lots of detail – there are plenty of articles around that can give you all the in depth information you desire. Rather, I’m going to talk from a personal perspective.

So here’s an overview and why it appealed to me…

MAF stands for Maximum Aerobic Function, and is a system devised by Dr Phil Maffetone. As such, it’s also known as the Maffetone Method (I guess that the initials MAF are a happy coincidence). It’s actually quite a detailed concept when you drill down into it. What appealed to me is that it improves performance in the aerobic zone, making it possible to run faster in this zone, rather than really pushing it at a higher heart rate and tiring faster. As someone who has exercise-induced asthma, I’m also curious to know if this might help this. Who knows, I might be able to actually have a conversation with my team mates after a race, rather than having to wander off for 5 minutes to reduced my breathing effort gradually to avoid asthma kicking in.

There is also an element of diet playing a role too. I’m not too bad with diet in general. I’m a vegetarian and rarely have greasy treats and take aways. However, I do confess to having a sweet tooth and being partial to sugary snacks… As part of my trial I’ll incorporate some ‘no added sugar’ days rather than cutting sugar out altogether. Can’t do any harm…

You can download Dr Maffetone’s guide, and learn all about the benefits, for free here.

So, what about that heart rate?

For me, at 50 years young, training in this way would mean maintaining a heart rate of 120-130 bpm. Confession time – I initially went off an article I’d read, rather than Dr Maffetone’s guide, so during my week one I was working to 125-135bpm.

I’m not a slave to my Garmin, but on the odd occasions I’ve clocked my heart rate whilst on a run, it’s tended to be in the 150s. I can already see that this has the potential to be an interesting experiment.

I’m also not going down the route of wearing a chest heart rate strap or any of that shizzle – I’m more curious than serious. I’m well aware that the jury is out on the accuracy of heart rate readings on watches but I figure that, even if it’s out, at least it’s consistently out, and that’ll do for me ????

I have the Garmin Vivoactive 4S. You can find out how to set your heart rate alerts on this device here: vívoactive – Setting Range Alerts (garmin.com)

Right then, enough about the why, let’s get into how this actually felt. I’ll be trialling this for 3 months and will add to this blog each week.

Week 1 – including my first run

Wowzers! Running at a pace that keeps my heart rate in the aerobic zone is really hard! I had to walk up hills that I could easily have ran up at the pace I was moving, and I confess that, towards the end, I slipped into old habits. Buy hey ho, it was the first attempt.

I also realised that I’m going to have to let go of any vanity around pace (not that I’m particularly fast anyway). For now, I’m going to be quite a bit slower. I imagine this will lead to some insecurities around ability when I next come to race, but let’s see.

My second heart rate training run was a 9.3 mile loop on the Sunday morning, with a few up and downhills (it’s impossible to find a flat route round here, unless I head to the track).

I learned a lot over the course of those nine miles.

In the early stages I had to keep pulling myself up and walking to reduce my heart rate. I learned that, even by slowing my running pace (which is hard and almost felt like I was jogging on the spot), I couldn’t bring it back down.

However, towards the end of the route, I found myself running inclines whilst remaining in my heart rate zone. Surely we can’t see improvements over the course of a single run? Time will tell…

I also noticed that I could recognise when my heart rate went over 135 by tuning into my breathing. I’d set my watch to vibrate when I go under 125 or over 135 – in reality it does it when it’s a little higher. Several times I looked out of curiosity, because of how I was feeling, and noticed that it was at 137, and then it vibrated. So, on that run at least, I became very in tune with what running in my aerobic zone felt like.

And the best bit? At the end of the 9.3 mile route, I felt like I could do it all again. That can only be a good thing, right?

Week 2 – a little bit frustrating…

Trying to avoid hills in Rossendale is no mean feat. It was time to diversify!

I ran an 800m time trial in my heart rate zone at the track and learned that talking to someone else whilst trying to monitor heart rate is actually hard work. I might be doing more solo running as I progress through this experiment ☹

I also worked out a relatively flat 4 mile out and back route this week, so I can monitor my progress. I did it 2 days on the trot, at the same pace with the same heart rate, just to be sure that it was a good place to start ✔️.

To avoid a lot of walk/running stop/start and heart rate too high/too low, half way through my longest run of the week I decided to focus on practising my race walking* technique. This was a good move. I found that I moved easily from that to gentle running, and didn’t often drop below the minimum. I might still be saying ‘oh for goodness sake’ a lot, but it’s less than last week. Let’s call that progress.

*Gosh that worked different muscles – could certainly feel it the next day!

Week 3 – starting to see some results

On my four-mile route this week, I was 4 minutes quicker than last week, with the same average heart rate. Bingo!

Also, something strange happened this week. I gave up sugary snacks completely. Not a single one – nada, zilch. What is happening to me?!

Week 5 – uh – oh!

This week I was completely wiped out with an horrendous virus. My best effort this week was an out and back slow walk to the corner shop, feeling and walking like an old lady.

Complete and utter write off week, but I’ll be back!

PS. Maybe giving up sugary snacks completely isn’t such a good thing, afterall…. ????

Week 6 – tentatively back…

In the interests of not pushing things too soon, I just did one run  this week, on my four mile monitoring route. Slightly soul destroyed that I was even slower than my first attempt in the early days of this experiment, but I’m not going to lose heart. I know that the virus affected my chest, and I’m still coughing.

It’s early days…

And I’m back on the sugar…

Week 7 – OK, so this is an approach that I hadn’t anticipated…

Every morning I go for a short walk before starting work. It can be anything from a mile to 3 or 4 miles, depending on how much time I have. It’s something I’ve done with varying degrees of commitment since my school run days ended.

Because I’m more in tune with my heart rate, and how I feel in different heart rate zones, I noticed that I’m now so unfit after that darn virus that I can walk briskly in my 120-130 bpm heart rate zone. Rather than taking this badly, I’m seeing this as an opportunity to add in some extra MAF heart rate training sessions, but approaching them from a walking perspective, rather than running. Though I may have found myself running a little downhill by the Wednesday (yay!).

I guess this is a bit like couch to 5k really, but with slower running/brisk walk times dictated by heart rate rather than the time on the clock.

I had a couple of sugar free days this week, but my daughter left a whole tray of homemade brownies when she went back to university after a flying visit. I figured I’d be a bad mum if I didn’t eat at least 4 pieces. She does make the most amazing brownies!

This week saw some improvement on my ‘test’ route, but I’ve decided I’m not going to run this every week (I might miss it though – it was become like my own little personal 4 mile park run each weekend). But watched pot never boils and all the rest of it… so I’m going to push back to once a fortnight and hope to see some bigger wins.

On Sunday I headed out for a run, starting with the intention of doing a MAF training run, but half way through decided to see what happened if I just went with the flow. As my heart rate moved into the 140s I started coughing and in the 150s I was wheezing. So one thing is clear – by doing heart training I’m actually continuing to run whilst I recover from my various illnesses, whereas if I was pushing myself each time I may have given up and resorted to being a couch potato until such a time as I could run at full pace.

Also this week I decided that I’ve become a slave to my watch, but for heart rate, not speed or distance…

Week 8 – Sometimes life just gets in the way…

Uh-oh! So this week I set out with great intentions, which slowly but surely went to pot. My running efforts were more towards the back end of the week. But sometimes we just need to focus on what’s in our control, and not stress about trying to do everything we want to do.

I managed a couple of heart rate training runs, including one where I got to the end of the next street before exceeding my upper heart rate. That’s definitely progress!

I did away with my ‘test route’ this week as, frankly, didn’t want to open myself up to potential disappointment. Instead I decided to go for it with a 10 mile run on the Sunday. Like you do. I started with the intention of doing it from a MAF approach but changed my mind part way through. My pace on the hilly route was up and down like a yo-yo, but I felt good for showing myself that I could do it. At the start of this journey, I wondered if confidence would take a knock with doing so much at a slower place. It did. So a 10-mile trot was not only a good way to celebrate the start of British Summer Time, but also a good way to grab back a bit of confidence, too.

Week 9 – back, with bells on!

All I can say is that I’m feeling GOOD this week!

As usual, my running efforts for the week started slowly then ramped up towards the end of the week, with 13 of my 20 miles taking place over Saturday and Sunday. (I really must sort this out!).

But I feel AMAZING!

Rather nervously, I took to my ‘test route’ on Sunday, hardly daring to look at the results when I got home. I smashed it! 30 seconds per mile off my previous attempt 2 weeks ago. And Strava is telling me that my fitness has increased ????I was so happy I hit ‘go’ again and headed out for another 2 miles to celebrate. I felt like I was flying!

After a rough week last week, I now feel energised and eager to see what the coming weeks bring.

I’ve also plucked up the courage to publish this blog. Please be kind. And, if you have your own experiences of this training method, please do share – I’d love to hear your stories.