Yes, I’m failing at the Maffetone Method. I didn’t comprehend when I embarked on “running slower” that I would be FREEZING in January. I’ve had to dump out of several runs because I couldn’t warm up enough to keep going and I was afraid of hypothermia. I’m a month into 24-hour training and I’ve managed very few miles per week, between inclement weather and having to quit from shivering. Yesterday was my longest run to date—11 miles—and the only way I accomplished it was because at the halfway mark I said, “Screw it, I’m running.” And I took off at my normal pace. Not only did I warm up real quick, I felt like my running self again for the first time since starting this new training method.
I haven’t worn a heart rate monitor in years and one thing I noticed after setting off was that my HR reached 155 and stabilized. This is actually lower than I thought it would be and I was surprised that it just stayed there. (It did go up to 158 when I was running uphill.)
I got home and began Googling again. Am I sabotaging myself? Am I doing this wrong? I don’t know. I found some helpful things at the Running Ahead forums, in particular that seeing real results can take 4-6 months and that many people get very angry in the beginning. <raises hand> A long-time MAF runner over there suggests checking out the HADD method for finding a HR base in that case. I also found a helpful (very old) post over at Cool Running, in which another long-time MAF runner suggests incrementally bumping down HR for someone in a situation similar to mine.
I’m thinking.