Regular readers know we have a big emphasis endurance training and proper technique. After a good first season I therefore recommended to a runner I coach and advise to step back from all speed-work for at least 8 weeks going into 2016 and doing almost every run below ‘MAF pace’.
What is MAF?
MAF stands for Maximum Aerobic Function , although ‘Minimal Anaerobic Function’ would be more accurate, and represents an intensity and a pace where your anaerobic energy system – the one burning primarily sugar – contributes almost nothing. This system is less stressful on the body and allows us to expand our ability to use oxygen rather than live without it.
The problem is that this type of training can be pretty boring. The athlete in question told me ‘before the race I thought, this ‘******’ MAF training better work’. I knew as I’d been there and done that. It’s particularly hard if you suffer from doubt and low self-esteem. Such athletes need the constant reassurance of faster work to prove to themselves that ‘they can do it’. Almost everyone doing primarily easy work for long periods go into their first races with self-doubt.
We had made the decision to do 8 weeks MAF after I picked up on some signs that the athlete was a bit burned out – having had a great 2015 season but falling off in performances towards the end. Runners who are new and coming up through the running hierarchy fast often get into trouble by attempting to do too much too soon or being coaxed onto a fast-track by over-excited coaches.
Discipline and patience
Thankfully, this runner was willing to give it a shot. Once done with the 8 weeks, we had hoped to have 3-4 weeks to do the specific training. But the way chips fell, we only had time for two 5 km pace sessions – not particularly expansive ones either – as well as a very slow (for this person) 10 km ‘test race’. Apart from that we had allowed the odd run at 10 beats higher than MAF during our weekly Club Handicap League. This is still quite low – well under what most runners call ‘threshold’ pace – as MAF heart rate for most runners is somewhere in the region of 135-145.
The end result of all this: a 31 second PB while breaking the 20-minute barrier for the first time and two county medals to boot: individual and team.
Worshipping false Gods (of speed…)
I think it is really important to tell these stories as there is a worship of speed-work in some quarters which unbalances the training picture and leads lots of runners to plateaus or burning out early in their running careers. I saw it myself – all my personal bests were set without doing any interval session – just long runs, steady work and some fartlek later in training. This doesn’t mean intervals don’t have any value – just that we only need a few well-timed ones for certain events rather than the weekly or two times weekly ritual.
In general, our club had a great day at the office – even better than our first year at the Club Championship. What was the main change we made in terms of our collective training? We shifted from interval-based workouts to steady-state workouts – especially our Winter Handicap League designed to have people run strong steady efforts with some control and not trying to improve too fast every week. ‘You get a break during intervals but guess what? You don’t get a break during a race,’ I told the athletes. I was paraphrasing Lydiard who used to exploit this weakness in athletes trained too heavily on intervals by having his steady-state runners attack at moments during a race where the interval-athlete’s body began to call for a rest.
Intervals are fun and have a place (just a very small place) in most training systems. But there is nothing gutsy about doing lots of intervals to show you’re a big man or tough nut who can take a lot of pain. Unless you’re a coward – and I’ve trained no cowards – it takes more guts to put your faith in slower more patient work than to flog through intervals. You don’t have to agree – but if it strikes a chord do the only thing worth doing: have a go and try it for yourself.