My History With Low Heart Rate Training

In 2003, I was introduced to the concept of low heart rate training. A friend of mine whom I’d met at the Zane Grey 50 mile ultramarathon in 2002 had recommended that I do the majority of my running at a low heart rate, much lower than I had been used to. I found the concept of training at a low heart rate and lower effort, while at the same time getting faster, to be very appealing. It seemed logical that I shouldn’t be doing endless, year round hard interval training. I knew that if I ran too hard too often, that I’d probably end up like many runners I had met and who were either too injured to run or had quit running. I knew back then that I didn’t want to end up hobbled and not able to do what I loved, so I started my lifetime journey.

In the beginning I looked into several different approaches to low heart rate training, and the one that stood out the most was “The Maffetone Method,” created by Phil Maffetone. I purchased the original book, “The Maffetone Method” from a local bookstore and began reading about maximum aerobic function, or MAF. Throughout the course of the next 18 years, I tweaked and adapted my approach to the method.

At first, my MAF training was all about the 180 formula, making sure that I ran most of my runs at or below 180 minus my age. I was somewhat inconsistent with the training for about 10 years, doing several months with MAF and then several months without. When I was using the 180 formula, I improved greatly, doing a personal best of 7:03 for one mile at my MAF in 2006, which coincidentally was my best year for a hilly 10 mile race and a hilly ½ marathon. But my inconsistency with the method led to inconsistency with results. I had some very good race results, but I also had a few DNF’s in races I should have finished, and I had some subpar performances in some of my ultramarathons.

In 2014 I decided that it would be necessary for me to be consistent with the Maffetone Method if I wanted to achieve all of my goals and continue to run well. So after recovering from a nasty ankle injury incurred after a fall while bouldering, I got to work with the method. I focused on stress management, sleep, recovery and nutrition in addition to keeping most of my runs at or under MAF. I want to be in the running game for the long haul, and I have big plans for my athletic career, so I decided to dedicate myself fully to low heart rate training. It is a consistently changing process and I am constantly learning new things about nutrition, health, and recovery. I try not to settle into a single pattern of fossilized training, doing the same thing all the time, but rather I keep an open mind toward change and constantly adapt what I learn to my training. I’m not afraid to experiment with fuel, hydration, gear, or the way I train. I think that keeping an open mind to experimentation helps motivate me, and I believe that this approach, which I have adapted to suit my needs and goals, will help me continue to train, compete and do the things I love in a healthy way for many years to come.