So, I signed up for Ironman Florida in November of 2010… I’ve been on again off again sick for the past few weeks, and I’m just getting into the training routine. I’ve been building my training schedule and doing a lot of ‘research’ about training and what not and I’ve decided to take the advice of Ironman ‘legend’ Mark Allen…
Mark Allen worked with Phil Maffetone on his training before winning, and winning, and winning the Ironman World Championship in Hawaii. One of the things that Phil Maffetone is known for is his unique take on endurance training. He advises that one spend significant time truly training one’s aerobic system, which is one of the things that many people do not take the time to effectively do. Maffetone advises that one spend 4-5 months working on just aerobic training and doing NO anaerobic work. For me, at this point in my training and with my lack of racing this past year it sounds like a pretty good call to go with this method of training and to really spend some serious time working on my aerobic engine.
Now, this sounds all well and good, but as Mark Allen has stated multiple times, this method of training is harder than it sounds. It’s not harder because it’s so taxing, but quite the opposite. In order to maintain a true aerobic rate the basic formula utilized is to take 180 and subtract your age in order to acquire your maximum aerobic heart rate. There are a number of variables to add or subtract a few beats with regards to how much one does or does not exercise. Regardless of this my maximum aerobic rate is currently around 143 bpms. For anyone who trains or regularly works out with a heart rate monitor, this number is incredibly LOW. This is what makes it so hard to train in this fashion i.e. having to hold in the reins, so to speak, and keep it slow in order to keep the heart rate in the aerobic range. Now, I’ve done a lot of long, slow miles when I was doing long runs for marathon training, but it almost seems counterintuitive to do this sort of training.
I’m going to give it a go and see how it works out. If all goes as it is supposed to, while keeping my heart rate in this range it should become easier to do the distance and actually go farther and longer while maintaining the same heart rate. I don’t expect any fast gains with this and I’m going to stick with it for a few months to evaluate the effectiveness and validity of this method of training. If all goes well, I’ll be in way better shape and much more aerobically fit than I have been in a long time. Hopefully all this exercise, and especially the aerobic fat-burning aspect of it will knock of some of this weight that has been slowly creeping up since I started nursing school and reduced my training.
Looking forward to seeing what folks have to say!
Namaste.
I too have decided to drink the aerobic Kool-Aid. The way I understand it is that if you continue to train in Z2, you are actually increasing your lactate threshold and therefore able to avoid bonking and get more out of the engine during interval training down the road. I will be interested to see how it works for you. I am getting my lactate threshold tested tomorrow to get very specific information regarding my HR zones. From what I understand, this will serve as a baseline for future testing. I think I will get re-tested in about 2 months which should either validate this brand of training or show that I am just able to put in some long slow miles and watch slower people pass me on the trail. Good luck.
Comment by bradarmould — February 17, 2010 @ 5:32 pm |
Thanks for the comment. What prompted you to take on this method of training? Are you training for something specific or just wanting to get in better shape?
Comment by burrows — February 18, 2010 @ 1:10 am |
I am signed up for several races from sprint through 1/2 iron distance over the summer months and capping off the season with IronMan Wisconsin in September. Not too long ago, I read about a guy that had been training based on “feel” rather than heart rate and had completed around 10 IM races. One season with HR training brought down his best time by over 2 hours. I received the new Garmin for Christmas and figured I should use it for something more than a cool speedometer. I am anxious to follow your progress. Best of luck.
Comment by bradarmould — February 18, 2010 @ 8:33 am |