80/20 Running: Run Slow To Race Fast Using Maffetone Training 

Great advice. I started running at the age of 51 last year and although I have made great progress, I find now i'm not making much more improvement on my times. I go full out now, all the time and that is the problem. I went from a 34 min 5K time when I started to just under 25 minues which for me is wonderful considering I thought getting under 30 minutes was impossible! I now run 10k and Half-Marathon distances so I'm very pleased with my progress considering i'm fairly new to running. I started the MAF method today and although the time was painfully slow for me about 00:07:30 per Km from my usual 00:05:30 per Km it felt great to get around an not feel tired at all. You have addressed my concern that elininating speedwork will leave me unable to pull out a fast run should I need to. I am concerned that concentrating 100% on MAF will inpair my speed runs in the long term. I will try and incorporate some speed work as you have suggested here, but very little. Just enough so my legs remember how to run fast! Thanks again for the advice.

Good job! I’m 55 and began MAF training 4 months ago. Am totally hooked. I enjoy running again. I ran competitively in college and was of the “no pain no gain” mentality. Too bad I didn’t incorporate more LSD or MAF back then. Keep up the good running!

Thanks, Justin this is super helpful. I am a 26-year young professional and I haven't trained frequently in the last 4-5 years. I used to swim at a competitive level and running was complementary training. My objective is really the get the best results knowing that I won't be able to train as I used to do. Hearing that you got better results with this ratio motivates me to adopt this type of training. I will start my training with the following plan. 1 short run (30-40min) in my zone 2, 1 high intensity - hills, (20-30min), and 2 long runs (over 1h) in zone 2. I look forward to seeing the results!

I’ve always been a slow runner. So my base is there but recently started doing surges and sprints after hill repeats and notice a great change in my attitude and fitness. Now, it’s become addicting to keep adding in surges and hill repeats. I’ve brought my running from 19 - 16 min mile to 11 min mile. I need to go back to base training.

I am 60 years old and I have started the MAF Method. What i noticed is that i can go out on long runs like more often then before. I feel more energetic. My MAF HR is 120 which i hover around 122-135, On many occasions i was able to keep it around 125 average on 10km or longer run. I maintain my form and sometimes, i will dip below 120 or certain days.

i love running in the rain!

I've been using MAF since June 1st and my plan is to just build through the summer and peak in October/November. I haven't done any specific tests and just kinda trusting it, but that's fine: I've noticed that I can handle higher volumes so I'm going from about 60 to 70km total towards weeks of 80 or more towards the end of the summer (hopefully) We'll see what happens then :)

Hi, really interesting content. I am trying to improve my 5k time from 24.00 to below 23.00 and have only just started to understand lower heart rate and higher cadence. Really strange to get my head around it but I will persevere. I always tried to push myself every time I ran thinking that was the only way to get faster...........cheers

Try to schedule rest days during rain days, but I can't always avoid it, so sometimes you just have to go for it.

rain is when the air pressure changes i run the absolute worst in Summer the day after a storm when it has cooled off , my muscles do not respond as well i conversely enjoy the runup to a storm when its hot and humid , i run well in the rain still usually but always try to avoid lightning , rain is fine lightning is my only weather factor i wont even consider running through

Good video. Two things... 1. This sounds a lot like Lydiard training - look up Arthur Lydiard. He trained one of the all-time great middle distance champions, Peter Snell to three Olympic Gold medals in 1960 and 1964. Look up Peter Snell videos too. 2. Your 5:29 mile indicates that you should be capable of an 18:30 5k so if you're running 19:30 for 5k, you are obviously a little too cautious about pushing yourself. You need to consider recording your performance and doing so regularly, say, once a month. Only by doing so will you achieve real gains. Great new channel. Keep it up.

Good video. I’m on the MAF train and I’m on my 7th week doing everything a MAF for now. I’m mainly a marathon runner. Do you have any advice on what interval sessions I could add in. For me, I’m thinking that will be August time. I’ve read lots but confused as to if I should go for, say, 400m reps at a higher intensity or 1-mile reps at half marathon pace.

I've always thought that basically that you run in blocks ie. like 3 months of MAF or until when you don't see any gains then switch it up.. over that time frame.. its really like 80/20.. ie 3 months MAF and handful of weeks of speed training.. this is on the assumption that you are not really getting ready for a race soon.. but just doing the long term build towards it..

Hello ARPT, i startet running last november and had some minor injuries. So i did a research and found the MAF-Training. I am now at the beginning of the MAF-Training (48Y, HFmax 132) an have the choice, to walk fairly quickly with a HF of 132, or run very very slow at a HF of approximately 136. What should be my focus for the future weeks / months to become faster at a lower HF? Keep walking and stay under the HF of 132 until i have to run, or can i run at a slightly higher HF-Rate? Thx. Btw. I am a very patient person, so any advice is helpfull

My goal is to do a marathon. I want to focus on MAF training. Should I stop racing the parkrun on Sundays?

Is it okay if i train in zone 3? Workouts like steady/tempo

Hello all looking to start Maf training but want a HR monitor that will alert when heart rate drops out of or exceeds my aerobic zone so i dont have to run constantly staring at a watch. Ideally would like to use an Apple Watch so I dont have to take my iphone with me. Are there any apps that can do this? What is the community doing to achieve this?

I am 37yrs old. My Max heart rate for 50 minutes 10k was 208bpm and average was 190.its normal for me to cross 200bpm in my speed work trainings. I don't like this high heart rate though and wanted to bring it down with MAF method. Can you guys please help me determine my MAF zone-2 Max heart rate?

What should be the mileage one should have in the beginning? How to increase it ?

Is 80/20 over one run or 80/20 over a series of 4 runs over the week?

I began running about 5 months ago since covid hit and beginning at 20miles/wk im at 70m this week, mostly all MAF style training. Im curious what your base mileage was to reach the 5:29 mile as our 5k are similar and my 1mile trial is approaching. Also. What is a normal base mileage? Im hoping to hit between 80/90m/wk for 3 weeks in the month of august befor transitioning more to speed 60MAF/40speed.

I'm an FMF Combat Corpsman, which means I'm amphibious. If it ain't raining, I ain't training.

The MAF heart rate is much too fast for what would be ideal in polarized training. For a 40 year old default MAF would give you a heart rate of 140 or 78% of a max heart rate of 180. Polarized training would have you at about 65% of max heart rate which would put you at about 117 bpm. To me the MAF formula gives you a perfect formula for getting the junk miles in between the 80 and 20 of 80/20.

did you go to john brown university?

80/20 running is discovered by Matt Fitzgerald I think.

John Brown University?

Rain running sucks. Sometimes it’s unavoidable if you’re a serious trainer.

TLDR polarized training

That isn't MAF training! It is just training like a fool vs training intelligent. 60/40 training??? Another MAF video that has nothing to do with MAF. Read his book.