Use THIS Low Heart Rate Training Method to Improve Running Performance | Dr Phil Maffetone 

Not every run... most of run..

@@GameKeyModSquad-hr4lnyes not all runs have to be slow. One misconception that MAF consists only slow runs. Dr Maffetone recommends speed session up to 20%.

Obviously you should check with your cardiologist, but cardiovascular exercise has been part of post-MI recovery programs for quite some time. Also, some studies have shown that moderate intensity exercise (6-8 x 20 mins/day up to 10 hrs/week) can improve coronary collateral flow significantly, which obviously is beneficial for your heart health… You’d likely benefit even if you were just brisk walking on daily basis…

I would assume that if you had taken a full year off after 25 years of straight running you should expect the "slowest" 5k of your life. The fact that you ran the second slowest is pretty good. Also, If your goal is to race 5k's, strictly training on the base "portion" of the MAF system is not the best choice. What the MAF system says is that you should do a period of more "race specific" training after you have stopped seeing gains in the base period. Since 5ks usually take less than 20 minutes (middle distance events are highly anaerobic), and since (assuming ) you stopped seeing gains in the base period, and chose a distance that isn't necessarily an aerobic activity (assuming 15-18 minutes), you definitely need to do a couple of months of anaerobic training. My advice is that if you are only doing middle distance stuff (800 - 5000: I'm placing 5000 in there since we know that human potential (world record) sets it at around a 4:01 per mile pace (12:35 time) which is going to be pretty close to 50/50 aerobic/anaerobic ) you definitely should spend some time in the speed period of the MAF method. It sounds more like you might have just mistaken "low heart-rate training" for Dr. Maffetone's "MAF" method. Those are two very different forms of training. Good luck and hope you are able to get back to form!

I'd also be curious to know what your best time was in the year before you stopped training and what course it was on? Do you have race results you would be willing to share along with the race results/course you tested on? I'm genuinely interested in seeing what the results of just the base portion of the MAF system look like on a 5K test.

​@@bradsimpson489912 mins isn't even close to 50/50 aerobic/anaerobic. It's more like 90 seconds. Even a mile all out is 80 per cent aerobic

did you do easy run.... + 1 speed/ tempo + 1 long run per week?

He is suggesting 6 months of low intensity low heart rate for athletes who over trains anaerobic antivity