Running by Feel (and Maffetone)

With winter temps now upon us, it's easier for me to just over up the watch and run. I headed out for an easy run and was guided not by technology but by feel. Looking at the data afterwards, it was nice see that what felt easy was actually easy, by the numbers. But even this isn't the end goal of my Maffetone training. There's still more work to do.

Thanks for watching! Leave a comment to let me know you stopped by!

Running footage shot on:
GoPro Hero 9 Black (paid link)

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subscriber count at time of upload: 62,452

end card music:
Jim Yosef - Checkered

[ThatRunningGuy]

Great shots and chat👌 80/20 is definitely the way to go. I saw my biggest gains. But I do believe that consistency is the 🔑. Keep sharing and I’ll keep watching👍

[Kelly_Ben]

You've got such a great down to earth attitude about running. I'll be trying MAF over the snowy icy winter, and can't wait to see the changes come spring.

[Wizjkahna]

Great video, Michael. I started using MAF about a third of the way through my Berlin Marathon training last year. I'm a bit older than you. So, my max heartrate was 128. It was difficult to stay consistent and disciplined; but I ended up getting a PR by five minutes. I'm not that fast. But it felt good to be making progress. I ended up really immersing myself in MAF when I did two training cycles for this year's Boston Marathon (Virtual Experience), and was able to PR by shaving off an additional ten minutes. After getting used to running very slow, and getting some consistent interval speedwork in, my biggest challenge has been overcoming the fear that my body will forget how to run at race pace. But it hasn't.

[luanjot]

What maffetone has meant for me is the possibility of increasing my mileage. I started in August and in July a 12-14k run was like "ok, i need to rest tomorrow". Now it is like "ok, 12 today, 14 tomorrow". It has allowed me to be running longer and I definitely can see the difference already gaining 20-30sec/k already. I'm not sure if it is maffetone or just that my easy days were not easy like you, but this mentality has really helped.

[GreyJedi]

Nice song and even nicer weather for running !! I'm still struggling with maffetone training

[geronim]

From intro to very nice thoughts... a beautiful piece of inspiring video

[AncoraImparoPiper]

I learned that easy run is easy to measure by the talk test. If you can have a comfortable conversation ( even with yourself) while you run, that's an easy run. Low intensity endurance runners have been using this method for decades, except that elite runners also add some speed workouts to their training. Whether you call it Maffetone or low intensity training using the talk test or ( perceived effort test), it's all the same thing. Both will, if you check the HR, be inside the MAF HR rate.

[thatguygreg]

Great video! So cool to see you carrying on with MAF. I've been training with MAF for 13 months now and I would never run another way. It sucked when I started, running a painfully slow 11:14 / mile pace when I was able to run at all. Now I am comfortably running sub 8:30 / mile on a normal MAF run. A couple of times a week I'll go out for a very easy effort, MAF -10 or even lower if I can. Those runs are usually around 9 min / mile.

I think we have similar goals when it comes to what we want from MAF. I'm 41 y/o so I have to be realistic with my expectations but I would like to be able to run as close to sub 7 min / mile as possible while still at MAF. I know this will probably take a long time but I'm not in any particular rush. Right now my goal for the next few months is to be able to run most of my MAF runs at sub 8 min / mile. I'll be incredibly happy when I can do that. So far I've had two sub 8 min / mile MAF runs so I know it's within reach. Keep on trucking dude!

[michaeldwilson]

Your videos (and Triathlon Taren's) led me to the Maffetone Method shortly after the pandemic became a serious concern in the spring. It was a very fortunate occurrence. I've had a wonderful summer of running early almost every day, when fewer people are on the trails. I'm very strict about it, and I've seen considerable improvement in my times, enjoyment, motivation, and overall health. Much appreciated!

[RobertLHargraveIII]

I'm shooting for the 140 bpm 6:50 min/mile...shoot for the stars and land on the moon. I've recently dropped as low as 8:14 min mile at 140 avg for 11.4 miles. I've been maffetone-ing for 2 ish years and been running for 7...more time equals more results...you know this already. Cheers!

[金可文]

So envy. The weather in Thailand today is too hot to run outside...:(

[lee_legs_it]

Interesting MAF perspective. Good to see you've progressed with it. I'm doing an 80/20 approach to Maffetone training, and think it works perfectly. I have my four weekly MAF test tomorrow 💪

[KevinHoegler]

I love MAF training. Its actually 95% or more of my training and I have been doing it for about 11 months now. Definitely see major benefits in it. I completely agree with you, ego was hard to overcome in the beginning.

[facelessreview]

Best intro by far. It kind of stinks. I really loved the intros of Jamie Reviews videos but he just hasn't been putting as much effort in them. I know he's going through alot but man, those intros really get me as a viewer going and makes me want to see more videos.

[philipk]

Great video thank you! I was just starting to research heart rate running before I watched this video. I'll have to check out Maffetone!

[EnvyTraxus]

i've been running by feel pretty much 4x a week since I've been doing 2 workouts a week, and it's so nice to not have to look at the watch. just ignore the time, ignore my ego, and just run so i feel good. i love how effortless it feels and lets me go hard during workouts

[andrewpozza]

I think you can get there and without 2-3 years of strict MAF. If a marathon is 4 months - try another 2 month strict block and see how much farther it comes down from the 9:00 range. Keep it interesting with massive high mileage weeks. At 8-9 minute miles, your legs will hold up and your aerobic efficiency will increase. You’ve already laid the foundation moving from 10 to 9 and being able to hold 9 on long runs .

[owenwilliams]

Cracking scenery nice one kufozi. Easy run with no watch is blissful... got to be done now and again. Can't argue with you logic, 80/20 ratio... injury free during winter generally ends up in a good spring. Cheers.

[bngngb]

nice video! makes one think, a run can be interrupted by ego, scenery, views, but sometimes it is also good to run by feel

[RunThePlanet]

Good video. I think everyone can use aerobic time or maffetone for a period in training to let the body recover and or get through some niggling injuries if not intending to heavily base build.