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Heart Rate is over rated:-)

[Deleted User][Deleted User]
in Coaching Forum 🧢

Hi Coach P.!   Hope you are doing well and you are getting that baker's cyst figured out.  Geez...  Always somethin'.

I feel like I need to start from scratch.  Ugh.  After Kona, I did nothing much for a month except a couple of swims.  Then I stopped even that because my shoulder was bothering me (got a cortisone shot yesterday - should be good to go soon).  Then Turby decided that we should try out this Maffetone method with our eating and working out.  I'm fine with the eating part of it - I love fatty food and protein:-)  But the working out part - not so much.  The problem is that because of my advanced age, my max heart rate is only 114 after subtracting from 180.  That is really low for me.  They say to have patience and keep at it and eventually you will see improvements in your pace vs heart rate, but I haven't.  (Of course, Turby has!).   So when I go for a run, I basically have to walk every time my watch beeps because my HR is over 115!  There is a LOT of walking!  It's very frustrating and I've had a hard time sticking with it.   Also, the bike is not as bad because I've been going a bit higher on the HR.  But I don't think I've gotten out of the middle of Zone 2 for the past couple of months, except for some minute intervals I have been throwing in the past couple of weeks.  So next week is the JOS Outseason!!  I think I am done with Phil Maffetone for the time being:-)  My dilemma is where to begin?  I can try and do the test and swag my FTP down 20 watts or so and see how it goes.  Or I can just try some workouts and swag my FTP and see what kind of shape I'm in before I try to test.  I am not going to do the run test so I will use my 5K time from a race I did in December, which is way down from what I've been running previously.  I know I'm way off in my fitness right now, and want to slowly build it back up.  Please do let me know what you think is the best approach to getting my speed and endurance back!   Thanks Coach!

Comments

  • Coach PatrickCoach Patrick
    Thanks for checking in. Maffetone approach is a good one in the off season, but it's not a path to performance gains you'l want on race day.

    So yes to the OS return, and yes to dialing it way back...for the first 4 weeks we want to be conservative (don't want you to struggle and get sick, etc).

    You aren't in a rush, we need consistency. You are never more than 6 weeks away from being "officially" fit. The key is not to over reach early!

    Excited to have you back!

    ~ Coach P
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