How soon to add faster work MAF Training

by Stuart
(Stratford upon Avon )

Hi, my wife and I have recently begun our MAF journey, so currently in the highly frustrating stage of doing more walking than running to keep our heart rate so low 😩. You’re site is very useful and particularly the answers to some questions. Many thanks for that. My question is pretty simple I hope. When can we add in some of the “20” of the “80/20”? Also, I’ve are still doing some socially distanced races during these awful times. Should we not do races for a few months? Only stick to MAF?

Thanks a lot in advance

Nicole's reply:
Hi Stuart and thanks for your question. I too run with my husband and it makes the slow slogs a bit more enjoyable!
For the first 4-6 months of MAF training you really shouldn't do any speed work and that would mean not racing unless you want to race at your MAF pace. If after that period your MAF pace is continuing to improve, then you could stick at MAF even longer. However if you feel that your pace is not improving any more or you have some races coming up, then you could start to introduce a small amount of speed work. Hope that helps and I hope the training goes well.