I did a couple more Maffetone experiments this week. First, I set my cadence at 180 steps per minute and attempted to keep my heart beat below the threshold. It still ended with roughly the same result: I would run for a minute, then have to walk for a minute, then repeat.
After the run, I ran a bit in front of a window where I could see my form. It turns out it was awful! While I thought I was running with straight posture, I was bent at the waist.
So after some Maffetone experiments, I can conclude the following:
- Running at a low heart rate does not guarantee you will run at the proper cadence
- Running at a low heart rate does not guarantee you will run with proper posture
I am still on-board with low heart rate training, but now I am viewing it differently. I now see it as a way to show you that you are working too hard while running. This could be due to a variety of reasons. However, I don't believe that just continuing to run at a low heart rate will automatically fix these flaws. I think you have to go beyond this, as I will discuss in the next post.
