Data on MAF tests from roughly a year ago to today. Back then, I did my MAF at 145 and was quite liberal with the HR rising. Yesterday, I really tried to be strict to max out at 140 and keep the HR stable.
So I’m reducing my MAF to 140 from 145. Standard deviation ideally needs to be zero as that measures how much deviation from the average my HR is throughout the test. Not a perfect measure as it will take into account the HR at both above and below the average, but I’m more interested in controlling the HR above the average. From a standard deviation of 3.43 bpm last year, I brought it down to 1.38 with average HR at 141. That gives me 6:57 min/km or 11:07 min/mile as my new baseline for the future.
Slope is the trend line between Distance and Pace. Any MAF test should theoretically have pace increase as distance increases, hence the positive slope. I multiplied the calculated slope with 1,000 to get a workable number. But the more efficient runner/cyclist you are, the flatter the slope. So the closer to zero the slope is, the more efficient I will be over long distances. So now my slope is at 6.05.
So what does this tell me? That I’m pathetic at 140 bpm. And I’ve been accustomed training at 145. But if I want to improve my endurance towards the latter parts of races, I have to lower my MAF HR some more. At least for the next 7 weeks and hope to see improvements. And perhaps I should clean up my diet some more…
theRUNS.net 