Hey Larry and
@ratz ,
Thanks for the detailed descriptions, they go a long way toward understanding the long term process. I discovered the MAF concept here on the forum back in December of '22 while working hard to improve in the Zwift league and always feeling wiped out with my Trainer Road or Zwift training plans while "racing" once a week.
I started doing nothing but 180-my age (66) HR workouts in December and finished out the Zwift season mid February. My FTP went from 142 in September to over 200 in February and I bumped up to Cat C in Zwift racing. I read Primal Endurance by Mark Sisson and The Art and Science of Low Carb Performance by Phinney and Volek and followed a 50 grams of carbs per day diet for at least a couple months.( lost 15#) I actually did my last two Zwift races on just electrolytes with no problems. I had two serious bonks in the fall, before I discovered "fueling" for races (scared my wife
, but had no problems once "fat adapted" I continued strict MAF training restrictions until mid- April.
My latest reading and listening has been Dr. Peter Attia's book "Outlive" and his podcast episodes (called The Drive) with Dr. San Millan on zone two training. San Millan is the trainer for the UAE TdF team (Pogacar) and a researcher at the University of Colorado ( if I remember correctly) He absolutely agrees with the zone 2 training process that started with Phil Maffetone but has a little different take on how to calculate it short of having the breathing apparati available to you in a lab setting . Their gauge is to train at a level where you can carry on a conversation but anyone listening to you will know that you are exercising . This is the highest level of activity that favors the production of mitochondria that prefer fat rather than ones that prefer glucose as fuel.
For me, changing the gauge has bumped my HR up to MAF+10+5 or @ 128bpm which is maybe over-reaching onMaffetone's guidlines. I am over 65, had been very active up until age 55 or so and have been back on the bike for a couple years now, so , honestly, 123 should be my guide hr. However, I can easily talk and ride at 128 bpm and put out @ 20 extra watts for long periods. I will probably do a one hour MAF test on the trainer at my original MAF hr in another few weeks to see if I am still progressing or have gone into the "black hole" training zone.
I guess my biggest training questions revolve around the balance of recovery and workout intensity.
I started using Training Peaks in April and am trying to get a handle on when to back off and when to keep pushing . I would like to try some sort of endurance competion as a goal to shoot for and haven't settled on the 6-12 time trial route or the Randonneurring route with maybe some self supported racing. I figured a year of good preparation would be necessary for either.
Larry , you told me to just sign up and race. I'm a bit more cautious than that but am going to do a 200k Randonneur route solo at a constant zone two hr in a couple weeks. I'll know more then. In the meantime this Zwift climbing challenge is filling the 20% training quotient for VO2 max workouts quite well. It's fun to feel the burn again. I'll be following the MAF 2023 training thread and trying to catch up to you guys. Thanks for all the help and sharing the wisdom.
