Do you always make up your mind after one opinion from someone you don't personally know?

I wasn't trying to make up my mind so much as understand the logic or evidence base supporting the author's training method. Reading down through the responses, it seems to be more anecdotal than based on exercise physiology.

I don't personally know Archimedes but I trust his methods when I decide how full to make the bathtub. I don't need to know everyone in the world scientific community personally, it would require a lot of expensive air travel.

Wrong. Totally.

John

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Top notch coaching: Francois and Accelerate3 | Follow on Twitter: LifetimeAthlete |

I've used this program to great success (at least from my perspective, it depends what your goals are), and I agree with everyone who has said that it is a way of training up until you plateau, and then incorporate speed work. When I used Maffetone I was just starting out in triathlon. The reason I liked it was because the low intensity workouts helped me to build up my endurance faster (so that I could train longer). I think a lot of people just starting out (including myself) may have a tendency to start doing high intensity right off the bat and either a) injure themselves or b) burn themselves out early. Maffetone method prevents that. I've also felt more energetic, and my recovery between workouts is very fast. I didn't start doing any speedwork until about 2 months out from my A race, and then only once a week for each discipline. I completed my first Ironman after about one year of training with the Maffetone method (adapted by Mark Allen Online, now Smart Triathlon Training).

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"Thankfully, persistence is a great substitute for talent" - Steve Martin
http://www.trifundracing.com

Here's the fundamental problem with Maffertone - arbitrary numbers like this. 150 is easy for you, but is starting to get into the truly uncomfortable range for me. I haven't worn a HRM for anything other than curiosity for a while, but if I had to venture a guess, I would guess that 150 is a touch over HIM effort for me in both the bike and the run. Not easy.

Yet my wife would be in the 160 to 165 range for an IM marathon, so 150 is just slightly harder than a brisk walk.

Are you sure that you're not confusing Nokia with Nokian? Nokian is still making some pretty awesome tires.