Maffetone Training! My newest training regimen. My goal originally was to do every training session (including bike, runs, or swims) staying in the Maffetone HR range (calculated to be 146-156 where max HR = 180-29+5 = 156) to build my base for triathlon season. Tri season starts with the Columbia Triathlon in May (olympic distance). So based on the tri season start date I figure training from now until say the end of Feb should be focused on base building.

But now I'm contemplating running the Gasparilla marathon (my first marathon!) on February 26th. That would give me enough time to use one of Hal Higdon's training plans however Hal recommends doing some runs in the higher HR range closer to lactate threshold (which may not be ideal for my base building). The other concern with doing marathon training is that it will only allow me swimming or biking one day per week, which probably isn't even enough to maintain the levels where I am now.

So the question is twofold:
1. Will March and April be enough time to build back up my cycling and swimming base if I focus on running for the next few months?
2. If I decide to do the marathon should I do all the Hal Higdon training miles in the Maffetone zone? Or should I follow the Higdon plan as he specifies? Which is better - spend all training time training your body to burn fat as fuel and becoming an efficient aerobic engine or giving up some of that low HR training and replacing it with speed sessions?