Iowa Lecture 1999 · Part 1 of 28
Part 1 of Lydiard Lecture Tour 1999 — Iowa
Presented by Arthur Lydiard during the Brooks/American Track & Field Arthur Lydiard Lecture Tour in 1999, this summary captures the essence of Lydiard’s training methodology and philosophy. Edited and annotated by Nobuya “Nobby” Hashizume.
Arthur Leslie Lydiard was born on July 16, 1917, in Eden Park, New Zealand. In school, he ran and boxed, but was most interested in rugby football. Because of the Great Depression of the 1930s, Lydiard dropped out of school at 16 to work in a shoe factory.
He figured he was pretty fit until Jack Dolan, president of the Lynndale Athletic Club in Auckland and an old man compared to Lydiard, took him on a five-mile training jog that left him completely exhausted. He wondered what he would feel like at 47, if at 23 he was so fatigued by such a short run, and was forced to rethink his concept of fitness. Lydiard began training according to the methods of the time, but they were of little help; at the club library, for instance, he found a book by F.W. Webster, The Science of Athletics, but soon decided that the schedules it offered were too easy for him, so he began experimenting to see how fit he could get.
Lydiard started running seven days a week, up to 12 miles a day, which was considered exceptional at the time. In 1945, at age 28, he began racing again, but while he was fitter and faster, he had trouble winning due to a lack of basic speed. Because his mileage was considerably higher than those who beat him, he became annoyed and began to experiment with his daily distances and efforts, alternating short and easy days with long and hard runs.
Others joined Lydiard in training and thrashed along with him, though he still used himself as the principal guinea pig. Running up to 250 miles a week, he tested himself to extremes of heat and endurance, and discovered that when he balanced distance training with short, high-intensity workouts and speed work, not only did his track performances improve, but his marathon times came down as well. Lydiard had no coaching experience or formal education in physiology, nor had he been to college, but where other coaches and runners had failed to unravel the fundamentals of conditioning, to Arthur Lydiard, his own training experiments spoke volumes. His practical knowledge would become the basis of the system he would later use to develop numerous Olympic medalists and international-class competitors worldwide.
After two years of training with Lydiard on his lonely runs, Lawrie King beat a provincial champion in a 2 mile race by 80 meters. King’s win established Lydiard as a coach, a qualification he neither sought nor particularly wanted. King went on to become New Zealand cross country champion, six-mile record holder, and 1954 Empire Games representative.
In 1951, 17-year-old Murray Halberg came on the scene. His coach, Bert Payne, consulted with Lydiard on Halberg’s training. By 1953, Halberg was coached by Lydiard exclusively, and was joined by Barry Magee. It was with this group that Lydiard first tried out his formula for building stamina and coordinating training with races.
Lydiard completed his training regime in the mid-1950s. By then he knew how and when to mix the components – long marathon-type mileages, hill work, leg-speed and sprint training, sharpening and freshening – and how to plan it so his runners would peak at the right time.
In 1955, Lydiard stopped racing in order to devote himself to work, and until 1957, he held two jobs, one of which was delivering milk in the middle of the night. He quit that job to coach a marathoner, Ray Puckett, who won the national championship that year, with Lydiard second at the age of 40, but it was in 1960 at the Rome Olympics that Lydiard’s training methods were truly validated.
At the 1960 Rome Olympic Games, Arthur Lydiard’s runners achieved worldwide recognition: Peter Snell outpaced Roger Moens to win the 800-meter gold medal, and less than an hour later, Murray Halberg won the 5,000 meters by breaking away two laps from the finish. Barry Magee also secured the bronze medal in the marathon. In the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, Snell repeated his success in the 800 meters and added the 1,500 meters to his tally, while John Davies, another Lydiard-trained athlete, won the bronze in the 1,500 meters. These achievements solidified Lydiard’s reputation as a coach who knew the answers, despite his limited knowledge of human physiology.
The world was eager to learn about Lydiard’s training methods. Lydiard was open to sharing his ideas and began working with coaches rather than athletes in the early 1960s. In 1966, he accepted an invitation from Bud Winter to work in Mexico for about eight months, where he trained Alfredo Penaloza, Pablo Garrido, and Juan Martinez to notable success.
Lydiard then took a position with the Finnish Track & Field Association, staying for 19 months. Despite initial resistance from Finnish coaches who were entrenched in interval training, Lydiard’s influence was not wasted. Coaches of Pekka Vasala and Lasse Viren integrated Lydiard’s methods with those of Percy Cerruty, Paavo Nurmi, and Milhaly Igloi. This led to significant achievements, including Olavi Suomalainen’s victory in the 1972 Boston Marathon and Lasse Viren’s gold medal in the 10,000 meters at the 1972 Munich Olympics, setting a world record. Viren also won the 5,000 meters, Pekka Vasala won the 1,500 meters, and Tapio Kantanen took the bronze in the steeplechase. Four years after Lydiard left, Finnish athletes were again breaking world records and winning Olympic gold medals.
Arthur Lydiard continued to share his methods until his passing in 2004. The Lydiard system has been applied to various sports, including rugby, cycling, canoeing, squash, and gridiron football. By collaborating with experts in physiology and sports medicine, Lydiard was able to explain the scientific basis for his success.
Lydiard remained in demand into his late 80s, conducting lectures and speaking tours. He passed away from a heart attack in Houston on December 11, 2004, during another U.S. speaking tour.
The Lydiard training system is based on a balanced combination of aerobic and anaerobic fitness, with elements to enhance all aspects of your running—conditioning, strength, and speed. The end result is stamina, or the ability to maintain speed over the whole distance.
Exercise is termed aerobic, or “steady-state,” when its intensity stays within the ability to breathe in, transport, and use oxygen to metabolize energy sources (fats and carbohydrates). Everyone is limited in the maximal rate at which they can do this, or the volume of oxygen they can use per minute. Endurance exercise performance is determined overwhelmingly by the “maximum steady-state,” or the level where you are working nearly to the limit of your ability to use oxygen on a prolonged basis. With the right kind of training, this can be raised substantially. The farther you go beyond this threshold, the more heavily a second metabolic process, called anaerobic glycolysis, is called on to meet energy demands without oxygen. While its rate of response is much faster than aerobic metabolism (nearly instantaneous, in fact), its capacity to produce energy is far more limited, and depending on the extent to which it is taxed (i.e., how far and how long you exceed anaerobic threshold), you incur “oxygen debt,” which is accompanied by the build-up of lactic acid and other metabolic waste products, in turn leading to neuromuscular breakdown, or failure; simply put, muscles fatigue and cannot work. Oxygen debt has the unfortunate feature of rising exponentially with a linear increase in speed.
In other words, the faster you run, the greater your need for oxygen becomes in order to continue running. From Morehouse and Miller’s Physiology of Exercise as an example:
| SPEED INCREASE | OXYGEN UPTAKE INCREASE |
|---|---|
| From 305 to 354 meters/minute (16%) | From 5.08 to 8.75 liters/minute (72%) |
| From 499 to 506 meters/minute (1.5%) | From 28.46 to 33.96 liters/minute (19%) |
By the quantity of energy produced, aerobic exercise is 19 times more efficient than anaerobic exercise. The more intense the exercise becomes, the faster and less economically muscle glycogen is used, and the faster lactic acid accumulates.
This training phase stresses exercising aerobically to increase your steady-state as high as possible given your particular situation. For best results, you should exercise between 70 -100% of your maximum aerobic effort, therefore, this is not “Long Slow Distance” – it is running at a good effort and finishing each run feeling pleasantly tired. You will incur the same benefits from running at a slower pace, but it will take longer than at a good aerobic pace.
The essential part of the conditioning period is three long runs a week, and many aspects of your physiology improve as a result: oxygen uptake, transportation, and utilization will increase, while under-developed parts of your circulatory system are enhanced as neglected capillary beds are expanded, and new ones are created. Your lungs become more efficient, with increased pulmonary capillary bed activity, which improves the tone of your blood, allowing you to get more oxygen out of each breath. Blood circulation throughout your body and within the working muscles improves, while waste products are eliminated more easily. Additionally, your heart (which is just another muscle) becomes bigger, and is able to pump more blood faster with each contraction.
Once cardiovascular and muscular development have proceeded as far as possible through aerobic exercise, it is time to develop your ability to exercise anaerobically, to increase your ability to withstand oxygen debt. The limit of oxygen debt a trained person can incur is 15 -18 liters, so if you have a steady-state of 3 liters a minute and you run at a pace that requires 4 liters of oxygen a minute, you will last for
Arthur Lydiard explains that the body’s oxygen consumption is crucial in determining how far one can run before becoming exhausted. For instance, at a pace requiring 1 liter of oxygen per minute, one can maintain this pace for about 15 minutes. However, if the pace increases to 5 liters of oxygen per minute, the body accumulates a debt of 2 liters of oxygen per minute, leading to exhaustion in approximately 7½ minutes. This principle underscores the importance of aerobic capacity, which allows for virtually unlimited work capacity when the pace is slowed down, enabling one to cover greater distances.
Lydiard emphasizes the importance of building a high maximum steady-state before engaging in anaerobic training. As fitness improves, the speed that was once anaerobic becomes high aerobic, making it essential to maximize aerobic fitness before tackling anaerobic training.
During the anaerobic phase, Lydiard recommends three hard workouts per week, each separated by at least 40 hours to ensure adequate recovery. The focus is on stressing the system, recovering fully, and then stressing it again. The specifics of the workouts, such as distances and speeds, are less important than running until fatigue sets in. Coaches cannot predict exactly how many repetitions an athlete can handle on any given day, so athletes should trust their instincts and use schedules merely as guidelines.
Anaerobic workouts do not necessarily need to be conducted on a track. Running on softer surfaces like forest trails or grassy fields can be more enjoyable and equally effective. The key is to run repetitions and intervals until the athlete feels fatigued. Each repetition should last at least 30 seconds to ensure a significant drop in blood pH level.
Once aerobic and anaerobic development are complete, the focus shifts to maintaining anaerobic tolerance without compromising overall fitness. This phase involves short, sharp sprints of 50-100 meters, followed by an equal distance of floating (recovery jogging). This method tires the muscles without significantly lowering blood pH, thereby maintaining maximum anaerobic development. Performing this once a week is most effective, and it can be combined with races or time trials to continue improving race times.
Lydiard stresses the importance of anaerobic capacity but emphasizes that it should be developed in relation to aerobic capacity. Running as many miles or kilometers as possible at aerobic speeds is crucial to lifting the steady-state oxygen uptake to the highest possible level. This foundation supports anaerobic capacity training and sprint training.
To achieve the best results in the time spent training, it is essential to run below the maximum steady-state at the best aerobic speed for the given duration. Running too fast or too slow can hinder progress. Timing runs over measured courses and progressively increasing running efforts as fitness improves is necessary for optimal aerobic training.
Lydiard believed the goal of anaerobic training is only to “make yourself tired with the volume of speed training,” thus incurring a large oxygen debt/lower blood pH. In his view, the exact structure of the workout (how long the work phase is, how fast you run it, or how many times you repeat it) is unimportant, just so long as you achieve the desired physiological effects. These numbers depend on the individual, as some will need more time to recover, others less. The former will take longer to develop anaerobic capacity to the maximum.
Lydiard often warned that younger athletes are highly sensitive to lowering blood pH from excessive anaerobic efforts (intervals/repetitions, as well as races), and believed it was best to use early season races for their anaerobic development. Coaches and athletes at the high school and collegiate level tend to overdo anaerobic training and race too often.
Speed is developed by striding longer and faster; the former can be achieved by lifting the knees high and extending the push-off leg, while faster strides result from shortening the lever of your lead leg, and by lifting the knees high. Lydiard used to have all his athletes, even marathon runners, participate in some sprint events to develop better speed and economy of running action.
Anaerobic training differs from speed training in that the goal of the former is to incur oxygen debt; repetitions are at least 30 seconds long, and are followed by incomplete recovery, whereas for the latter, duration is 10-20 seconds, and recovery should be complete so that you do not tighten or tense up.
Careful evaluation of each day’s training in relation to your responses (e.g., lap times during time trials, etc.) is critical during this phase, since this information is used to modify subsequent workouts.
You cannot train hard and race hard at the same time. Too many athletes make this mistake.
The length of the freshening period depends on the individual, the training pattern, and the distance being raced. For instance, a marathon runner typically would require 2-4 weeks.
These time trials during the conditioning phase are more or less tempo runs, and can be up to 10 miles (once a week) for seasoned runners, but are more typically 5-10 km. They should not be raced.
If in doubt, go for an easy jog.
Training on hills is an excellent form of speed development training.
Speed development should come naturally, without being forced.
The most important race on the schedule is not necessarily the only one you have trained for. With an adequate aerobic conditioning period, and then appropriate training from week to week, you continue to improve for some time as you race.
Oxygen absorption and transportation depend on the respiratory and cardiovascular systems, whereas oxygen utilization is determined by capillarization of the working muscles, and takes longer to develop.
Hill running during the conditioning phase is important, since it activates muscle tone (power and flexibility), two elements not addressed by slower-paced running. It is worth noting that Lydiard’s runners originally trained in an extremely hilly area of Auckland.
Lydiard did not follow a strict carbohydrate-loading regime, citing the fact that you also need fat for endurance (to run through the “wall”) and protein to recover from muscle breakdown, so a balanced diet is the best way to go.
Holmér uttered one of Lydiard’s favorite quotes on training young athletes: “If you can get a boy in his teens and encourage him to train, but not race, until he has matured, then you have laid the foundation of an Olympic champion.”
Lydiard was never too concerned with the structure of anaerobic training, believing that fancy formulae for this purpose amounted to nothing more than “eye-wash.” His definition of repetition training was not to predetermine the distance, time, or number of repetitions, nor the duration of the recovery interval. On the other hand, his definition of “interval” training was to predetermine all those things, as well as how long you take to recover.
As you run the same course the following week, use these times to run at a comparable pace by checking your time as you pass each mile marker. For example, if you took one hour to run a ten-mile course the trial week, then the next week you should set out to run six minutes per mile, allowing for hills and hollows. After a week or so, you will find that the previous times used for pace control are becoming too slow for you as your oxygen uptake improves, so it will be necessary to increase the average speed for distance by lowering the average mile time down to 5:55 per mile or thereabouts. In this way, it is possible to keep running at your best aerobic effort rather than too fast or too slow, and gain the best results for the time spent in training.
Through trial and error, I discovered years ago that the best results from this training period were obtained by running about 100 miles weekly at nearly my best aerobic efforts, and then supplementing this with as many miles as I could possibly manage at an easier effort. I also found that alternating the length of the runs by doing, say, 12 miles one day and 18 the next, rather than 15 miles each day, gave better results. This was due to gaining muscular capillarization through the longer runs (two or more hours), which results in greater utilization of oxygen.
Your total weekly mileage will be governed by climatic conditions and available time for training, however, it is important to realize the distance will not stop you in training as much as speed. If you keep the running efforts within your capabilities, then you will quickly be able to manage a large mileage. It is better to run a long way slowly rather than to curtail the mileage possible by running too fast.
When I say your aim should be to run a weekly schedule such as the following, I mean it only as a guide that you should adjust to suit your own daily program, fitness, and age.
It is just a matter of running what you feel capable of, the more the better. It is also wise to jog easily every morning for at least 15 minutes or longer.
Running action should be relaxed, with the arms following through in a low and loose action, the thumbs brushing the side seams of the training shorts. The hips should be held comfortably forward, i.e., in a neutral position, and the head should be carried so that you are looking forward about thirty yards or more. Try to bring the knees up to a comfortable height, rather than develop a shuffling action.
When the marathon conditioning period of training is completed, or no further time can be spared, it is necessary to begin developing speed and the capacity to exercise anaerobically. This is accomplished by bringing resistance to the leg muscles, which develops the white (fast twitch) muscle fibers that are mainly responsible for giving better speed.
I have found that a form of isotonic exercise is most effective for this purpose, and it allows speed to be developed quickly as well. By springing uphill, with a series of short and sharp bounding steps, you can use your body’s weight as resistance for your leg muscles, and you will also stretch the muscles and tendons to the extreme experienced during competitions, which helps eliminate the possibility of pulled muscles and strained tendons later on.
Ankle flexibility is of great concern to runners, since strong and flexible ankles increase stride length. Good running technique is also important, and by learning to run with the hips neutral, you are able to bring the knees up higher, which in turn allows the feet to follow through higher, thereby shortening the lever and allowing for a faster leg action.
So it is important to develop leg power, flexibility, and a good economical running style. With good speed development, you can run more economically at a given pace, which is of great importance to both the marathon runner and the track runner as well. Hill training develops all these abilities in the same training session, saving valuable time.
The training I suggest here is not easy and can be quite testing; you need to be well-conditioned to properly complete a one-hour hill workout, and should understand what the workout is intended to achieve, so as to apply it according to your fitness and capacity to train with respect to development and age.
Find a hill with a rise of near one in three or a little steeper, on a paved surface, on grass, or a forest trail that gives enough traction to allow you to spring uphill without slipping. It should be about 200 to 300 meters or longer, with a flattish area at the base of approximately 200 to 400 meters where you can sprint, and an area at the top where it is possible to jog.
If a circuit can be found with a steeper hill and a similar flattish area at the top as mentioned, but with a more gradual downhill leading to the flat at the bottom, this is better for the downhill running and seems less tiresome psychologically. Approach the workout this way: warm-up for at least 15 minutes, discard unnecessary clothes at the base of the hill to allow maximum freedom of movement, then start springing up the hill with a bouncing action and slower forward progression. Use the body’s weight for resistance, and the slower the forward momentum is, the more resistance will be felt. The center of gravity must be lifted up and down to gain resistance, not just lifting the knees. Keep the upper body relaxed, with the arms relaxed at the sides, hold the head up, and do not look down at the ground, which tends to throw the hips back. Keep your knees coming up high, with the hips held comfortably forward. Do all that you can or feel capable of doing.
Auckland Star
Finland’s Pekka Vasala, the 1972 Olympic 1,500 meter champion, is shown here hill training in New Zealand.
Should the exercise be too tiring to go all the way up the hill, try jogging some yards, according to your needs and ability, before doing more. At the hill top, jog easily for nearly three minutes before running downhill with a fast relaxed striding action, which develops fine leg-speed and also stretches leg muscles for better stride length. The downhill section should be such that it allows you to stride down fast without fear of losing control and falling; if it is too steep for this, then it is better to take it easily as you come down. At the base of the hill, some windsprints (sprint repetitions) should be done to gradually accustom your body to exercise anaerobically, varying the distances from 50 to 400 meters with each circuit. If the circuit is short, do the windsprints no more often than every 15 minutes.
It is not advisable to suddenly go into a great volume of intense anaerobic training, as many people do, so keep the intensity and volume at reasonable levels to begin with. Doing windsprints only on the short stretch at the bottom of the hill and only every 15 minutes helps reduce the possibility of overdoing. Use whatever distance you like, but 50, 100, 200, and 400 meters give best results.
Repeat the circuit until you have been out for an hour, or according to ability to exercise this way, then cool down at least 15 minutes. This training should be done three days weekly, with the alternate days for leg-speed training, plus one long run of 1½ to 2 hours at an easy effort.
Find an area about 120 to 150 meters long and nearly flat, but with a gradual decline. Warm-up for at least 15 minutes, then run over the course ten times as described shortly, with a three-minute rest interval. Do not rush through this training; it is important to have a full recovery. After the tenth repetition, cool down for at least 15 minutes.
With each repetition, think of moving the legs as fast as possible and without any concern as to stride length. Keep as relaxed as possible in the upper body. The same action can be obtained by going downstairs one at a time as fast as possible. You will find that the legs do not seem to move fast enough, so run with a normal stride, thinking of only one thing: move the legs fast. This way, it is possible to overcome viscosity in the leg muscles and develop fine speed.
Your legs will get tired from this training, but if it is maintained for at least two weeks, it becomes progressively easier and begins to have an effect, although best results are obtained in four to six weeks. A weekly schedule during this period could look like this:
It is wise to train twice a day, every day in this period, just as during the prior aerobic conditioning period and the track training/racing which follows, even if only for 15 minutes each morning.
About ten weeks are usually sufficient for the necessary track training leading up to the first important competition, and this period can be divided into three sections as described below, allowing development and coordination of abilities, then tapering for optimum performance on the desired date.
The first three to four weeks should be used for the further development of anaerobic exercise capacity and speed. When developing the former, it is important to realize what you are trying to do and what physiological development you are trying to achieve, namely, the ability to incur a large (about 15-liter) oxygen debt by exercising anaerobically. Running up big oxygen debts in training stimulates the body’s metabolism to create buffers against fatigue from lactic acidosis.
Once the importance of making oneself tired through anaerobic exercise is understood, the specific structure of workouts becomes less critical. The key is to finish the workout feeling fatigued and unable to do more. This applies whether you use repetitions or interval training, regardless of the distances and intervals involved. Timing is not strictly necessary.
As a practical guide, the work intervals should total about 10-15 minutes or 5,000 meters. Examples include:
Recovery jogging should be equal in distance to the work intervals. Adjust the number of repetitions based on individual needs to achieve the same physiological response.
It is crucial to evaluate your training daily and interpret its effects rather than following a rigid schedule. Hard anaerobic training should be done three days a week on alternate days to develop a 15-liter oxygen debt. Excessive training can lead to adverse effects due to lower blood pH. Younger athletes should use less anaerobic training, while the ratio increases with age and fitness.
On alternate days, focus on developing speed through sprint training:
Each exercise can be repeated two or three times. Sprint starts and races can also be included. All middle and long-distance runners should do some sprint races to improve leg speed and economy.
Be cautious not to rush through sprint training and ensure sufficient recovery. On the seventh day, go for a long, easy run, with the distance or time based on age and development. For mature and fit athletes, this could be 2 hours or more at an easy effort.
After four weeks of track training, a four-and-a-half week period focuses on coordinating speed, stamina, and anaerobic capacity. The goal is to run smoothly throughout competitions without weak spots. Even with fine stamina and speed, performance can be hindered without proper coordination and sharpening exercises. Regularly performing certain exercises and running over specific distances in a controlled manner can improve performance.
It is necessary to continue some anaerobic training at this time, but you need to drop the volume and increase the intensity. In other words, if you have been doing twenty repetitions of 400 meters, it takes a long time and you get very tired with the training, whereas, if you run five laps around the track by sprinting fifty meters in every 100 meters, floating the other 50 meters (in all 20 sprints × 50m = 1000m), you will also be very tired, though in this case it will only take a mature runner about 7-8 minutes to complete the exercise. This is called ‘sharpening,’ since it puts a knife-edge on anaerobic capacity, and in this way we can get into racing shape without starting to pull the good condition down. At this stage, it is usually best to use this training once every week, say, on Monday.
On Tuesday, a time trial could be run over or near to the distance being trained for. When training for the 5,000 and 10,000 meters, use 5,000 meters with the occasional 10,000 meters, while 800 and 1,500 meters (mile) runners should use under-distance time trials such as 600 meters for 800 meters, and 1,200 meters for the 1,500 or mile; the higher speed incurs larger oxygen debts (and may require longer recovery.) From these time trials, you can observe weaknesses in your running by recording your lap times to see where you may have slowed down, then using the appropriate exercises to strengthen any weaknesses that become apparent; this is mainly where the training is coordinated. For instance, if you could run the early part easily but were tired in the latter stages, it would be advisable to do some over-distance races or time trials the following week. On the other hand, if you found the pace a little difficult throughout the run even though you were running strongly near the end and not overly tired, then under-distance races or trials would be indicated for the next few days. All athletes are different in their training response, so you have to be a little experimental to determine exactly how to coordinate the training, but the trials (and development races) will provide the necessary information quite well.
On Wednesday, sprint training should be done and a club (team) level sprint race or two competed in. This applies to long distance runners too. A middle distance race could be used as well.
On Thursday, you could do any training you consider necessary using the information gained from the time trials, however, it is also a good idea to work at pace judgment, two to four times over 400 meters at your intended race pace. You can also do more sharpeners if you think you require them.
On Friday, leg speed can be done over 120 meters, say four to six times after warming up and doing some stretching exercises.
Saturday can be a development race, with the best competition available; since you are training hard and are tired to a degree, it is not possible to give your best effort. These races should be over- and under-distances, according to your needs and considering your response to the time trial.
On Sunday, the usual long run should be taken at a leisurely pace.
Use the last week-and-a-half to freshen up by lightening your training, which builds up your reserves mentally and physically for the coming important competition, an effect known as “supercompensation.” This period is important to achieve peak performance, and its duration should be decided by the athlete through trial and error methods, as individuals differ in this respect, though 10 days is usually about right on average. You should train every day, but easily. The fast training should be small in volume and the longer runs should be at very low efforts.
When the main competitions are reached, it is important to realize you have trained for them, and you should not continue to train hard, as many athletes make the mistake of doing. All that is necessary now is to keep fresh and sharp, and you cannot do so if you are doing hard repetition training, etc., therefore, a typical training week during the competitive season would go something like this:
Train just enough to maintain your condition at a good level, saving your energies for your races, which indicate your general condition and are all the hard work you need. Go for an easy jog every morning except the day of your long run, as this helps keep blood pH level normal and aids recovery. It also maintains cardiac fitness.
Counting backwards from the first important race date:
As long as workouts are evaluated daily to be modified as needed, and the training plan is adjusted as required, you are sure to start to gain a fine balance in your schedule and get the desired results. On the other hand, you can work hard and not succeed if the training is not approached in an intelligent way.
The following schedules are for guidance only. They provide a balanced method of training for distance events, but think of them as flexible guidelines, allowing for age and general conditioning. Study your responses to the training from day to day and if you feel stale or suffer from any soreness, allow some time to recuperate. Never do speed training when your muscles are sore or you are feeling tired – just jog easily, regardless of what is on the schedule for that day’s training. You can never harm yourself by jogging and it will usually help to overcome the soreness or tiredness, whereas fast training can lead to injury and make you more tired.
The instruction “for as long as possible” on the schedules refers to the period between the finish of one season and the start of the next (e.g., between cross-country and track seasons, etc.).
Training should be done on all types of surfaces, and trial runs over courses similar to the race being prepared for. Training volume should also be applied in relation to age and condition. Regular running on hills helps develop and maintain speed. Try to fit in some hill springing, uphill running, or bounding with a driving action, plus some steep hill or step running whenever you can – but don’t overdo it.
Again, please note that it is wise to run supplementary miles at an easy pace, as many as you can, in addition to the schedules presented here. This will help you maintain good general condition and recover from training sessions more easily. Even 15 minutes is of value.
Finally, don’t race your training, except when full efforts are called for on the schedule. Run strongly yet easily enough that something always remains in reserve. As you feel improvement, gradually increase your training tempo, but never use that reserve. Top form can be maintained for months, provided the conditioning base is deep enough, and two simple precautions are taken: don’t try to train hard and race at the same time, and always make allowances for recovery from races. To keep fresh and sharp is the secret.
The following schedules allow a runner to compete often and to keep improving, as long as races are not run every week; it is usually best to race every three weeks. Two schedules are shown here, one for road racers and one for cross country racers, but basically the idea is the same.
To run a marathon, you must develop fine general cardiorespiratory condition, which basically means the improved intake and transportation of oxygen. These factors improve quickly, but adaptations in the muscles take longer, so development of muscular endurance can only be brought about over time with continuous exercise of the muscle groups for long periods.
Particularly when it lasts for two hours or more, this not only affects underdeveloped capillary beds, but also develops new ones, thus bringing about an important increase in muscular endurance, so to succeed in marathon racing or running, it is essential to go for long runs often, and the more the better. The nucleus of the marathon training schedule is three long runs a week, interchanged with other runs that, while they can be shorter, are usually over hilly terrain. Because marathons are run most of the way at fast aerobic efforts, there is little need for much anaerobic training; fartlek and time trials over 5K to 10K will develop all the anaerobic capacity you will need.
(Fartlek, Swedish for “speed-play,” is training that mixes all sorts of running over golf course-type terrain. Once you are warmed up, stride out fast, sprint, sprint up hills, stride down hills, jog and generally run according to how you are feeling.)
When you begin marathon training, it is better to train on a time basis rather than set out to cover a given mileage. This allows you to feel your way and not bite off too much at the beginning. Always run to your individual fitness level and not at someone else’s, which can involve you in anaerobic running; in the conditioning period, you can never run too slowly to improve the oxygen uptake, but you can run too fast and go into oxygen debt, which will interfere with and hinder aerobic development.
Getting used to running in the heat is important, since you can suffer ill effects if not prepared for it. Hot weather training develops the skin arterioles, which allows more blood to be pumped to the skin surface for cooling. Sauna baths can help in this development.
Train well within your capabilities. Start each run at a steady effort and don’t be tempted into going too fast at the beginning.
How you lace your shoes is more important than most runners realize. This lacing pattern will not pull down on the sinews and metatarsals on the top of your foot when tightened; any other method creates pressure points across the top of the foot, which can become uncomfortable, even painful, when your foot swells. A simple matter like improper lacing can prevent the foot from functioning freely, and because it may be straining against restrictive points, the foot can
Jogging, or easy aerobic running, has been evaluated in sports medicine institutes throughout the world and found to be the most effective means of exercise – next to cross country skiing – for developing general cardiac condition. Jogging eases pressure on the heart by stimulating the blood vascular (circulatory) system to gather in and transport more oxygen to the various parts of the body; during strenuous exercise, the heart can pump about 34 liters of blood each minute, but when running easily, it is still pumping several liters of blood per minute, which is sufficient to develop the smaller arteries, arterioles, capillary beds, and veins. As a result, blood can circulate back to the heart more quickly, the build-up of blood in the aorta is lessened, and pressure on the heart is eased.
A greater quantity of blood is pumped to the lungs as the arteries in the respiratory system enlarge, and this in turn improves the rate of oxygen uptake. Everyone breathes in a lot of oxygen, but much is breathed out because it cannot be absorbed. It is also agreed that better blood tone usually results from exercise, increasing the quality and quantity of red blood cells. Through the increased oxygen intake per minute and improved circulation, the heart’s workload eases, which is the first stage in improving cardiac capacity and eliminating the possibility of failure.
As aerobic fitness improves, it is possible to progressively increase the workloads safely, running at faster speeds and for longer distances, but it is wise to run easily for several months, without regard to pace, until some level of development has been reached. Everyone has a certain ability to absorb, transport, and utilize oxygen, and when exercise calls for the highest possible aerobic level over a prolonged period, it is termed the maximal steady-state. This ability can be improved with regular aerobic exercise, but when the exercise requires more oxygen than can be taken in, it becomes anaerobic, and the metabolism has to compensate, resulting in the appearance of lactic acid in the blood stream, which eventually causes the person to stop exercising through neuro-muscular breakdown.
To improve cardiorespiratory capacity, it is necessary to use the powerful leg and thigh muscles that do not tire quickly and keep the blood pressure generated by the heart at high levels for periods of 15 minutes or more. This should be undertaken daily or every other day at the least. The more time spent running aerobically, the more profound the adaptive response.
The novice jogger should therefore exercise well within his or her fitness level and capacity to exercise – not striving too hard for at least six or more weeks, at which point the benefits of the regular exercise become evident and result in a higher oxygen uptake, making it possible to maintain a faster pace for longer periods of time.
Running continuously for longish periods of time helps to develop existing capillary beds and also creates new ones. This results in greater capacity to utilize oxygen and eliminate waste products. Greater muscular endurance comes in turn.
If you are accustomed to running for, say, 15 minutes daily, the best approach for developing stamina is to increase duration every third day to about 30 minutes. On the days in between, revert to 15 minutes for two days until the improvement in stamina is apparent. This approach to training should be continued progressively until it is possible to run for an hour or longer, i.e., an increase of the usual daily run, with the weekly schedule including two or three longer runs of 30 minutes or so for two days, then a longer run of 45-60 minutes on the third day. This way, endurance improves quickly.
When you can run freely for up to an hour or more, you should be able to participate in Fun Runs and other competitions of an aerobic nature without fear of developing a problem. If racing is contemplated, anaerobic training becomes necessary, in order to develop the capacity to withstand oxygen debt.
A good running technique improves speed for a given level of oxygen consumption, and can also help to avoid some injuries. The torso should be upright, with the hips tucked directly underneath and no sway in the lower back. The upper body should be relaxed with the arms coming through loosely, low and upwards, so that the thumbs are just inside the shoulders. An upright body carriage helps to lift the knees higher, thereby increasing stride length relative to the speed attained. A relaxed style saves energy by helping to maintain balance and avoiding sway from side to side. By keeping up tall, it is possible to gain drive off the back leg and run lightly. You should not hit the ground hard with the feet as happens when someone sits back and keeps the knees bent.
Striding out over about 100 meters or more and then jogging about 300 meters before repeating can help if these principles are applied; gradually speed improves to coordinate with the endurance training. Running over hilly terrain, when you are fit enough, will strengthen the legs, adding power and flexibility, particularly in the ankles. If this is fitted into the training schedule on a regular basis, you will show a marked improvement.
If you have any doubts about your health, consult your doctor before starting to jog and also have regular checks to monitor the body’s response to training.
Running on firm surfaces, such as roads, gives the best traction and means the leg muscles do not tire as quickly as they would on rough or soft surfaces. When training on firm surfaces, it pays to have good rubber soles and heels on running shoes to alleviate the effects of jarring. Dry grassy areas are usually best for beginners to minimize the jarring, as the slower you run, the harder you land on the ground.
Never try to run too fast during the initial training period, for it is better to run a little too slowly rather than too fast. Always try to finish in the “pleasantly tired state,” knowing that you can do better. You can never run too slowly to help bring about some cardiac development, but you can run too fast, causing undue strain, sore muscles, and slower recovery. This inevitably affects the following day’s training.
A sensible and balanced diet should be maintained. It pays to read all you can about the functions of vitamins, enzymes, and minerals. It is futile to train hard if your diet is not wholesome and balanced. Continued jogging over months can help lose weight, providing you run enough and at the same time watch your calorie intake.
The time to experiment with your diet is not before an important race, but rather when a bad reaction won’t affect your training too severely. Carbohydrate, protein, and fat are all necessary in a balanced diet, but runners following the marathon conditioning program will need a higher caloric intake. It is difficult to get the extra calories from bulky foods, so it is recommended to use honey, especially prior to big races, to provide the energy you need without causing intestinal distress.
You should evaluate what you are eating and what you need; some people excrete more minerals than others, and each person is unique in his or her requirements. Natural foods are the best source of nutrients because they contain not only the natural balance of vitamins and minerals, but also the enzymes needed to use them.
Always remember that, as long as you are training, your requirements are higher than normal, and deficiencies could cause a breakdown in your body, so you must replace what you lose in order to continue training and competing effectively. You can get many of the minerals you need from electrolyte drinks, but be sure to check the ingredient label thoroughly.
Aerobic running involves training at a fairly strong pace (70 - 100% of maximal steady-state), not just jogging, and finishing in a “pleasantly tired” state. It does not mean racing your training.
Fartlek, invented by Gösta Holmér, is Swedish for “speed-play,” the changing of pace for varying distances during a workout. Effort is coordinated with terrain, rather than time or distance, such as springing or sprinting up hills, fast relaxed striding on downhills, sustained drives for a minute or two, or whatever you feel like doing.
Hill springing is used to strengthen the legs generally, and the ankles in particular. Find a gentle slope, and after warming up, use a bouncing action with a slow forward momentum, pushing hard off the toes, ankles flexing and so stretching the tendons and muscles. The body’s weight acts as a form of resistance that develops the fast-twitch (white) muscle fibers, which aids in speed development, since speed requires strong and flexible ankles. Do as much of this exercise as you feel your legs can take – initially just a little, and then gradually increasing the workload when you know how you will respond. Often, even just a little can help generally.
Hill bounding is a variation of hill exercise which uses a more gently sloping hill and long, bouncy, high knee-lifting strides, pushing hard with the back leg, forcing the arms through, and running quite fast, like a deer bounding over a fence. Again, do only what you feel you can manage. The length of the hill should be in excess of 100 meters if possible.
Steep hills or step running is used mainly to strengthen the upper leg muscles, though the legs benefit in general. Knee-lift is important over all distances from sprints to marathons, and the quadriceps muscles often tire, causing loss of stride length and leg-speed. Run up a steepish hill or steps, bringing your knees up so as to make the back of the leg drive fairly hard. Don’t try to go too fast; make your legs feel the workload. Do only what you feel you can manage, giving your legs a good recovery before doing more of the exercise.
Repetitions are for anaerobic capacity development. Run one and jog one.
Leg-speed training involves fast running over about 100 meters, concentrating on pulling your legs through quickly with the quadriceps and lower stomach muscles, rather than on driving hard off the back leg. Try to maintain a nearly normal stride length and move the legs fast, then jog for 300 meters before repeating. Always run the fast work with the wind or downhill.
Pace judgment running is used over 400 meters, usually in 4 - 6 repetitions, at the speed you intend to average in your racing. Take whatever interval you feel you need for recovery, as it is important to run as closely to the exact time as possible.
Relaxed striding helps you relax during races. Running varying distances of 100-300 meters while keeping the upper body relaxed and concentrating on good technique makes you faster without being more fit.
“Hill bounding: like a deer going over a fence.” (Click also here for a video clip demonstrating hill training techniques.)
Fast relaxed striding is similar to relaxed striding, but at your best relaxed speed.
Speed training is designed to increase sprinting speed, for instance, 10 × 100 meters, with a full recovery in between.
Sprint training consists of warming up, stretching, and the following exercises, which concentrate on form:
Repeat each exercise once over 70-100 meters, always with the wind (if there is any), taking the necessary recovery interval (3+ minutes) between each repetition. The running speed should not be too fast; concentrate on keeping up tall.
Then, combine all exercises and repeat 6-10 times, as fast and relaxed as possible, with a jogging interval in between each repetition.
Time trials are used to co-ordinate training. Run at about 7/8ths effort, maintaining even pace throughout the whole distance. Don’t increase the speed by sprinting at the end.
Choose the Right Event
Understanding Training
Systematic Training Development
High Anaerobic Threshold
Anaerobic Development
Balancing Anaerobic and Speed Training
For general and biographical information, Lydiard’s Wikipedia and Te Ara entries are good starting points. See also “Arthur Lydiard, Running Man” from nzedge.com. When Lydiard passed away in 2004, The New Zealand Herald ran an obituary and tributes, but his worldwide impact is evidenced by articles in The New York Times, The Age (Melbourne), and the IAAF.
The Lydiard Foundation is a non-profit organization created in 2006 to protect and promote Lydiard’s methods for the benefit of current and future generations of athletes worldwide, at all levels. The Foundation is a partnership of Lydiard disciples Lorraine Moller and Nobuya “Nobby” Hashizume, who have recognized the importance of preserving the legacy that the charismatic New Zealander left to the world. Through coaching education courses and workshops, training camps, lecture tours, internet newsletters, and technical support services, they aim to bring Lydiard training into the 21st century along with the latest knowledge and innovations in the sport and fitness world. The Foundation’s web site already boasts several multimedia presentations, including slide shows on the Lydiard method, on hill training, and the Lydiard shoe lacing method, plus a video clip of his hill bounding and springing techniques.
For a straightforward overview of the Lydiard method, see this article by Hashizume, an online posting of what appeared in the November 2002 issue of Running Times Magazine, as well as “Training the Lydiard Way: 28 Weeks to a PR” and “The Essential Lydiard,” both from Runner’s World. Then by way of contrast, Nobby engages in a lively discussion with John Molvar.
Lydiard expounds his views of all things running in two interviews, one at the Chicago Athlete web site, the other from the Washington Running Report. In “Where have all the runners gone?” (PDF, 9 MB), reprinted from New Zealand Runner, he laments the state of Kiwi running and explains why the Africans are so dominant (another overview of the Lydiard method is included), while “The world according to Lydiard,” from the New England Runner, takes a look at things in the U.S.
Arthur Lydiard was a pioneering New Zealand running coach who revolutionized distance running training methods. His 1999 lecture in Des Moines, Iowa, provides a comprehensive overview of his training philosophy and specific advice for runners.
Lydiard made shoes for most of his runners, including the racing spikes Peter Snell wore when he won the 800 meter run at the 1960 Rome Olympic Games. He became known as a strong critic of mass-produced athletic footwear.
Halberg’s left arm was partially paralyzed in a rugby accident when he was 17. There were complications during the subsequent surgery, and Halberg nearly died when a blood clot formed around his heart. However, he bounced back quickly, converted to distance running, and nine years later won the Olympic 5,000 meters.
John Davies coached several of the “Flying Kiwis” of the 1970s, including Dick Quax (1976 Olympic 5,000 meter silver medalist and 5,000 meter world record in 1977), Lorraine Moller (1984 Boston Marathon Champion; 1992 Olympic marathon bronze medalist; 4-time Olympian), Anne Audain, and Toni Hodgkinson (1996 Olympic 800 meter finalist).
This value derives from the fact that 38 ATP molecules are produced from one glucose molecule via aerobic metabolism, as compared to 2 ATPs via anaerobic glycolysis.
According to exercise physiologist Peter Snell, Ph.D., the absolute oxygen debt limit is more near to 4.0 liters. If 4.3 liters of oxygen per minute are required for a 70 kg runner to cover 5,000 meters in 16 minutes, then a runner with a VO2max of 3.5 liters/minute would be able to run at this pace for only 5 minutes (4 liters ÷ 0.8 liters/minute = 5 minutes), but if he can raise his VO2max to 4.05 (16%), he would incur 0.25 liters of oxygen debt per minute, and would be able to run 5,000 m in 16 minutes (4 liters ÷ 0.25 liters/minute = 16 minutes).
As a guideline, Lydiard recommended the work intervals total ~5,000 meters, or that the combined time of work and recovery intervals be 30-45 minutes.
The basis of the Lydiard system is to balance aerobic and anaerobic development, and it was never his intention to eliminate anaerobic training; everything is important and must be combined in the proper balance. Aerobic training is simply the foundation on which more specific training (anaerobic and speed development) rests.
This does not mean that you should time every run and expect to get faster each time out; rather, you should keep the effort level about the same for each run, and as you become more fit, you will find that, as a natural consequence, you gradually become faster.
The better traction is, the faster you can run at the same effort, therefore, the further for a given time, providing greater pressure on the cardiovascular system, but this does not mean that Lydiard’s runners always ran on the road; they used muddy courses for general conditioning, and grassy courses when their legs were sore.
The first step should be to get to the point where you can comfortably run for 2 hours continuously; the pace does not matter.
To achieve the greatest effect for the time spent training, it is important to control the running speed as well as possible so as to maintain the same effort level, or cardiovascular pressure. If you stay at the same speed while getting fitter, you are running at less and less effort. Again, this does not mean that you should push yourself in an effort to go faster every time you run.
Lydiard always advised it is better to start out too slowly than too fast. At this point in your development, it is more important to go far (longer) in order to develop muscular and general endurance, and if you start out too hard, you may have to finish your workout prematurely.
For the most part, Lydiard believed that the less upper body movement, the better. Clenching your fists and carrying your arms high can lead to tightened shoulders, protruding elbows, and side-to-side swaying, all of which waste energy. The key is relaxation, not the height at which you carry your arms.
Speed, which has been intentionally ignored up to this point to avoid premature peaking, comes back very quickly once you start sharpening.
Hill training, as prescribed by Lydiard, is a form of plyometrics, using your body weight as resistance. If you cannot find a suitable hill nearby, you can perform similar exercises in the gym or elsewhere, but the type of hill circuit training described here includes all necessary elements in a workout.
To add emphasis to Lydiard’s caution, it is imperative not to rush into hill circuit training, which is quite demanding and stressful to your legs. Try just 15 minutes or so at first, see how your legs feel the next couple of days, and if they recover well, increase to 30 minutes, then to 45, and finally to an hour (not including 15 minutes of warm-up and cool-down). It helps to include some form of hilly exercise or hill course training in the latter part of the marathon conditioning phase.
The downhill portion of the course should be shallow enough that you can lean forward and turn your legs over as quickly as possible, without fear of falling or needing to lean backward in a braking action, which incurs too much shock to the knees and heels.
The slower your forward momentum, the more resistance you will feel in your legs. If you ascend too fast, the resistance will be less, and the exercise may become too anaerobic.
Downhill exercise should not be neglected, since it not only develops leg-speed by forcing you to pull the trailing leg through faster, but is also a form of eccentric exercise, which helps toughen your legs.
As always, the transition to a new form of exercise should be made gradually, so windsprints should be done at about three-quarters speed, not all-out, to avoid a prematurely heavy dose of anaerobic training.
Lydiard’s original hill circuit was a 2-mile loop (800 meters uphill, 800 meters jog, 800 meters downhill, and 800 meters at the bottom). When Lydiard began coaching by correspondence, he realized many people did not have access to as long a hill, and if they did windsprints at the bottom, it would amount to too much anaerobic training.
Originally, Lydiard’s runners did an hour of hill training (2-mile warm-up, 4 x 2-miles hill circuit, 2-mile cool-down) 6 days a week, plus a 22-mile run on Sunday, for a total of 94 miles. If you cannot handle too much hill training initially, then try doing some plyometrics in the gym, while maintaining aerobic condition with some long runs beside the weekend run. Otherwise, it pays to do some leg-speed training as Lydiard advises here, particularly if you can’t do downhill running.
Just as during the marathon phase, it pays to take a morning jog to both aid in recovery and maintain aerobic condition, so you might go a bit longer (30-45 minutes) than otherwise.
In Lydiard’s training schedule, this is referred to as the “First Important Race,” but this does not mean it is the only race you will be training for. Once racing condition is reached, you can sustain competitive form for some time, assuming you built an adequate aerobic base, then did the right specialization/coordination training.
Lydiard believed the goal of anaerobic training is to “make yourself tired with the volume of speed training,” thereby incurring a large oxygen debt and lowering blood pH. According to him, the exact structure of the workout is unimportant as long as the desired physiological effects are achieved. These numbers depend on the individual, with some needing more time to recover and others less, affecting their anaerobic capacity development.
Lydiard often warned that younger athletes are highly sensitive to lowering blood pH from excessive anaerobic efforts, including intervals, repetitions, and races. He believed it was best to use early season races for anaerobic development, while coaches and athletes at the high school and collegiate level tend to overdo anaerobic training and race too often.
Speed is developed by striding longer and faster. Longer strides can be achieved by lifting the knees high and extending the push-off leg, while faster strides result from shortening the lever of your lead leg and lifting the knees high. Lydiard used to have all his athletes, even marathon runners, participate in some sprint events to develop better speed and economy of running action.
Anaerobic training differs from speed training in that the goal of the former is to incur oxygen debt. Repetitions are at least 30 seconds long and are followed by incomplete recovery, whereas for speed training, duration is 10-20 seconds, and recovery should be complete to avoid tightening or tensing up.
Careful evaluation of each day’s training in relation to your responses, such as lap times during time trials, is critical during this phase. This information is used to modify subsequent workouts.
You cannot train hard and race hard at the same time. Too many athletes make this mistake.
The length of the freshening period depends on the individual, the training pattern, and the distance being raced. For instance, a marathon runner typically would require 2-4 weeks.
Time trials during the conditioning phase are more or less tempo runs and can be up to 10 miles for seasoned runners, but are more typically 5-10 km. They should not be raced.
If in doubt, go for an easy jog.
Training on hills is an excellent form of speed development training.
Speed development should come naturally, without being forced.
The most important race on the schedule is not necessarily the only one you have trained for. With an adequate aerobic conditioning period and appropriate training from week to week, you continue to improve for some time as you race.
Oxygen absorption and transportation depend on the respiratory and cardiovascular systems, whereas oxygen utilization is determined by capillarization of the working muscles and takes longer to develop.
Hill running during the conditioning phase is important since it activates muscle tone (power and flexibility), two elements not addressed by slower-paced running. It is worth noting that Lydiard’s runners originally trained in an extremely hilly area of Auckland.
Lydiard did not follow a strict carbohydrate-loading regime, citing the need for fat for endurance and protein to recover from muscle breakdown. He believed a balanced diet is the best way to go.
Holmér uttered one of Lydiard’s favorite quotes on training young athletes: “If you can get a boy in his teens and encourage him to train, but not race, until he has matured, then you have laid the foundation of an Olympic champion.”
Lydiard was never too concerned with the structure of anaerobic training, believing that fancy formulae for this purpose amounted to nothing more than “eye-wash.” His definition of repetition training was not to predetermine the distance, time, or number of repetitions, nor the duration of the recovery interval. On the other hand, his definition of “interval” training was to predetermine all those things, as well as how long you take to recover.