Running with Lydiard

by Arthur Lydiard and Garth Gilmour

Meyer & Meyer Sport, 2007 (ISBN: 978-1-84126-026-6)

 

Arthur Lydiard was, at one time, the most successful trainer of middle- and long-distance running in the world.  He coached runners from different countries including Peter Snell and Lasse Viren.  In the 50s and 60s, he not only revolutionized middle- and long-distance training methods but was also the founder of the jogging movement.

 

 

Garth Gilmour is a journalist and Lydiard’s co-author since 1960.  He has written biographies of famous athletes Murray Halberg, Peter Snell, Sandra Barwick, and Eve Rimmer.

 

For the most part, the Lydiard method emphasizes building a larger mileage base rather than developing more speed.

 

Marathon Training Plan – Beginners

Marathon Training Plan – Experienced

 

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Here are a few quotes from this book:

 

"... [the Lydiard] training system is based on a balanced combination of aerobic and anaerobic running."

 

"Your general efficiency and ultimate results in running depend basically on your ability to absorb oxygen from the air, transport it to various muscles and organs and then use it."

 

"Runners with a two-hour program for the day often ask if it is all right to split the two hours into two one-hour sessions.  My answer always is that continued exercise is the key, so two short periods will not be nearly as effective as one long one."

 

"A level of aerobic effort between 70 and 100 percent in training is most effective for the time spent running and the LSD [low slow distance] system does not reach that."

 

"... while aerobic exercise in volume will develop fine general cardiac efficiency, or a higher maximum steady state, it is also necessary to develop the capacity to exercise anaerobically, to increase the body's ability to withstand maximum oxygen debts."

 

"The daily program of sustained aerobic running is absolutely essential to achieve the correct respiratory and circulatory development and the longer the periods of running the better the results will be.  The anaerobic section of your preparation should be tackled only after you have developed aerobic capacity and maximum steady state to the highest possible level."

 

"Anaerobic training is something we have to do if we intend to race well but, at the same time, we must always keep in mind that if we overdo it we lose our most essential asset, and the very thing we have been building, our good [aerobic] condition, which determines our performance level.  So, all the time you are building your capacity to exercise anaerobically, jealously guard your good [aerobic] condition or the whole purpose of the program is defeated."

 

"In anaerobic training, if you stop the workouts, you lose the capacity to train anaerobically; if you do too much, you lose good [aerobic] condition.  You have to strike a happy balance ..."

 

"In a marathon, you are racing to your own capacity first and who you beat along the way depends very largely on how successfully you do that."

 

"The fundamental principle of training is simple, which may be why it needs repeating so often: it is to develop enough stamina to enable you to maintain the necessary speed for the full distance at which you plan to compete."

 

"The best running program is to cover approximately 160 kilometers [100 miles] a week at just under your maximum steady state, plus any supplementary running, such as jogging, that you feel included or have the time to do."

 

"The long steady running that I term marathon conditioning is designed to induce a pleasant state of tiredness rather than fatigue, so that it does not interfere with the following day's program."

 

"Always ... you must finish each of your runs with the knowledge that you could have run a little faster."

 

"... do not let age deter anyone from tackling long mileages, as long as they are happy about it and exercise carefully."

 

"Always, during conditioning running, concentrate on being relaxed, particularly in the upper body."

 

"In conditioning [aerobic] training, you can never run too slowly to improve the oxygen uptake; but you can run too fast."