I'm not so sure about what the best have done. I guess i read all of that stuff from the greats and it blends into my own continuously developing understanding. What i do know is that Lydiard stuff has influenced me more than any other single coach with Cerutty coming in second and everyone else below that.
So to comment on a few things based on that:
The tempo running equates to Lydiard's idea of best aerobic pace i imagine and to do less of that than the easy running is a good idea from where i sit. Unless you are highly trained already in which case the tempo stuff as you have defined it by pace should probably rise to equal the easy running.
The way i like it is to have the athletes run in three zones in base prep or GPP.
1.Recovery zone above 120bpm less than 130bpm - these can be used anywhere
2.Easy zone which is up to how the athlete feels and ranges from recovery zone at 120bpm through to underneath best paced or tempo zone which is athlete dependent and may be 150bpm or there abouts.
3.Best paced aerobic or your tempo is say 180 less age amended for a number of variables such as recent training history and long term training history, plus things i can't determine. However this pace is worked out over a week or so by finding it oneself - through feel and experimentation. Some may be higher or lower than others with all the other variables seemingly equal.
- sprint workouts i like to use 80m although it is over 100m by the time they have stopped. 80m feels to me the right distance before too much CP has been used. It also feels like where i want to slow down without putting in any extra effort towards the end, proabably because the CP is low and other sources are starting to be used.
also i graduate these sprints so the first is at 50% and each one builds in intensity by 5-10%. I also like to stop afert about 6 and sometimes 8. The reason is that i connect them to the tempo/best paced sessions for a number of reasons. First is that i'm very big on developing form and doing a series of runthroughs as i like to call them enables multiple chances to develop this form or technique with feedback after each one. Then this developed and focused form hopefully transfers into the longer running which follows directly after them. Because i link the runthroughs to the longer running i suppose that's why they involve 6x80m from 50-100% instead of what you propose.
- i like the way you use some easy running to ensure being fully warmed up before a gym session. I also like the way you test yourself out with a warmup mile before the tempos
- i also use progression runs once the steady runs in the different zones are strongly established. Steady for me is always first. A progression profile for me is always like a smoothly rolling hill at first before attempting any steep mountainous profiles. It will being in recovery zone for a bit then progressively moving up to best paced/tempo zone before progressively slowing back down into recovery zone for a period before finishing. Your hard surges would fit into a more mountainous profile which may contain a number of peaks but this is advanced progression stuff for me.
- your workouts i like to leave until late in the base/GPP phase because to me this is like tuning up and tuning up only occurs when you have something really solid to work with. However, if they fit into the tempo zone then it would be more like a progressive run.If they go above the tempo zone then they can wait until the tempo zone has been maximised over time and begun to plateau in development.
- dedicated hills i leave until after the base/GPP phase however yours seem to be connected into continuous aerobic running so they may simply replace doing the best paced/tempo runs over hills. I like random when it comes to hills well before and real scientific structuring takes place but that's just me.
- the long run i feel is very important but also very hard mentally. I feel it's purpose is to progressively tax your system in a very deep way as well as tax you psychologically. It is tough to continue to work when you seem to have nothing left. Yet Lydiard would say if you want to recruit more (long term unused) aerobic fibres then you need to get into very long runs. He also says this is where your ambiguous anaerobic fibres are brought into play and so start to learn to become oxidative. He also says this is where you can learn to retain more glycogen as only after glycogen depletion has occurred does the body keep more in store. It will keep as much as it thinks it needs so make it need more.
- i think doubles are essential if you want to develop quickly yet prefer not to always push your training load too much due to the potential injury risk and possibility of psychological burnout. The morning double for me is always in the recovery zone. If any higher then is impinges upon the afternoon session which should always follow the progressive overload principle in that as you adapt to the current load you need to increase the load to continue the rate of improvement. A harder am session will limit these progressive development opportunities.
cheers for the excellent mentally stimulating post.
flow