how to increase mileage

Lydiard Phase 2

Phase 2 ? Peak Mileage Base Phase

Lydiard says all phases are absolutely essential to race at your best, but this is by far the most important phase. This is the phase that basically determines how you will run in a given year. In fact, Lydiard says that the day you finish this phase your performance level is already determined and fixed for that year. You still have complete the remaining phases to be able to race successfully and achieve that performance level, but there is nothing special you can do that will have any material effect at improving your performance for that year. This must be kept in mind at all times during this phase.

The purpose of this phase is to increase your aerobic threshold to the maximum extent possible. While ascending to peak mileage you have been doing all your runs easily and slowly. For the first few weeks at peak mileage you should run slowly. Then you should gradually increase the effort of your runs to a ?strong aerobic effort?. What is a strong aerobic effort? This is the tricky part. From a science standpoint it is simple, you want to do all your runs at between 70-99% of the aerobic/anaerobic threshold. You never want to go slower than that or your progress will be delayed. You never want to cross that threshold because it will delay your overall development since scientific testing has proven aerobic exercise is 17 times more efficient than anaerobic exercise. Two or three runs in a row that cross into the anaerobic range and you soon find you are breaking down and have to run much slower for a few days to recover and your forward progress is interrupted. Simple concept, but difficult to put to practice. Runners who master the art of training aerobically come the closest to reaching their full potential. Most high school runners either go too slow or too fast or a mixture of both. Most college runners don?t do high enough mileage and what they do, they run too fast. Most recreational road runners run too slow. Lydiard says to run aerobically, you should be ?pleasantly tired? at the end of each run and always know you could have gone faster. Successful experienced runners have learned to ?go by feel?. They know when they have increased the pace to the point where they have crossed the line and start to feel uncomfortable and they back off. Less experienced runners and runners who want to try to be more precise use heart monitors. Heart monitors are a good training aid but keep in mind they are not as accurate as one would assume. The reason is there are errors in determining resting heart rate, there are errors in determining maximum heat rate, the formula for determining the aerobic range is based on average people and you may not be average. All these errors can make your calculated ?target range? to be somewhat inaccurate from your true target range. Monitors are an aid but not an end all solution.

Lydiard says it is better to err on the slow side, but keep in mind it will take much longer to achieve the same results if you go too slow. So it is a tricky game to run as fast as possible without ever going anaerobic.

Once you master running aerobically, you want to keep the same level of effort throughout the base building phase. Consequently, your training paces will gradually quicken on average each week. It won?t be straight line improvement but it will be significant over time and the beauty of Lydiard?s program is the faster pace will be achieved with no extra effort on your part. If fact running at a strong aerobic effort as long as you don?t cross the threshold, becomes more and more enjoyable and addicting as you go onward and there is no danger of mental burnout. You will find your times dropping significantly over the weeks but don?t get caught up in the times too much such that they effect your level of effort. It is more important to concentrate on the level of effort and let the times take care of themselves. Don?t push into the anaerobic zone just because you think you should be running a particular pace. Lydiard says inevitably there will be some times during the base building phase in which you feel tired and/or sore. He says to slow down for a couple of days but don?t cut back on distance and never take a day off. After just a couple of slow days you will find your gains will be consolidated and within a week you will feel a new surge of freshness and improvement. When Peter Snell started the program, he could not complete his first attempts at the 22 mile long run and had to be picked up by Lydiard. His first completed run took over 3 hours. Without any additional effort he knocked off chunks of 5 to 10 minutes each week and eventually got down to sub 2:10.

What is peak mileage? Through years of ruthless experimentation on himself, Lydiard determined that approximately 100 miles per week is the ideal amount of miles of strong aerobic running per week to do. Less than that is not enough no matter how fast you run it. More than 100 miles a week at a strong aerobic effort will result in breakdown. Lydiard says if you have the time and inclination you should run more than 100 miles per week provided, 100 miles of it is at a strong aerobic effort, and any additional miles are run in a second daily run at a much slower pace and that it doesn?t take away from your main daily aerobic run.

As far as each individual is concerned, they have to decide what you want to do for peak mileage. Obviously you don?t want to go over 100 aerobic miles. 100 is ideal, but do you have that much time and interest in running at this point to do that. Only you can decide that. You will have to pick the total miles per week you want to attempt this season and follow the chart below for that mileage.

Lydiard discovered that alternating longer runs at a slightly lower effort with shorter runs at a slightly harder effort will result in much faster improvement than running the same distance every day. He also found that running a once weekly long run significantly increases the rate of improvement. Additionally a once per week run just slightly below the threshold is essential for rapid improvement. It should be noted that all runs should still fall into the ?strong aerobic effort? category. Lydiard discovered that running one longer run per day than two shorter runs results in quicker development. Therefore all you aerobic mileage should be run in one run per day. If you chose to run more than 100 miles per week, you can add an additional run on some days which will be done slower than the strong aerobic range.

Contrary to popular mantra, Lydiard does not recommend running on trails or grass. To ensure that your running is geared as much as possible to aerobic development and not muscular development, as much running as possible should be done on paved surfaces to get maximum traction. Put the pressure on the cardiac system not the leg muscles.

The base building phase should last as long as possible. Realistically no one would want to go longer than a year without racing! Most top flight athletes aim to peak once a year. Depending on when they start and getting in the rest of the program, this means this phase ideally should last 6 to 8 months. If you are trying to peak more than once a year (which will result in 2 peaks, both lower than the one peak program) this phase is going to last 3-4 months. Lydiard scoffs at the American high school and college systems of trying to peak 3 times per year.

Day Effort Distance

M 1/4 10

TU 1/2 15

W 1/4 18

TH 1/2 13

F 3/4 11

SA 1/4 22

SU 1/4 11

(plus 100s)

Week 100

total

Notes:

1/4 effort ? easier, but still aerobic pace (not jogging), 65-70% of (Maximum minus resting heart rate). For example, with a resting of 55 and max of 195, it works out to 145 to 153 beats per minute. For one runner it could be approximately 7:25 to 7:50 per mile depending on how he feels and the conditions and if it is early in base building phase or late in the base building phase.

1/2 effort ? run at a strong aerobic, but sub tempo pace, 70-75% of (Maximum minus resting heart rate). For example 153 to 160 beats per minute. For our example runner that could be 6:40 to 7:10 per mile depending on how he feels and the conditions and if it is early in base building phase or late in the base building phase.

3/4 effort ? run at tempo pace/At Threshold (AT) pace, 75-85% of (Maximum minus resting heart rate). For example 160 to 174 beats per minute. For our example runner that could be 6:15 to 6:35 per mile depending on how he feels and the conditions and if it is early in base building phase or late in the base building phase.

110s ? run at 70 to 90% effort. Take a full 3 minute walk between each one. It is important to not build up any lactic acid which is unlike most track workout intervals/repeats. These are strictly to work on basic speed and not lactic acid tolerance. Lactic acid tolerance will be developed in the later phases.

If you build up lactic acid it will retard your base building aerobic work which is of paramount importance in this phase. Start out at about 10K goal pace early in the base building phase and slowly build up to goal pace for the 400 by the end of the base building phase. Lydiard says always run with the wind at your back and never run full out. Focus on good form and high knee lift and relaxation.

Phase III ? Anaerobic Development (4-5 weeks)

You may have developed your aerobic capacity to the maximum extent practicable but you still cannot race well without developing lactic acid tolerance. This requires interval/repetition work. Lydiard say this is essential to race well but this phase is far less important than the base building phase. Lydiard is amazed at the effort that coaches meticulously devote to coming up with complex and even esoteric interval workouts such as ascending ladders, descending ladders and even ascending and descending ladders in the same workout. All the while they have totally neglected the core base building phase. Lydiard says what you do for interval work is not important at all as long as you are doing it.

In this phase Lydiard recommends doing intervals/repetitions 2 or 3 times a week, speed work such as repeat 100s 1 or 2 times a week and one medium length easy distance run and one easy long run once a week. According to Lydiard you cannot continue aerobic development while simultaneously doing hard anaerobic work. Therefore mileage degreases significantly from the base building phase to about 50 miles per initially and continues to decrease from this point onward. Here the focus is on lactic acid tolerance and speed development. To maintain your aerobic base you will be doing only 2 distance runs per week.

Lydaird says the restraint is critical during this phase. You are still 6 to 12 weeks away from the big race. Lydiard says don?t push too hard too soon or you could peak too soon and not high enough. Gradually increase the intensity over several weeks and you will peak when it counts the most and the peak will be higher. Also Lydiard says the number of intervals and any target times are just a guide. Go until you feel you have had enough for that day. In general longer intervals are done earlier in this phase and shorter ones later. Do not race these intervals or ever go to afterburners. As Lydiard says, ?Train, don?t strain?.

Note: I have omitted the 3 week hill phase as most runners and coaches who follow Lydiard say you don't need it. In fact, in each successive book, Lydiard shortens the length of this phase. If you want to include it, refer to his books.

Phase IV ? Anaerobic Coordination Phase (6 weeks)

At this point you have a huge aerobic base and you have developed lactic acid tolerance and speed, but you are still not able to race close to your best and you should not try to at this point. If you try to race hard now you will be disappointed in the results and it will hurt your results down the road when it counts the most. Lydiard says the reason is simply that in races, they don?t give you 1 lap jog or 2 minute recovery during a race. What you need now is what Lydiard calls Coordination training. In this phase you coordinate or bring together your aerobic and anaerobic training. You do this by what Lydiard calls developmental racing or time trials if there are no races available. The races/time trials are not to be run all out and instead should be run at about 7/8 effort and you should not sprint at the finish. It is important to remember that these are not real races as far as you are concerned, it is part of your training and restraint must be used or you will peak too soon. The big race, and the races following the big race are the real races when you will be going all out. The developmental races/time trails should be over race distances shorter, longer and at your target race distance. The bulk of them will be at shorter distances to get you accustomed to the fast pace that you will have to handle in the big race.

During this phase you will run a developmental race or time trial once or twice a week. You will do one pure speed work per week and one interval/repetition workout per week and one long run per week to try to hold on to as much of your aerobic base as possible.

Thank you for the great information.

Phase V ? Peaking Phase (2 weeks)

You are now in top form but how do you put the finishing touches or the sharp knife edge on the blade as Lydiard says? Your last really hard workout should be about 10 days before the big race. After that you do relatively short but very fast workouts with little rest alternating with short easy jogging days. You want to keep the workouts short because you want them to cause you to go deep into oxygen debt but you want to recover quickly from the workout at this late stage. Another workout that Lydiard strongly recommends is called surge training. Not only does it fine tune you, it preps you for an unexpected change in pace in the big race. Surge training consists of sprinting for 50 meters, then floating for 50 meters for a total of about 2 miles. The last 3 days you taper off to hit the peak.

Phase VI ? Racing Phase (1-6 weeks)

Once you start racing, you are done with training. This is a tough concept for a lot of runners to get used to. They feel guilty if they are not training. At this late stage it is too late to train and any hard workouts you now will not only not help you but the they will hurt you because you won?t recover in time. After the Big Race, you can continue successful racing for 1-6 weeks and possibly even run faster. At some point however, the wheels will fall off the wagon and your season is done. You will know when you reach this point when you go to dig down at the end of a race and there is nothing there. It can happen fairly quickly. The reason it happens is because you start out with a strong aerobic base, then you attain strong anaerobic development. Even as your anaerobic development continues, you gradually start loosing your aerobic base due to lack of distance training and this loss accelerates late in the racing phase. That is why you have to start the whole process over again for next year.

End of Season Recovery

For about a week or 2 just jog 3 miles every other day to get mentally fresh again. Then start whole process over again for next year. Lydiard says to never take a complete break from running or you will needlessly throw away you hard earned gains.

Long View

Lydiard says it takes 3-5 years of his program to reach your full potential assuming your are physically mature (18 or older). Lydiard says that the biggest gains happen in the 3rd or 4th years and that you will be shocked by what you are capable of if you follow his plan. You don't have to wait till you are in your late 20s or wait for anything else. You don't have to take years to build up to 100 miles per week. According to Lydiard, an out of shape desk worker who has never done anything physical his whole life can run 100 miles per week in 9 weeks as long as he has no pre-existing heart condition.

It took Lydiard about 12 years of experimentation on himself and some of his runners to finalize his system. Here is the progression of his first 3 famous pupils.

Murray Halberg

Age 18 before Lydiard 4:41 mile, 10:22 2 mile

first year age 19 4:17 mile 9:37 2 mile

2nd year age 20 4:04 mile 9:09 2 mile

3rd year age 21 8:55 2 mile

4th year age 22 4:01 mile 8:51 2 mile

eventually he got down to 3:57.5 and 8:30 for 2 mile and was Olympic Champion in the 5000

Peter Snell

Age 19 before Lydiard 1:54 800 and 4:48 mile

first year age 20 1:48.7 800 and 4:10 mile

2nd year age 21 1:44.1 relay 800 and 4:01.5 mile

3rd year age 22 Olympic 800 champion

4th year age 23 1:43eq 800 and 3:54 mile

Barry Magee

According to Lydiard could not run faster than 58 in a 400.

age 18 before Lydiard 4:50 mile and 11:00 2 mile

age 19 first year 9:50 2 mile

eventually Magee got down to 8:45 2 mile, 13:38 5000, 28:50 10000 and 4:07 in the mile. Amazing for a guy who couldn't run faster than 58 for a quarter. He was ranked # 1 in the World in the 10000 and # 2 in the 5000 by Track & Field News. Also won bronze in the Olympic marathon

train don't complain

john, the last phase says you dont train in the last phase you race, but what kind of running do you do in between races. also if there is no race on a certain weekend during this phase what do you do. I would assume a time trial but im not sure.

Buy one of Arthur Lydiard's books. It will be money well spent.

In the peaking phase, you either time trial, do sharpening speedwork, coordination training, or distance runs. Yes, you still get in distance, especially a long run each week, per Lydiard.

Time trials relate to your race distance. If you are a 10k runner, then 3k and 5k time trials or even 10k time trials may be your key. The pace is about 10 seconds pe mile over race pace for the distance or in Mr. Lydiard's words "7/8th" effort. A miler might do an 800m or 1500m time trial. Sharpening workouts could be something like 3 x 300m at high speed but with long recoveries. You might do 6-8 laps on a track of alternating either 50s or 100s at sprint speed with easy running of same distance between as a means of bringing together speed and endurance. The whole key is to do the necessary foundation prior to all the fast running. Then do the anaerobic work in high volume and high frequency for just one month. Then, over the last 4-6 weeks, reduced the quantity of anaerobic workouts. Instead of doing workouts such as 12-20 x 200-400m at mile pace, you might do just 3-4 x 300 or 400 at 800-mile pace with longer recoveries, all with short sprints with long recoveries and the previously stated time trials, surge training, and long run. The above is pure Lydiard, the master.

bump it up

In the Racing Phase you do similar to what Tinman says. According to Lydiard you could do something like this:

The

Big

Race

3000

Day 1 3E

Day 2 5E

Day 3 12 x 100 in 14(15 secwalk)

Day 4 5E

day 5 400 very fast (1 min walk), 3 X 200 (30 sec walk)

day 6 5E

day 7 2 miles of 50/50 surge/float

day 7 8E

day 9 5E

day 10 4 X 200 (30 sec walk)

day 11 5E

day 12 3E

day 13 3E

day 14 Race 5000

day 15 3E

day 16 3E

day 17 10 4 X 200 (30 sec walk)

day 11 5E

day 12 3E

day 13 3E

day 14 Race 1500

etc., etc.

As Lydiard says this is just a guide. You need to jugde how you body is recoverying from the races. In general the distance days are short easy runs. Track workouts are short and fast.

Does the initial, 9 weeks to 100 miles ascension phase, just last as it's called (9 weeks)? Or do you repeat before moving into Phase 2?

It lasts only 9 weeks, then you start the next phase. You do not repeat it.

Please send me more info

Samarra wrote:

Does the initial, 9 weeks to 100 miles ascension phase, just last as it's called (9 weeks)? Or do you repeat before moving into Phase 2?

You want to run 100mpw for as many weeks as you can, while still allowing the proper time for every other phase..

John Molvar

I'm interested in additional phases. Please send them to me. Thanks.

Rob

john, I am also interested in the remaining phases. Please send them to me. thank you.

joe runner wrote:

john, I am also interested in the remaining phases. Please send them to me. thank you.

let me try that again.

Ok, I will e-mail the phases to you 3 guys including a example of the phases.