Antonio. I had this very same "specific" discussion with a certain "Kadaffi out of power" in March, and I'm sorry I got sucked into it again. At that time, he conceded that indeed I was right, that "time trials" and "solo races" are indeed "specific work":
RE: Wow, Lydiard training seems ridiculously hard 3/14/2011 9:27AM - in reply to rekrunner
Kadaffi out of power wrote:
rekrunner
I agree that time-trial and solo race is the kind of specific work and you are right again that does qualify the intervals.
Maybe you disagree with him?
At that time, I said that "time trials and races" in this "coordination phase" were "specific", while "aerobic" conditioning, "hill" resistance training, and "anaerobic" interval training and "windsprints" were not necessarily "specific" by design.
I don't know what secret schedules you possess in your private e-mail about Snell and Davies, but can only go by the recommendations written to the public in every Lydiard book, and Lydiard presentation.
Since you asked for references with page numbers, but maybe don't have the book, I will summarize it here. All of these books and presentations describe the use of time-trials and races at your distance which start at slightly less than race pace, and get progressively faster each week, until the first important competition. The stated purpose is to get your body accustomed to the specific conditions it will experience during real racing, as your body adapts best to the conditions it is subject to. They all describe too that, depending on how the athlete behaves during the time-trials, you may need to do under-distance time trials to improve your speed, or over-distance time-trials to improve your stamina. In other words, what is written as a preliminary plan, and what is actually done (e.g. by Snell and Davies), may be different things, as there are several guidelines to modify the schedules based on the athletes current fitness, strengths and identified weaknesses.
In the case of 800m time trials, (or 600m or 1200m) these may be described as "all flat out runs", but they are better described as "determined by race pace".
If you want to say these "specific workouts" are too little too late, that's one thing. If you want to say that "intervals" are a better implementation of "specific" workouts than continuous runs (time-trials and races), that's another. But you can not truthfully say that Lydiard neglects specific training, and that no workout is determined by "race pace".
You should also know by now, that even the "classic" periodization is not sacred, but can be adapted to fit the athletes competition needs.
I think it's time you read a little more about Lydiard, and you will see that I'm right, and do your own intellectual penitence.