LYDIARD QUESTION

I'm afraid that if I answer your question, I shall be accused of being a member and trying to convert you to the (fictional) Cult of Lydiard.

But the way I understand it, "best aerobic pace" is any pace that allows you to finish the run being "strong" and "full of running." You should finish "comfortably tired" like a sort of "whew, that was a good run. . .I feel good!" kind of feeling.

Sometimes, that's going to be pretty darned fast- tempo pace. Some days it's going to be a nice enjoyable jog. If you feel good, run strong- don't race and certainly don't finish the run gasping and clutching your knees.

I think "best aerobic pace" is just "as fast as you can go while feeling strong and relatively unstrained." Maybe some days thats 6 min pace. . . or maybe its 7 minute pace the next day. Or maybe, if you feel great and easy, its 5:20 pace. Then again, you might feel like absolute shit and just get the run in to get the run in and you run 7:15 pace. As long as your effort level is appropriate, it's all good.

Once more into the breach, eh?

Ok, Arthur sort of made that phrase up because people kept asking him about how his guys did their distance runs. It wasn't some sort of deep idea that he spent years working on. His main concern was that running during the base phase not become "anaerobic." As long as that was the case he wasn't too concerned with how fast or slow you ran.

But he thought that you should run as fast as you could without becoming anaerobic. Another way of putting that is that he thought you should run as slowly as you needed to in order to avoid becoming anaerobic.

Specifically, you'd want to be running about as fast at the end of your run as you'd done at the beginning with no real increased effort and you'd want to be able to do that day after day after day. If you needed a "recovery day" you're likely running too fast. If you're running too slowly you shouldn't be too concerned because you'll speed up as you get fitter.

I was gonna make a big post on this later but ill start here. I have a handfull of questions on this system. I have just started research and reading up on this system though. I am a freshmen at college who had a horrible first XC season, after coming out of high school running mid-15's. Im also going through injuries so i figured i have a lot of time to slowly build base so i want to try this system.

What exactly are aerobic and anaerobic for us that dont know. I have no idea where to even start. With 2 kids on our XC team and no coach, since 7th grade i have ran a 4 mile loop everyday for the last 6 years and that was the extent to my training.

Right now im building base to around 70-80 mph over a long spand. So to work on my aerobic i need to run at "what feels good and build up".

So what then is anaerobic. I know i dont need to work on it untill way later in the building up, but is that striders and 100 build ups after my runs? I guess, what makes it anaerobic. I tried looking up other threads and found nothing. Anyhelp would work. Im looking to improve and have an awesome college career. And i think this training will help me aprove in the 10k and upwards as that i hope is my future

Thanks

I put an answer to this on the Lydiard/Daniels thread.

I know this contradicts the "run as you feel" philosophy, but I'll say it anyway: Run about 2 minutes a miler slower than your current 5k pace (what you can do today) for most of your distance runs. If you are tired, your current 5k pace will be slower, and then your + 2 minutes a mile pace will distance pace will be slower. On the other hand, if you are fresh and feeling good, it will be faster.

Do you taste nails in the back of your throat? That's anaerobic...:)

Don't worry about the exact definitions of "aerobic" or "anaerobic", we're only concerned about the basic concepts here. There is slow, there is too fast, and there is just right. As an example Lydiard broke up the week in runs of 1/4 effort, 1/2 effort, and 3/4 effort. Don't drag ass, but don't race everday either. If you are running an honest effort you should feel jumpy and wanting to push it. Vary the pace and the terrain but don't try to kill yourself. As an example:

Day 1: 10 miles 6:10 pace

Day 2: 12 miles 7:00 pace

Day 3: 10 miles 6:30 pace

Day 4: 12 miles 7:00 pace

Basically just vary the pace between your normal run pace and something slightly faster. Vary the distance. Vary the terrain.

Alan