Well, it took me a while, but I finally found the following, which I believe is the info in one of the "How They Train" books that I gave away a few years ago (
http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=326710&page=1
):
John Walker
Non-competitive season:
M-10 miles easy, 56:00 on grass w/ flat & some hills
T-11 miles on hills, running the flats hard
W-18 miles at under 6:00 pace
T-11 miles am, 7 miles hard PM
F-10 miles on grass
S-15 miles on flat road in 1:21:00 (@5:24/miles)
S-18-23 miles on a hard course maintaining a 6:00 pace
Volume:100-105 miles/week
Competitive season:
M- AM- 10 miles fast PM 2 miles at a reasonable pace (@8:40-8:47)
T- AM 8 miles in hills PM 6 x 200 in 26
W-AM 8 miles fast PM-2 miles in 50-60 yard reps very hard; or 6 x 400 in 55-57
T- AM 8 miles PM 2x1 mile 4:03 average, 3 miles in 13:40; or 15 x 200 in 26; or 6x400 in 55-57
F-AM 8 miles PM 8 x 150 fast
S-Race, or time trial over 600 or 800m; or 15x400 averaging 61
S-18 mile run at a good pace (1:44:00-5:45+)
Special considerations:
Walker runs all of his miles at "fast" paces.
He avoids severe hill work because of recurrent knee problems.
He runs 2 seasons per year, one in New Zealand, and one in Europe.
Training cycle: Build-up - Stamina 6-8 weeks, speed 4-6 weeks, pacing 8-10 weeks, easing off-2-5 weeks, and then begin again.
I remember that there was a note to the effect that his slowest training pace was something like 6:05/mile. John worked with Coach Arch Jelley and certainly had a periodized year (actually a periodized half-year), but the samples given above demonstrate that there was a fair bit of aerobic maintenance during the "speed" phase. John raced often and well and was the first man with 100 sub-4:00 miles IIRC.