I was just wondering if people could give me some info about how the training program worked and what was the end product good or bad. To see if I should start doing it and just need some back up info on whether or not i should do it or not?
Thankyou
Lydiard's general concept -- the annual training cycle with smaller cycles along the way, build an aerobic base, run hills, gradually incorporate faster efforts toward the racing season, work at goal pace and faster with more rest for peaking, is basically the foundation of everything that has happened in training methods the last 50 years. As for the details, develop a schedule that works for you, or get with a team or running group for some structure.
so it does work yes or no?
Yes.
It does if you think it does.
It worked great for me when I started doing it at age 28, but I'm not sure it would have worked in college due to the multiple seasons.
Lydiards system is great but only for those who don't want to race, well race at their best all year round.. But yeah it's the foundation of most coaching systems.. even when those coaches think it isn't.
Once you accept that and build in periodisation I think it works well. I will still sometimes race during my base phase but you just accept you are tired, not rested, not sharp and take it as a quality session.
runnerswithquestions wrote:
so it does work yes or no?
You might want to look for a different sport I don't think you have the right temperament for this one.
Yes.
Specifically (and personally also) though, I've had more success with his his 5k ideas than the cross version.
I had followed the base guidelines in college (what you get when your coach just says "run in the summer"), and cut 5 minutes in 5 years from my 8k. I came out of those summers strong, to be sure. Worked, and made me a believer.
As a coach, I found the schedules were easily adaptable to high school. Personally, the cross country schedules left me more fatigued; they compacted some things in training (sharpeners, intervals) that just didn't work for me. Because of that, I've just used variations of the 5k version with the kids over these many years, which has worked well. We have to shorten up the cycles slightly, but the system - and using your head as a coach to know your individuals - produces VERY sharp peaks.
jungleroy59 wrote:
Lydiard's general concept -- the annual training cycle with smaller cycles along the way, build an aerobic base, run hills, gradually incorporate faster efforts toward the racing season, work at goal pace and faster with more rest for peaking, is basically the foundation of everything that has happened in training methods the last 50 years. As for the details, develop a schedule that works for you, or get with a team or running group for some structure.
Or else any training program can be skewed to be a variatipon of a Lydiard system.
And that's not true anyway - modern 800 training for example is not a Lydiard type program. I guess you could argue bits of it are, but bits of it fit just about any type of program.