Running In The Shadow Of Lydiards Waitakere Mountains

Arthur Lydiard Base Training Week 2
Got inspired to do a pretty serious hill run after listening to a 3 hour training talk by Arthur Lydiard and Peter Snell http://sweatscience.com/arthur-lydiard-recording/
My run round Parbold and Harrock hill inc 5 climbs and the route took me over road trail grass and MUD!
Keith Livingstone says in his book 'Healthy intelligent Training' that you may start to feel tired by the end of the second week, but don't worry the body will soon adapt and things will improve quickly!
Well Id felt great until Friday night where at work I suddenly was hit with a feeling of overwhelming fatigue!
After a short 4 hours in bed I headed off to Parbold for my version Of Lydiards Waitakere Mountains.
My aim was to keep to 70-75% MHR [maybe a bit higher on the climbs] for the distance.
As I got into the 3rd climb I hit some seriously deep mud that almost sucked my New Balance 101's off my feet!
It was about this point when my energy started to slip away,.
Keith recommends doing the long runs without taking gels or energy drinks so you train the body to burn fat and become more efficient.
But I still had an hour to run, would I make it ?
Once I got on the road again I seemed to pull around and find a new supply of energy, maybe my body was now switching to fat burning mode, whatever I was motoring again and hitting 75% MHR for the roller coaster road loop to the finish.
Not quite Lydiards 22 miles but 17.4 miles and 2000 ft of climbing will do for now!
Sun
Sandhill 6 with Sarah and Jon, plus ran down and back at 60-65% MHR = 1 hour 21 mins
Sat
Parbold-Harrock Hill =2 hours 19 mins
Fri
Regeneration run 60-65% MHR Hillside loop =33 mins
Thur
Warm-up then 10 X 10 sec sprints [leg speed session] on grass, one sprint every 400m with full recovery, followed by some easy running = 1 hour 30 mins
Wed
Big sandhills run at 70-75% MHR = 1 hour 32 mins
Tue
Marathon effort [80% MHR] Sandhills Busters Lagoon, out and back run = 55.29
Mon
Club Fartlek session, ran down and back = 1 hour 42 mins

Total 9 Hours 27 Mins of running for the week

Recommended Reading

Running Into Obsession: The Church of Arthur Lydiard

READ HERE

RUNNING IS FREEDOM!
It sets us apart from the common man because we are in touch with our true spirit! Quote RicksRunning 2011

Lydiard Training Starts Next Week!

I got a reply back from coach Marius Bakken and he said;

Hi Rick,

Good to hear from you and that you are ready for another shot at 2:45 !

I think your plan makes sense. A structured approach with Lydiard, leading into the 100 day plan. Especially as you have quite a bit of experience with the plan at this time and would likely be able to go through it even stronger with a bit of a wider base to it.

In addition to this, pay attention to the self-massage part I talk about in the 100 day plan. This is powerful stuff if you do it at a regular basis.

I wish you all the best of luck,

kind regards,

Marius

The story of Arthur Lydiard [click on page to enlarge]

Arthur Lydiard was so far ahead of his time it's almost mind blowing, check out this interview below [1996], in the last section he talks about minimal running shoes and how they will make you FASTER!

TOUGH WEEK

Freezing conditions inc hell stones made the first part of the week hard going, then after finishing work on Saturday morning I felt weak and dizzy with a sore throat! Four hours in bed and I didn't feel any better, so I spent the rest of the day in bed and gave the long run a miss!
Getting up in the evening I felt somewhat better! so I ran a 3 mile tempo run, I'd planned to lift the pace in the last mile and a half, but ice on the pavement and road meant I kept losing traction!
I was happy to finish with an average of 6.20 pace, not bad taking into account the darkness, freezing temperature and icy conditions!
Sat 6th Tempo run 3.01 miles = 19.05
Fri 5th Core training
Thur leg speed session x 10, max speed 15.9 mph = 37 mins
Wed 4th Long run in the big sandhills, very cold, good job I could run off road as the roads were very icy. Last 1/2 mile was very funny, as old people cautiously crossed an icy back road I found my self skiing along as mad dog dragged me oblivious to the surrounding conditions! = 1.33
Tue 3rd Club fartlek session, ran down and back to give me 2 hours, despite hell stones at the start this turned out to be my fastest ever average pace for this session. = 2.00
Mon 2nd Core training
The GRAVITY RUNNING is going really well, getting faster and faster!