How 10 Weeks of Lydiard's 100 Mile Weeks Makes You Faster

In his original training book, Run to the Top, to start off a training year Lydiard advocates for an initial General, or Base, Conditioning phase of 10 weeks of 100 Mile/week of “Marathon Training” for all runners in event groups 800m and up.

I’ve often been critical of the far too common misinterpretation and incorrect application of Lydiard’s 100 mile/week Marathon Training base phase. Some have mistaken that critique as a criticism of Lydiard's approach to base conditioning — which is not the case.

Lydiard is a coaching genius because, either implicitly or explicitly, he understood and got correct the critical importance of developing a runner’s Running Economy as a key fundamental physiological variable that impacts distance running performance.

Where most go wrong applying Lydiard’s 100 mile/week Marathon Training is not the volume of running performed, but the paces run.

Few run these 100 miles fast enough.

Remember, Lydiard called these 100 mile weeks “Marathon Training.”

Why?

As well soon see, roughly 75-80 miles per week are run at Marathon Pace with the other 25-20 miles at half-marathon pace or faster.

In a Lydiard base phase, any running which happens at paces slower than a runner’s marathon pace does not count as training. It’s general exercise, not training — he’s very clear on that.

Here is Lydaird’s original daily training guide he offers for a fit, but fairly new competitive runner to total 100 Mile/week of Marathon Training in the base phase:

• Monday: 10 Miles @ 1/2 Effort — over hills

• Tuesday: 15 miles @ 1/4 Effort — on roads

• Wednesday: 12 miles fartlek

• Thursday: 18 miles @ 1/4 Effort

• Friday: 10 Miles @ 3/4 Effort — on flat roads

• Saturday: 20 - 30 Miles @ 1/4 Effort

• Sunday: 15 Miles @ 1/4 Effort

The key to understanding Lydiard’s base period of “Marathon Training” in understanding his effort prescriptions.

For the Marathon Training base period, all the efforts are based on the runner’s 10 Mile race pace — which is very close to 15K race pace, or most runner’s general Lactate Threshold.

Lydirard assumed that his example runner’s 10 Mile race pace was 6:00/mile. The corresponding paces and percentages of 10 mile race pace for the efforts would then be:

• 3/4 effort = 6:15/mile — 95% of 10 Mile Race Pace

• 1/2 effort = 6:30/mile — 90% of 10 Mile Race Pace (Half Maraton Pace)

• 1/4 effort = 7:00/mile — 85% of 10 Mile Race Pace (Marathon Pace)

In Run to the Top, Lydiard explicitly says his example runner’s marathon pace is 7:00/mile, which the reader can see is the pace for 1/4 Effort. We can also establish that 90% of 10 M.R.P. is Half-Marathon pace.

Now let’s reexamine Lydiard’s daily training guide of 100 Mile/week of Marathon Training as duration and race paces:

• Monday: 1 hr 6 mins @ Half Marathon Pace — over hills

• Tuesday: 1 hr 45 mins @ Marathon Pace — on roads

• Wednesday: ~1 hr 15 mins at varying paces

• Thursday: 2 hrs 6 mins @ Marathon Pace

• Friday: 1 hr 2.5 mins @ 95% of 10 Mile Pace — on flat roads

• Saturday: 2 hr 20 mins - 3 hr 30 mins @ Marathon Pace

• Sunday: 1 hr 45 mins @ Marathon Pace

Here’s a pie chart visually expressing the total time spent training at each pace each week:

And the breakdown of the Total Time and Percent of Total Time spent at each pace per week:

@ Marathon Pace (1/4 effort):

• 8 to 9 hours — 77%

@ Half Marathon Pace (1/2 effort):

• 1 hour — 10%

@ 95% of 10 Mile Race Pace or faster (3/4 effort & Fartlek):

• 1.5 hours — 13%

As you can see Lydiard was very specific about what pace mattered most in base training — Marathon Pace.

Marathon Pace running is a physiological sweet spot for runners which advances several key performance variables, but most significantly running economy.

And 75-80 miles per week of Marathon Pace running is a very strong stimulus. Over 10 weeks, 750-800 miles of Marathon Pace will result in significant structural and physiological changes that will catapult a runner’s economy to new levels.

And these types of gains are very stable.

Meaning, they will last for months provided there is a consistent, light training load applied regularly — like a 2 hour long run once per week.

By enhancing his runner’s economy in such a significant way, Lydiard’s runners could sustain and benefit from the subsequent periods of high-intensity training in the Hill and Sharpening Phases of Lydiard’s training year.

Enhanced running economy was the foundation of Lydiard’s training approach. Which 100% agrees with today’s science and understanding of how to best train runners to become faster.

But remember, running economy doesn’t improve by just running more miles, it improves by running more “quality” miles, which in Lydiard’s case meant Marathon Pace miles.

Top 5 Books on Arthur Lydiard’s Training Methods

I’ve read A LOT of books on famed New Zealand running coach Arthur Lydiard and his training methods.

Here are, in order, my pick for the top 5 books on Lydiard’s Training Methods.

1. Running Your Best: The Committed Runner's Guide to Training and Racing by Ron Daws

   If you only read one book ever on Lydiard’s Training Methods this it is.

   Ron Daws does an amazing job of explaining in clear detail and simple language Lydiard’s methods, its benefits and drawbacks, and how to successfully apply Lydiard’s training principles to a variety of training situations and runners. It was written in 1985, so it is light on scientific evidence, but overall the information given is sound even to this day.

2. The Self-Made Olympian by Ron Daws

   Ron Daws was an average college runner who became one of the top US marathoners in the late 1960s as well as an Olympian in 1968. This book is part autobiography, part training log, and part training guide. It’s short, 140 pages, but it’s an insightful read. Daws is the first athlete I know who was not directly coached by Lydiard but achieved high-level competitive success applying his training methods.

3. Run to the Top by Arthur Lydiard and Garth Gilmore

   Published in 1962, Lydiard’s first book offers a raw, in-depth insight into his famed training methods. It’s hard to find, but worth the hunt. Later books by Lydiard and Gilmore offer more adaptive, less rigorous training meant for a wider audience. This book details how he developed his Olympic Gold Medalists and World Record Holders from seemingly out of nowhere. It reads more like a biography than a training text. Think Once a Runner meets Daniels Runner Formula. It does offer training schedules, but they’re meant to be more illustrations than instructions.

4. Distance Running by Robert M. Lyden

   Published in 2000, Lyden’s book offers a modern perspective on why Lydiard’s training methods work. Lyden is a Lydiard purest. He retains Lydiard’s annual cycles of acquisition (Base Period, Hill Period, Sharpening Period, and Peak Period) while offering modern scientific evidence and understand as to why Lydiard’s training periods and sequence results in successful adaption to the distance runner. At almost 500 pages, this book is packed with useful knowledge. It includes training schedules aimed at high school runners for 800m, 1500m, 3000m and 5K XC as well as schedules for 10K and Marathoning.

5. Healthy Intelligent Training: The Proven Principles of Arthur Lydiard by Keith Livingstone

   Livingstone’s book on Lydiard’s methods is the most accessible to a wide audience on my list. It offers a basic and succinct understanding of Lydiard’s methods written in a fun, very easy to read tone. This book a quick, enjoyable read.