Abstract

Observations indicate that many middle and long distance runners employ additional stresses in their running training in certain phases or sometimes throughout the year. The additional demands are created by including hill running, running in the sand, snow or other difficult surfaces in one's training programme. Lydiard's method, which has made a great impact on the world distance running scene, incorporates uphill running into the training programme straight after a period of extensive endurance work (marathon training). The load in the endurance phase is approximately 100 miles a week and doesn't consist of long stretches at jogging speed. On the contrary, it varies between 5 to 5:20 min/mile in faster, and 6 to 6:10 min/mile, in slower training runs. Less experienced athletes work out at 5:30 to 6:10 and 6:20 to 6:40 min/mile speed. During this phase all runners participate in cross-country competitions and attempt to develop a background for the next training phase, hill running. Hill running, considered by Lydiard as one of the most important aspects in the training programme, is designed to develop power for distance running and to learn how to use it economically. "The hill running phase is one of the hardest and, although the shortest, the most important phase in my training system," claims Lydiard. Because the hill running combines aerobic and anaerobic work, with emphasis on the latter, Lydiard believes that it makes athletes capable of racing with reasonable success immediately at the conclusion of this training phase. Schiffer