Running to the Top

Rating:
Summary: Quaint
Review: My first thoughts were - "This is a book?" This is the most unprofessional job I have ever seen. The forward is one the most laughable English translations I have ever seen printed. As for the body of the text, it is clearly a compilation of various things Lydiard wrote over the years. The editors took all this different stuff, threw it together, and called it a book. The end has some charts sitting around with absolutely no explanation. The book repeats itself a lot, and there is a long section written exclusively about rugby. Apparently Lydiard once adapted his training ideas to rugby, and the resulting article was thrown into the book as a "bonus" or something.

That aside, it is fun to read some old Lydiard stuff. This book takes me way back to the glory days of the running boom, to Frank Shorter and Bill Rodgers running in their heydays, which is funny since I was born in 1984. Always nice to hear that the reason "the negroid" is beating me is that he can lift his knees while leaning forward. Thousands of people have been trying for years to find out why the East Africans are so dominant, and here Lydiard had it all figured out years ago!

Joking aside, this is a decent book about training. Lydiard is not a proponent of Long Slow Distance. He supports Long Steady Distance. His focus on high mileage and basic speed is key. Many well-informed people believe that if Americans would spend more time developing their aerobic bases and less time on the track doing hard intervals, they would run much faster. I have found this to be true in my own running.

One thing I would have liked is a better description of the hill-bounding exercises. Lydiard mentions that you should do bounding exercises up a hill, but he doesn't go into the detail of exactly what this bounding should look like. That's my only true complaint.

Rating:
Summary: Become a dominating runner
Review: This book is a must read for those who believe in true strength training. The training technique that is talked about in this book is something that can be used at any level. A definite must read.

Rating:
Summary: A great book from the best coach
Review: To those who say his theories are outdated, show me the results where Americans pounding the intervals or following a Daniels type plan are beating those like the Kenyans and the Japanese marathoners and Paula Radcliffe who train much more like Lydiard suggests. It's not a coincidence that Deena Kastor and Meb Keflezighi became the first two Americans to win Olympic marathon medals in 20 years. They are also two of the few Americans who follow a Lydiard-based training philosophy. The Kenyans do not train at LT pace all the time. Anyone who knows how they train knows that they train much like Lydiard suggests.

Yes, his writings are hard to read. He has a great mind when it comes to running technique but not quite so great when it comes to writing style. However, the wealth of wisdom in his writings is worth working yourself through the less than spectacular writing style if you are interested in racing performance.