Hadd's Approach to Distance Running

I was about to give this ago a while back but then I got distracted by triathlon training. Recently I have just been too lazy!

Good luck with it. If you stick with it then keep us updated on how you get on, as I would be interested to know.

I seem to remember there being a mammoth thread on this a while back.

Great method if you have the time to devote yourself to it properley,

Hadd/Parker/Lydiard - isn't it all pretty much one and the same thing?

I would say Lydiard/Parker encorporate quality as well as the base mileage.  Hadd seems to be only about grinding out mile after mile @ <70% for months on end.  Have to say though I did try Hadd for about 7 months and during that time I ran a pb for 13.1 with no taper and not particularly trying. It felt very, very easy.  

If you have the time and committment Hadd training is extremely beneficial at building a HUGE aerobic base and developing the slow twitch mitochondria (sp?).. Personally I'm working a sort of combination of Hadd but leaning more towards Parker training.  Whatever works for the individual really.

TBSIARF

TBSIRF

What time was half and how big was the pb?

Did any of you do the 2400m tests?

My 13.1 time was 1:27 a pb by 12 minutes. 

Myself I never did the 2400 tests as I could see improvements were being made through ordinary training and races.  

JK - I totally agree.  It's about aerobic miles and lots of them.  I did no "speedwork" before my 13.1 pb. Just loads of miles.  Didn't someone (Lydiard, Bowerman??) say "Miles make champions".

Lydiard is the Godfather of running. He advocates at least 3 months of aerobic running. The longer the better. It's not all about easy running though. He talks about the "best aerobic state".

It's generally considered that he talked about 3 speeds in the base (conditioning) phase. Easy, steady and threshold, although he didn't necessarily use these terms.

Lydiard was before monitors etc, but in todays terms they equate to.....Easy about 70%WHR (working heart rate), Steady about 75%-80% WHR, and threshold about 85% WHR.

He always talked about your "best aerobic state" and believed in running to how you feel on that given day. It's all about raising your aerobic threshold. Something the African youngsters do without thinking, while they're running to school and back.

Jokerman - Any websites or books you can recommend with regard to Lydiard and his training methods?

Lydiard as a few books out. I haven't read them all. Off the top of my head,Running to the top is good.

 Put Arthur Lydiard foundation into google and go to the training link. His philosophy is there to be read.

Many thanks. Will have a look at those.

I agree alot of this is based on Lydiard's methods.

But I think Hadd makes it alot clearer using a heart rate monitor at what level easy running actually is.I've often ran too fast on my easy runs in the past.

Impressive pb

Impressive pb TBSIRF, that was a big improvement. What sort of mileage were doing before and during the base training? 

Good link Kryten

If anyone sticks to Lydiards philosophy, they won't go far wrong. Afterall he did have 20 Olympic gold medalists under him at one time or other.

What impresses me with him is, he actually tested his theories on him self. At times running 250m/week, just to see how the body would benefit or not. He concluded that 100m/week is the optimum distance for most athletes in conditioning phase, although no doubt some elites run a little further at times these days.

Although Lydiards athletes didn't include their morning recovery runs (about 35min)  within the 100miles. If these were added they would no doubt be closer to the 150m/week mark!

IanRunner

Prior to starting the Hadd training I was averaging 40-45 miles a week, including a tempo session and Sunday long run.   Once I got into Hadd, and started using a heart rate monitor to ensure my runs were run at the correct %whr/bpm, i could easily begin to rack up the miles. 

It didn't take too long before i could easily run 70 miles a week and I peaked at 85 miles.   I could really begin to feel the difference as I could run 10-12 miles most evenings with no problem at all.   The "long run" at the weekend (normally something between 16-20) seemed like no distance.

At the start of the training it was sooooooo frustrating trying to keep my heart @145bpm and seemed so slow but gradually, over time, this improved.  You have to stick with it and wait for the bodies adaptations to take place, but boy, it feels so good to have your legs ticking over nicely even @ <70%whr. 

Thats big improvements in mileage and from what sounds like, fairly comfortably.

What are your pb's at the moment if you dont mind me asking ?

My pb's (which are from 2006 as I've had 2 years out from running and only started again in May are

10m: 65:07
13.1:  1hour 27 45s
26.2:  3 hours 4 minutes 18s