Gems from Arthur's Treasure Trove

by Ian Kemp

Photo: lydiard.co.nz

On Saturday 3 June 2000, on the evening before the Christchurch Marathon, I attended a seminar addressed by Arthur Lydiard, then aged 82. I know it's taken a while but I've hung on to my notes from that day and finally got to putting them on the web.

Lydiard says that to select a coach, "look at the athletes he's trained." By this standard, Lydiard himself must count as one of the all-time greats, having coached multiple Olympic medallists and having transformed the national programs of Finland, and Mexico. Writing from NZ, I am sure that he is more highly regarded overseas than at home, unfortunately! In the UK and Australia, I had heard much of Lydiard, but have never heard him first hand.

He appeared energetic and outspoken. Lydiard has a rapid-fire mode of speaking and goes direct to the heart of matter as quickly as possible. As such, he is a very quotable person! The format of the seminar was a panel discussion, with Lydiard asked to comment on various propositions put to him from the floor. The following quotes give some insight into Lydiard's methods.

On goal-setting: "The greater the endurance component of the event the longer your goals have to be. For 10k or the marathon, you have to have five-year goals. For middle distance runners, it can be shorter, say two to three years."

On development: "The only way to build ability is to increase aerobic capacity. Many people try to improve their anaerobic capacity, which is beyond the capability of the human body. The only way to improve is to lift the aerobic base. Most people will still be developing aerobic capacity 10 years after they start running, whatever age they start. So if you start at 40, you will still be developing the cardiovascular system 10 years later."

On training: "I have a saying 'train, don't strain.' The Americans have the saying 'no pain, no gain' and that's why they have no distance running champions. They get down to the track with a stopwatch and flog their guts out thinking that it'll make them a champion, but they'll never make a champion that way."

On planning the season: "You have three stages, conditioning, hill running, then racing, and you should finish one before you start the next."

On overtraining: "If you are not enjoying training, stop all anaerobic training. Go out for a long jog, so slow that the old ladies with shopping baskets go past you. Do that until you start to enjoy it!"

On coaching: "Athletes need to enjoy their training. They don't enjoy going down to the track with a coach making them do repetitions until they're exhausted. From enjoyment comes the will to win."

Finding a coach: "Just have a look at the athlete's he's trained. If they're no-hopers, that's how you'll end up!"

How to train: "Know your limits and stay within them. Do what you think you can cope with."

On altitude training: "It has no effect. It's attitude, not altitude!"

It's a shame I didn't have a tape recorder, as there would have been 100 more! The seminar was great work by those associated with the Christchurch Marathon.

For more information, check Arthur Lydiard's web site.

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