About

The Lydiard Running Method

Build a deep aerobic engine first, then sharpen it. That is the whole idea behind the system Arthur Lydiard taught the world — and it still produces champions today.

Arthur Lydiard, the New Zealand coach often called the father of modern distance training, showed that ordinary runners could reach extraordinary fitness by training the aerobic system patiently and progressively. His athletes ran further than anyone thought sensible — and then ran faster than anyone thought possible.

What we do here

This site turns Lydiard's principles into practical, periodized schedules you can actually follow. Tell us your race, your timeline, and your current fitness, and we build a plan that moves you through each phase in the right order, at the right effort, for the right number of weeks.

The three pillars

• Aerobic base. Weeks of steady, mostly easy mileage that grow your capillaries, mitochondria, and confidence. This is the foundation everything else stands on.
• Hills. A transition phase that builds strength, power, and resilient running form before any hard track work begins.
• Speed. Sharpening and coordination in the final weeks — anaerobic work layered carefully on top of a base that can absorb it, peaking you for race day.

Who it's for

First-time racers and seasoned competitors alike. The method scales from the 1500m to the marathon and beyond, because the underlying physiology is the same: a big aerobic base makes every kind of running better.