I just finished reading a book by Ernst van Aaken Called "Van Aaken Method". I am a huge proponent of long slow distance and started working towards the "Lydiard Method" way of training earlier this Spring. Van Aaken was experimenting with long slow distance before Lydiard, as early as the 40's. Though both methods are quite similar there are some slight differences. I experimented with both over the last bit and have merged the methods into a plan that works well for me, with my plan resembling Lydiard's method the closest. These endurance centered methods are the extreme opposite of the tempo or interval training methods that experienced popularity in the middle of the last Century, the premise of which is to run many anaerobic intervals (using more oxygen than you can breath causing lactic acid to form) without full recovery between intervals. What is Long Slow Distance? In a nutshell the theory involves running every day and running as much mileage
It is probably apparent from this title that I am burned out of thesis work and running has fought back my studies and crept back into my thoughts, and I hope as of tomorrow, I will be cleared to run. I did not get any running in this weekend like I had hoped in my previous blog entry. I did eat a lot of turkey and had a subsequent triptophan coma. This is my second Canadian Thanksgiving and it felt like Thanksgiving this year I had a great holiday. I am currently wearing my Holter heart monitor as I write this. I turn it in to be analyzed and then hit the treadmill first thing in the morning. Tomorrow will be my first time running since my incident. I am so anxious it feels like the night before a big race. My research has settled down a bit and a change in timing for committee meetings has altered my deadlines, so I will actually have some time to think about stuff other than rocks. As my blog implies I would like to talk about several (of many) trail running heroes I have and why, o