Arthur Lydiard believed that high-volume training was the secret to developing relaxed smooth ease, which he correctly identified as the visible mark of skillful running.

FAST FINISH RUNS A fast finish run tacks a relatively short effort in Zone 3 onto the end of a foundation run. Fast finish runs are particularly useful as a way to infuse a little moderate-intensity running into your training during the base phase,

way they were programmed to do it. They could not learn to do it better or alter their movements in response to changes in their environment (such as encountering a slope). Also, the movements of the first walking robots just didn’t look human. They were missing a certain grace and fluidity.

A foundation run is a steady, low-intensity run of short to moderate duration. It begins with a warm-up in Zone 1, then moves to Zone 2 for a while, and concludes with a cool-down back in Zone 1. Foundation runs are the bread and butter of effective 80/20 training—the workout type you’ll rely on more than any other to ensure you’re doing enough

They figure that running thirty miles per week mostly at moderate to high intensity will make them just as fit as running sixty miles mostly at low intensity.

Seiler’s rule also helps runners by explicitly defining low intensity. The boundary between low intensity and moderate intensity, according to Seiler, falls at the ventilatory threshold, which is the intensity level at which the breathing rate abruptly deepens.

If currently you run only three or four times per week, set a goal to run six or seven times per week. According to the World Health Organization, daily aerobic exercise is required for maximum all-around health. As a runner, you might as well meet this requirement by running. Not only will your health improve but your running will too.

High-Intensity Runs Speed play runs, hill repetition runs, and interval runs featuring long, short, and mixed intervals include high-intensity efforts in Zones 4 and 5.

The other key lesson of this study is that athletes generally get more out of time spent at low intensity than they get out of time spent at moderate intensity. The subjects in the polarized group had the greatest imbalance between low-intensity and moderate-intensity training, and again, they improved the most. This lesson in particular should hit