Neither London nor Boston but internet solecisms.
Arthur Lydiard, who has died aged 87, was the New Zealand coach who is usually credited with the invention of Long Slow Distance Running. At the time, LSD was widely used to denote pounds (‘libri’ in Latin), shillings (‘sesteri’), and pence (‘dinari’) The “Flying Finn” Paavo Nurmo also advocated running long-distance, but he didn’t train others. Lydiard experimented intelligently -- he ran over 200 miles a week at one point, and concluded it was too much. His regime stabilised at about 100 miles/week for the endurance phase.
Lydiard’s first major success was in the the 1960 Olympics where his athletes Peter Snell and Murray Halberg won the 800m gold (Snell) and 5000m gold (Halberg) almost back-to-back. In the 1974 Commonwealth Games a Lydiard runner, Dick Tayler, won the 10,000m gold beating the world record holder at the time, England’s David Bedford.
When he was coaching, received medical wisdom was that interval training was not only for runners but for heart patients and general health. Lydiard married — for the third time — when he was 80. His wife was 32.
Various obituaries and tributes:
I’m sure Richard Brewer can correct my Latin spelling, and Mick will have something to say.Not entirely relevant, but searching for the above I found this excellent article on John Walker by Lydiard trainee, Dick Quax.
Updated 2 January, 2005. I received this email today; the interview is very good.
I read your Mr. Arthur Lydiard piece. I had the great pleasure of spending three days with Mr. Lydiard when I had him here for a lecture outside of Chicago in late October 2004. I have studied him since the 1970s, did a Q&A story on him a couple years back, and then the chance of a distance runner\’s life of spending a few days with him. Feel free to share this Q&A with your club:
http://www.chicagoaa.com/features/speedplaylydiard03.html
Also, my family is originally from Cardiff, and I spent some time there in 1975. When Mr. Lydiard was here in October, he told me that his family also came from Wales.
Best regards,
Mike Prizy
Posted by Dave at 06:26 PM
At least some of us ran on Christmas morning. Alan Mann dressed up, naturally. I asked him if he was tired from the night before, and he said, “I didn’t do anything last night.” He’s so modest!
All photos from Clare Johnson’s camera.
Clare provided the brandy, and Alan (as promised) brought the tarts.
Posted by Dave at 08:16 PM
For those of you who fancy a bike ride to burn off some of that festive food, we will be meeting at the Club/UWIC on Monday 27th December at 9.30am. All welcome, the more the merrier!!
Update (by DW). I should point out that this morning at 10am the roads and most of UWIC car park were covered in black ice. The BBC 24 hour weather forecast for Cardiff says it will be -3 Celcius at 9am which means it’ll be very slippery when you meet. It’s not up to me to cancel it, but if you don’t feel safe, don’t go along.
Posted by Phil at 11:37 PM
No rest for the wicked. If you wish to shift those extra pounds over Christmas then you’re in for some luck. As Mick mentioned in an earlier post, due to the fortuitous timing of Yuletide, the club is able to open on both the 23rd and 30th of December. Mr Alan Mann will be hosting his Christmas morning run, leaving the club at 8:30 I believe (check the comments against this post as I’m sure somebody will correct me if I’m wrong). Clare is also planning to have a club social run over the Christmas and New Year period, again meeting at the club. The traditional time of the social run is 10am though the date is TBA. Again check comments against this post.
I’ll take this opportunity to wish all members of the club a very merry Christmas and a happy and successful 2005.
Posted by Simon at 10:25 AM
As quite of a few of you wear Lance Armstrong’s Live Strong bands, you might like to know (as I learned from Anthony Cox) the unintended alternative meaning.
Several area hospitals are putting the brakes on Lance Armstrong’s cancer organization fundraising bracelets. It’s not cold-hearted backlash, but rather a safety precaution.
Patients wear colored bracelets to identify safety needs, said Lisa Johnson, vice president of patient services for Morton Plant Mease Health Care. Yellow stands for “do not resuscitate.”
As Anthony says, “The rubber bands appear to be spreading into the rest of the rainbow.” Nike, the very model of a modern multinational, do what they do best.
Gart and Scheels have been selling the Nike “Baller Band” version of the bracelet which comes in many colors including, black, light blue, pink, red and glow-in-the-dark and have different basketball terms embossed in them, “battleground” being the most common, or the Nike swoosh.
Sunny Delzer, an employee at Scheels, said the store sold out of its bracelets in about three days and doesn’t plan to get any more.
Mike Ashworth, who works in the athletic department at Gart says that while he thinks the “LiveStrong” bracelets are the most popular, the Nike version sells out quickly too.
“Whenever we get them in, they sell like crazy,” he said.
It’s dubious whether Nike, which also manufactures the LiveStrong edition, donates any proceeds from its “Baller Band” bracelets.
“They just jumped on the wagon,” Ashworth said. “They aren’t for charity.”
“Battleground” is such a suitable term for basketball.
Posted by Dave at 12:36 PM
You can either be a winer or a whiner.
Mick and I disagree about great British athletes, but I was v. impressed by this Torygraph interview with Sebastian Coe. (Registration required; if you don’t have reg, why not? otherwise try Bugmenot.)
It was training abroad that gave Coe his introduction to wine, not only in Italy but also in France and Australia. As a result, it is the wines of these countries that he favours. While living in Emilia Romagna, he developed a taste for Sangiovese and then, after a stint in Melbourne training with Daley Thompson for the 1984 Olympics, he got stuck into Aussie wines.
…
Coe’s peak running weight was a mere nine stone, something he came to regret in 1982, when he a ran a race in Bordeaux. Afterwards, he was invited to Cháteau Lascombes, the second-growth property in Margaux, with the French athlete, Michel Jazy.
“ We were given our weight in bottles from previous vintages and I cursed the fact that I was so light, and even considered filling my pockets with lead,” he says. “I drank the last bottle a few years ago and it was utterly delicious. I have loved red Bordeaux ever since, especially wines from Margaux, and I would say that, on balance, claret is my favourite style.”
Elsewhere, Anne Donald (also in the Torygraph; also required registration I think) celebrated her recovery from cancer. Anne is a tribute to the club. She is a lovely optimistic person who supports others regardless of talent without any tint of envy (she used to be a sprinter, so her stamina running is modest). We need more like her. Competition is good. Friendship is immortal.
Then again, there are the races we’re glad we didn’t attend.
Posted by Dave at 01:21 AM
Yes we all know that Christmas is coming fast but don’t think that gives you an excuse to stay away from the greatest club on the planet. The club will be open as usual on the Thursdays of both 23rd and 30th December. I’ve given Lynn assurances that we’ll be there as usual so please feel free to invite any friends to join us for a few miles followed by a few drinks. Careful with the alcohol, though, we hope this is both a Merry and Safe Christmas for everyone!
Posted by Mick at 07:12 PM
… In more ways than one. The dancefloor was choc full of flailing arms, congo-ing legs and gyrating hips. There was so little elbow room that a rather disappointed Mick McGeoch was forced to abstain from dancing. Committed groovers were still raving it up into the small hours. Clearly, the dancers were fuelled by the hearty meal and buoyed by the festive spirit. Move over Rio.
I think its fair to say that the Les Croups Christmas do was a roaring success. So on behalf of all those that left Churchills last night with a full stomach, a slightly dizzy head and very tired legs, I’d like to thank Clare for all of her efforts in organising a superb event and thank the ladies for introducing us to an excellent venue.
P.S. If you liked last night, you can do it all again on Friday (7.30pm, Chapter art centre, Canton, all welcome.)
To show how inclusive are, we even photographed the doormen. None of them looked at all like runners!
Simon and Jemma.
Mick makes a speech and eveyone falls asleep.
The red winos. 
Alan “wild and crazy guy” Mann.
Lynn and Maria.
Val Aston, Jeff Aston, John Plain, and Helen Evans.
Posted by Simon at 10:58 AM
The Triathlon section will be leading a 2 hour group bike ride on Saturday, leaving UWIC carpark on Western Avenue at 9.30am. So if you are training for triathlon or simply doing a bit of cross-training, then this is the ride for you (road bikes only).
Posted by Simon at 05:14 PM
Last updated 22 September 2006
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