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How to find your true aerobic ceiling without a lab — and what the number actually tells you.
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Lydiard Training <newsletter@lydiardrunning.com>
Issue #14 · Hills are speedwork in disguise
This week's idea
Lydiard never treated hills as a side dish. The hill circuit develops elastic strength and running economy that flat speedwork alone can't — it's the bridge between your base and your sharpening phase.
Try it
Find a 200–300m hill at a runnable grade. Bound up tall and springy, jog the flat to recover, stride the downhill relaxed, jog back. Start with 6 minutes of continuous circuit; add a couple of minutes each week.
From the science desk
The payoff is largely neuromuscular: stiffer tendons return more energy, so the same pace costs you less oxygen. That's free speed you keep right through your racing block.