Lydiard's works are referred to so often that I felt I had to get and read a copy of this book. I read it back then, and I started rereading this book ten years and 12 days from when I bought it. I am delighted with how he makes plain his philosophy by starting with the fundamentals of metabolism. I hadn't remembered that being in there. That's why I reread the best books.

What I got out of this book:
- Knee lift - the endurance to maintain knee lift at the end of a race is critical
- Endurance mileage is more important than speed. You can train too fast, but you can't train too slow. Make sure the majority of your training is in the aerobic zone not anaerobic.

The twenty-one factors that influence the running athlete (in no particular order)
- The date of the race
- The challenge the race represents
- Age
- Talent
- Health
- Nutrition
- Drugs
- Hormones
- Body build
- Running technique
- Aerobic capacity
- Weight
- Body fat
- Training methods
- Coaching
- Tactics
- Self-discipline
- Track conditions
- State of the weather
- The opposition
- The balance between aerobic and anaerobic exercise.
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