Daws Hills

Ron Daws was a "Self-Made Olympian" or at least that is what he claimed in his book, The Self-Made Olympian. Daws ran the Marathon in the 1968 Olympics for the United States. Daws' books (he also wrote Running Your Best: The Committed Runner's Guide to Training and Racing were very inspirational to me when I restarted running after a few years of neglect during college.

Daws was a believer in New Zealand coach Athur Lydiard's training philosophy--especially incorporating hill and form workouts. In Daws' books, he presents his version of Lydiard's training scheme and made me believe in them.

One thing Daws' books lacked, though, was specific paces to run workouts at. A few years ago, a friend recommended Jack Daniel's book, Daniels' Running Formula. Daniels' overall plan is very similar to Daws' plan although it has less emphasis on hills. Daniels does, however, provide specific workout paces. Since getting Daniels' book, I have tried to mesh the two systems. Using Daws' hill workouts as part of Daniels' "Repetition" phase.

Today was my first Daws Hill workout of the season. It included a warm up, three circuits, explained below, and a cooldown. Each circuit consisted of:

• Uphill portion that include form drills--high step, butt-kickers, skipping, bounding, broad jump.
• Short recovery. (~ 2 minutes)
• 2x200 at Daniels' Rep pace. Tried for 42 seconds but legs not ready yet.
• Short recovery. (~ 2 minutes)
• Downhill portion. Gradual downhill (under a quarter mile) run at fast clip.
• Short recovery. (~ 1/4 mile)
  

The total workout was 6.75 miles. Eventually, I will expand to 4 circuits and extend the cooldown to get a total of 10 miles. Overall pace doesn't matter.

If there is any shortcut in running, Daws says, it is running hills. I do not count on it being shortcut, just the first step in a fresh training cycle.

ORN: 6.75 Daws (11:22)