to four. To their surprise, they didn’t slow down in local road races. So they cut back to three days of running. "Lo and behold, our 10K, half-marathon and marathon times didn’t suffer at all," says Pierce. "The more we discussed this – and we discussed

marathoner, wanted to lower his personal best from 3:50 to 3:30. And Deena Drossin, the American 10K and cross-country star, wanted nothing less than to run the marathon faster than a legend – Joan Samuelson. All three runners achieved their goals. Each used

marathoner, wanted to lower his personal best from 3:50 to 3:30. And Deena Drossin, the American 10K and cross-country star, wanted nothing less than to run the marathon faster than a legend – Joan Samuelson. All three runners achieved their goals. Each used

This extract is from The Runner's World Complete Book of Running by RW USA Editor Amby Burfoot. You can now preview it, free, for two weeks without risk or obligation. All running programmes for beginners are the same: they move you from walking

. Pace YourselfFind your 10K time in the left-hand column and then trace across to the right to locate your VO2max, lactate threshold, and running economy training paces. If your 10K time is between the whole numbers, you can easily adjust your