the stage on which the rest of the race is acted out. If you fly away at the start, lactic acid will flood your legs. Research suggests that the optimal pacing strategy is either 50-50 or 51-49 (ie the first 5K occupies 51 per cent of the total time

things, like camaraderie, are what keep me running.d)They're very important. I like how running makes me look and feel, and it's a great way to keep my weight in check. You're a minute slower for a 5K than you were last year. What do you do about it? a

, “It was just fantastic. I’m going on another one, I liked it so much,” she says. “We did an easy 5K, a threshold session and a long run, and there were lots of informative talks.” But one of the best aspects of the camp for Neale was having people

). It can lead to the biggest improvements in your speed endurance and causes a knock-on effect at all distances from 5K to marathon. Use the session to hit a range of paces - for example, in a session of mile reps, run some parts nearer to marathon or half

, but there is nothing like running a short, fast race to boost your confidence and make you feel better about your running. If you are used to running halfs or marathons, even a 10K can do this for you, although something shorter like a mile race or 5K is the perfect

5K pace with one-minute recoveries. Or, one of my favourites, run four times two minutes at around 5K pace with 90-second recoveries. Do a two- to four-minute warm-up first and a similar cool-down afterwards.3 Get an unexpected bonus! You don’t just

5K and 10K pace.Week Nine (60-64M)Mon 5M (40 mins) easyTue 9M of 1M jog and strides, then 15 x 2 mins up hill, jog back. Then 1M jog at end of sessionWed 9M (70 mins) slowThu 10M (70 mins) steadyFri Rest or 4M (30 mins) easySat 5M (40 mins) easy

marathon (steady) and half-marathon (brisk) paces. Also, the times in the Tuesday speed sessions are alternatives to the distances, rather than targets. You should be running them as fast yet evenly as you can; roughly between 5K and 10K pace.Week Nine (50M

between 5K and 10K pace.Week Nine (48M)Mon RestTue 7M of 1M jog and strides, then 10 x 2 mins up hill, jog back. Then 1M jog at end of sessionWed 8M slowThu 9M steadyFri RestSat 4M (36 mins) easy or parkrunSun 20M (3hrs) slowWeek Ten (39M)Mon RestTue 7M

; roughly between 5K and 10K pace.Week Nine (45M)Mon RestTue 7M of 1M jog and strides, then 10 x 2 mins up hill, jog back. Then 1M jog at end of sessionWed 8M (75 mins) slowThu 9M (77 mins) steadyFri RestSat 3M (30 mins) easy or parkrunSun 18M (approx 2hrs