Being vegetarian doesn't mean you have to compromise on performance. Anecdotal evidence suggests that a vegetarian diet for endurance athletes is by no means detrimental. However, an athlete who consumes a poorly planned vegetarian diet may
brain, a proper nutrition plan may take a back seat.But proper nutrition is central to your training and to race success. By fuelling correctly and ensuring you're hydrated before, during and after training, you will perform and feel better and still
? If so, how and what are the implications for those of us who finish races far behind? Is there an ideal age to run your best marathon? We posed these questions to top physiologists, statisticians, coaches and elite athletes. Their answers paint a
However long you've been running, and whatever your age or ambition, chances are you'll have questions. How can you improve your race times? What's the perfect race day diet? How can you avoid overtraining? Well, now you can pose your questions
flat out. Scott Simmons, who coaches American marathon runner Fernando Cabada, has his athlete do as many as 25x400m at 10K-race pace with three or four of them run at an all-out pace in the second half of the workout. These "hammers," as he calls them
psychological benefits to be had. "You'll become tougher mentally," she says. "You'll gain the courage to push on when it hurts. And it will hurt!"Training like a miler will have crossover benefits for your other race distances. "It can help athletes break
there needs to be some element of higher volume involved."Gowans believes that there must be a conscious decision to pursue longer racing, and that the planning involved means elite athletes have chosen the race distance that best suits them.Age-group racing
morning meal: the fat-phobic suggest skipping it until after your session; those planning a long session fuel up like builders; and those close to a race search for the perfect winning fuel.Whatever you're doing the idea is to keep your muscles
early in the race. Continue to regularly drink small amounts. Most athletes can tolerate 200-300ml every 15-20 mins but this will vary with the intensity of the exercise. You are more likely to drink them if the drinks are cool, palatable and easily
