specific sport, you should practise that activity solely, and that by throwing similar activities into the mix you confuse your neuromuscular system, thus actually inhibiting your running progress. This explains why world-class athletes in one endurance

athletes. If you’ve made a pace chart of your mile splits, make sure that you follow it. A heart rate monitor can be a useful check, but only by trial and error over a number of races. (First observe your heart rate in a conservatively paced race, then try

There are thousands of races in Britain every year. Where do you start to look for one? When you flick through a race diary, what are you looking for? Chances are that you'll focus on an event that's close to home. Never mind if it's a one

Standfirst: Four experts tell you everything you need to know about running a 10KAuthor: Bruce Tulloh, Owen Anderson, Charlie Spedding, Harry WilsonPics:Issue date: racing secrets bookletKeywords:uan85--In the RUNNER’S WORLD editorial offices a

-to-bike sessions, thus guaranteeing optimum response during racing.Speed kingIt's a good idea to base your brick training on the demands of your next race. Sessions can cover practising race pace; developing aerobic endurance, threshold pace and aerobic endurance

-road terrain is that you are running on an uneven surface, so you need to prepare your body for that," says Barden. "If you were to do all of your training on the road, you might initially feel OK in a cross-country race, but your body will fatigue a lot

1. Sleep well"In reality, trying to sleep well the night before a race never works," says triathlon coach Rick Kiddle (www.rickkiddle.com). "The best sleep will be the night before the night before. Many athletes can survive with little sleep

week.1. If it's tough enough for the pros, it's good enough for you"Both sessions here address pace. In a race we need to control our pace and know what paces we can perform at. The difficult discipline is swimming. In a race we cannot keep looking

). This turns on its head the accepted system of starting a marathon build-up from a low mileage base and building up the long runs and total miles between Christmas and the race – usually about 12 to 16 weeks. This is fine for relative beginners

and Physical Fitness found that it's the sleep you get two nights before a race that matters. The study found that athletes' VO2 max (an indicator of aerobic fitness) wasn't adversely affected after one sleepless night; it was lowest two days after sleep