."It's hard to be motivated about something that's too far away to get excited about or too big to believe in," explains cognitive hypnotherapist Trevor Silvester (questinstitute.co.uk), also a keen sportsman.Set smaller goals, and you'll feel proud

If you don't have a big race in your sights, it can be hard to stay focused. Challenge yourself, or join others with weekly, monthly or annual mileage targets. By setting yourself a mileage challenge you can combine the motivation of having a target

socially afterwards, the more experienced runners can impart an awful lot of knowledge to beginners, the little tips that wouldn't come out in a training talk."Just good friendsFor those bitten by the training-camp bug, it can be addictive – RW forumite Ian