In the past you'd have been hard-pressed to find elite runners paying attention to their abs. Today, it's practically mandatory. "It's so important. The stronger the core, the more likely you are to hold your form and less likely to get injured
and author of Running Repairs: A Runner’s Guide to Keeping Injury Free (A&C Black Publishers Ltd; £12.99). "Don’t rush through them, and make sure you’re doing them properly."The mistake: You ignore what you don’t see Runners often have weak backs because
adapting to a regular (or increasing) training load. Long runs, hard sessions and races also leave your immune system dramatically lowered, so knowing what to eat, drink and do immediately after exercise is vital for staying fit and healthy too.Keep Moving
GETTY IMAGES Better sleep. That's all that could be standing between you and a new PB. Too good to be true? Not according to Mara Yamauchi, who set a new marathon PB (2:25:03) at the International Women's Marathon in Tokyo in November. "Sleep is one
before returning to gentle 5-10-minute running or cross-training sessions. Make time for plenty of rest and recovery while slowly building your training volume over 6-12 weeks - bearing in mind, of course, the problems that originally led to you
and maintain a reasonable pace, you still only have about 2,000 calories worth of glycogen stored in your muscles – enough to get most runners to about mile 18 or 20," he says. "As glycogen reserves are used up and fatty acid metabolism increases, your heart
my mileage and practised running above 14,000 feet, but still I'd limped home after aggravating an old Achilles injury. Today I was ready for a charmed third try. I was fit, healthy and confident of a top-10 finish. Maybe I'd even break three hours
appropriately, which means 150-350ml of fluid – preferably a carbohydrate drink – for every 15-20 minutes of running. To do this, take your favourite drink on the run, or stash it along your route. And sniff out all the available water along the way – and use it