hills at threshold) will build your endurance and strength ready for the second half of the race. Q. I've put together my own training schedule, and intend to run 27 miles four weeks prior to the race. Is this OK to do? Russell Gardham A. No

, sodium, calcium and magnesium in your diet. You can also incorporate plyometric exercises (ie bounding and hopping) into your sessions, to improve the strength and endurance of your leg muscles. An ideal time to incorporate plyometrics is before a speed

coach train for 5Ks in the summer. Why not have a go at this distance on the track, as well as the road. You’ll retain the endurance benefits of your marathon training, and working on your speed in the summer will help you to perform better over 10K, 10

should not enable you to run faster next year. It’s partly a question of how much time you have and partly a matter of avoiding injury. Use the next month or so to train mainly for the 10K, doing two fast sessions a week at around 10K pace and aiming

distance first.A The basic training for a half-marathon is the same as for a 10K, because performance is directly related to oxygen intake – your basic running speed. However, there’s obviously an extra endurance factor, which has to be taken into account

? 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

at race pace or a little faster, and, eventually, two or three runs at an easy, comfortable pace. To start with, add an easy run, with the option of tempo sections, to your current schedule. Once you’re used to this, you can contemplate the addition

. But, until your training has given you the endurance to run 26.2 miles comfortably inside nine-minute miling, it will be extremely hard to achieve. You do need to build up to run more miles in training, and so you’ll probably need to hold off

:I’ve got the speed but not the enduranceI’ve got the endurance but not the speedI can’t stand speedworkI’ve never raced that far beforeHow should I pace my race?What time should I aim for? 10K Q+As How often can I race 10Ks? Can I be in good form for 10

to keep your endurance levels high during the summer. Firstly, make sure you recover properly after the race and don't do too much for a few weeks afterwards. Then, gradually try and get back into a routine - a month after the marathon you should start