With one week left until my running leg of the Hyde Park Triathlon, I visited Bupa's London branch for a fitness assessment. The aim? To find out if I've got the potential to run a sub 20-minute 5K at my current level of fitness and if not, then how
You need more than one-off snapshots of your fitness levels to assess your progress properly. Races and time trials are reasonable guides to how things are developing, but they vary too much to be really useful. Races also rely on maximal effort
could be one of several things. The nerves that pass out of your spine run directly through and along the hamstring tissue. They can cause specific problems if the hamstrings tighten to protect the way the nerves move. Its also worth assessing your
, or you know you have stability problems, youd be well-advised to look for a more serious running shoe (itll probably be cheaper, too). The Veronas Max Air cushioning may be super-soft and the slip-on fit may be neat, but a more supportive shoe
to Boot Camp. The ASICS Target 26.2 Boot Camp bandwagon hit Birmingham on Friday, a chance for the runners to meet the ASICS Target 26.2 coaches, PRO Team and Runner's World staff - and for us to assess each runner's training, health and injury history
friends to watch me sweat it out over the 20K cycle. Now all that's left is the race itself.James has set us the challenge to complete the relay in sub-1:30. After the amazing results from his Bupa Fitness Assessment earlier this week, he looks set
Everyone's prone to damage and disease, and when it happens it's no surprise that you want to get back to full fitness fast. However, it's vital to be careful in your comeback strategy, to avoid relapse or re-injury. Even a healthy body will let you
schedules, and aim for a conservative first half that will allow you to assess your fitness halfway round the marathon and speed up or slow down from there. As a rough guide, do the first half 10-15 minutes slower than your best recent half-marathon time
Running is a great way to get fit - it's fun, cheap and surprisingly sociable. But if you haven't run since you were at school, it can be hard to know how to get started. How do you pace a thirty minute run? What kit do you need and how many times
with careful consideration of what you want to achieve, assessing your chances and then working as hard as you can. Wanting something is easy - ask any red-faced two-year-old in a supermarket - working hard to get what you want is the tough part and it's best
