as a preventative or to help recovery from a bout of cold or flu. Research has also shown that patients recovered three times faster when they took 150-300mg of elderberry extract four times a day, while nasturtium fights upper respiratory tract

Well this week was almost a complete write-off. After catching a debilitating strain of man flu, I've been bed-ridden and missed work for three days straight. I diligently followed the 'neck rule'; any ailment that affects you below the neck (chesty

. Vegetarians and vegans, women and people trying to lose weight are most at risk of protein deficiency. Male triathletes should consume 1.2g to 1.4g protein per kg body weight per day, females need around 15 per cent less than males. So a 70kg male

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

’d finished. Instead I dug in, which was probably rather silly given the injury but I wanted to challenge myself where I’d failed last week.At mile 15 the decision was taken out of my hands. My running buddy had been struggling with flu and had to walk

and race at," says Gardener. "For instance I know that if I run a marathon at 145bpm, I won't be slowing down at the end or that 156 will result in a decent 10K." Julie-Anne Ryan is another runner who discovered that her running improved after she purchased

of the participants running a 62-mile race consumed 14,000 millilitres of liquid; another who ran only 26 miles, drank only 280 millilitres. The latter runner, not surprisingly, showed the most loss of vascular fluid, resulting in thickened blood plasma and impaired

before. Running 26.2 miles places high demands on the body and you’re likely to end up with depleted fuel stores, accumulated fluid in the muscles, dehydration and perhaps some damaged muscle tissue. So, not surprisingly, you will be susceptible to injury

trying again! Also, I generally wear extra layers of clothing when I've been feeling rough. I was told it's important to keep warm after a cold – can't remember why, though! – Simon RichardsRunning with flu can kill. There were several deaths a while back

can slow your finish time by several minutes, and heat or cold by even more. A survey of marathon finish times suggests that 12°C is the ideal temperature, a temperature of 0°C or 25°C adds seven per cent to your time, and if the day hits 30°C, you can