on a shorter race distance for this spring and postpone your marathon goal for a year.Do you have people to train with?Your preparations will be easier if you can find a partner, or better still, a small group to go out with. The added motivation

split? icclesuezA. The best strategy for a steady pace through the second half is to run it right in the first half - evenly and at a pace that your training and shorter races indicate is feasible. It's not easy maintaining pace when you are tired

for running. High-impact sports and sports that involve a lot of lateral motion, or stop-and-go movements, should be avoided. These include football, tennis, volleyball, rugby and some aerobics.CyclingIt's doubtful that cyclists could improve their cycling

slowly into the bloodstream - eat it at least three hours before the race," says Schenker. Bananas are the nutritional equivalent of football's magic sponge - that's why the likes of tennis world number one Rafael Nadal munch on them at every opportunity