The triathlon season is over for another year, so it's the time to focus your energies elsewhere. Autumn is an excellent time to think about your performances in the past year and to set goals for next season.Setting goals can be broken down

."It's hard to be motivated about something that's too far away to get excited about or too big to believe in," explains cognitive hypnotherapist Trevor Silvester (questinstitute.co.uk), also a keen sportsman.Set smaller goals, and you'll feel proud

or the increasingly popular ultras and others will be looking to run fast times! Whatever you decide on, make it ambitious but also work out achievable short-term goals and consider the following points, which we'll cover in the next few pages: •Planning•Conditioning•Consistency•Motivation

Andy Dixon, Editor-in-ChiefRunner since: 2007Biggest running achievement in 2011: Achieving a new marathon PB (3:08:33) at Boston in April. I trained hard for four months, gave up booze and organised weekends around long runs, so it was nice when all the hard work came to fruitio...

finishing medal, a course PB or an aim to finish the swim leg faster than last year, for example.Achievable: Set goals which are within the realms of your physical abilities and the amount you can train - outlandish goals often lead to a lack of motivation

Setting challenging yet attainable goals is key to maintaining a long-term running career. After all, you’re more likely to stay motivated when you have something to work towards and can measure your progress at regular intervals. But picking

with the motivation to train day in and day out so he can achieve the results he wants. And when things don't go the way they're supposed to, he knows that plans can, and must, be altered to suit new circumstances.Setting a goal is a process that must begin

to expect. Can you help this week’s questioner set realistic goals, and suggest how he might train to achieve them?"I ran my best 10K about 13 years ago, when I was 25, in 43 minutes. I've not done a huge amount of running since then due to work stuff

The simple act of moving forward is a powerful force. Running can function as a social service to reduce loneliness in the elderly, put troubled lives back on track and act as a focus to help young athletes achieve their goals. The following Heroes

Running addicts can be hard to take, but being laissez-faire isn't ideal, either. "Competition motivates you, but you need to focus on your own performance, not on how others do," says performance counsellor Shaunna Taylor of the Association