Prix, you wouldn't fill your Formula One car with diesel. Nor should you pump the wrong fuel into your body before a race. What you eat and drink in the days and weeks leading up to an event, especially one of marathon distance or longer

sure I would be capable of undergoing the necessary training. I did another two halfs including the Great North Run and now had a PB of 1:47:17. At Christmas my focus switched to training for London and I used the Runners World Intermediate schedule

after the Bath half-marathon and put it down to dehydration (although I had drunk two litres from my camelbak en route). As it was unusually warm on Sunday I wanted to make sure that didn't happen again, so although I made sure I sipped the water

If you were in any doubt about the magic and madness of running the Flora London Marathon, these quotes and stories are just the ticket. From the lunatic to the life-affirming, they're all the reason you need for counting down to the arrival of next

our Advisory Board. Passing on the benefits of their experience were RW coaching editor Bruce Tulloh; US editor Owen Anderson, for the sports science angle; Charlie Spedding, England’s fastest-ever marathon runner, who has a 10K PB of 28:11; and Harry

on the day. – Little Miss HappyYou can still do it but, it will require discipline. Take a week at a time but commit to it and you should be OK. – Road Runner 2I got round my first half-marathon on the RW 10-week schedule earlier this year. Following

, an assistant professor in the faculty of kinesiology and head of the Running Injury Clinic at the University of Calgary, says that he sees a lot of newly injured runners during that third month of marathon training, when a 16-week programme pushes the mileage

GETTY IMAGESFern Oliner had been a runner for more than 25 years when she experienced a breakthrough in her performance during a half-marathon."For the very first time, I felt like a true runner,' she recalls. "There I was, running uphill, passing

In the future, we'll be able to run for ever. Octogenarians will record PBs thanks to organ cloning and advanced cryogenic suspension. Speedy nonagenarians, bored with clocking six-minute miles at the London Marathon, will apply for places at ultras

't give up. – raceshyRunning is valuable "me time"I was back running within two weeks of giving birth to my daughter, who's now two, and I trained for and ran a half marathon PB within 5 months. It is tricky, especially if you are breast feeding, but I