it in my head that I want to do the Southend half-marathon on 10 June – exactly two weeks after Edinburgh. I've been told by my friend's bloke, a seasoned marathon runner, that it's a horrendous idea. Is he right? Given that it's my first marathon, I

an entry form in, you have effectively entered the lottery. There are roughly 20,000 places available for the general public after taking into account GFA [good for age], charity and club places. In most years about 100,000 entries are received, so chances

to being able to run a 1:15 half and a 2:41 marathon. But because I didn’t have the genetic build that some of my club mates and training partners had, that was my limit. – GrendelBlaming genes is a cop-outI like to tell myself that it's all about genetic

need to build up slowly and gradually, and it might be best to remove speedwork from whatver marathon training schedule you use. No point risking overtraining or injury. I was doing 1x25 and 4x15 miles a week buiding up to a triple ironman recently

– but running one day, cross training the next seems fine if your body isn't complaining. – Jeremy LarcombeHorses for courses...Upper body weights don't count as rest in my running schedule, but I do count swimming as rest and cycling, but not too much, as "half

it will transform your running and racing. I now do one day of speedwork, one fast-paced 7-miler, one 10-20 miler and one other run. I felt I haven't been doing enough, but my running is getting better and better all the time. It might be useful to get someone to do

?"It's time to face the cryptic 'cross-training' references on my marathon schedule. What should I do? There's so much choice! Whenever I run more than about 14 miles my upper body gets tired, so I know I need to develop my core strength, but what's the best

as you get older. Comparing notes with some V60s a few weeks back, most of us found that running a flat-out 10 mile or half marathon can take up to two weeks' recovery before any hard speed work. – Johnny JNote every niggle and work on preventionI suppose

'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

to put on weight on 2,000 calories a day of any sort of foods. If you're a 4'11" size 8, it might just be enough to maintain your weight. Any taller and it won't be enough. As for exercising less or more... you're already doing a substantial mileage