Q I know that long runs should be run slower than race pace, but can you explain why. I want to race at eight minute/mile pace at next year’s Flora London Marathon, so surely I should train at that pace? Also, if I run a half-marathon in January

Q I’ve completed a couple of 10Ks and half-marathons, but worry that I only seem to have one pace. I want to run faster so I’ve tried adding tempo runs to my schedule. But when I make a conscious effort to speed up during a run, I soon find I have

This week's question comes from a forum member whose event schedule is looking a bit crowded..."I'm doing the Edinburgh Marathon on 27 May. It's my first marathon, and the training is going OK, though I had two weeks off due to injury. I've got

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

target half-marathon pace (85% WHR). 'Brisk' sometimes refers to half-marathon pace while 'threshold' refers to 10-mile pace. Often described as feeling 'comfortably hard', aim to hit about an 8 on a perceived-exertion scale of 10. Fast – your 5K or 10K

, but at a pace faster than you do for your longer runs. Follow that up on Sunday with a long, relaxed run – eventually running at least half-marathon distance, and if possible a couple of miles more. I’d plan your training schedule at the start of each week

- what advice would you offer him as he prepares for his first half-marathon?"I’m a fairly new runner (aged 37) and a busy job and young family prevents me from having a rigid training schedule. I tend to start each run very steadily then decide whether

was 100% of my maximum - allegedly. Will I explode? TRAINING FOR RACINGHalf-marathon - I've only run 9 miles - should I still do it?Half-marathon time - can I predict it from my 10K time?Hill race - my first: all advice welcome!Jet lag - how can I

awarded a certificate to runners who have completed a marathon in 50 British counties. There's also a 50 states award in the USA. Incredibly, more people have been in space and climbed Everest than have managed this feat. It's just as tempting to schedule

honestly say that there wasn't a worst moment as it was my first Marathon (London or otherwise) and it all went to plan. I had dreams of running sub 3:15 but only had two proper half marathons to base it on as only started running seriously last July '03. I