in a safe place and are aware of traffic.TRAININGStart slowMost beginners worry that they're not improving fast enough. Don't compare yourself with others. Every runner gets into shape according to their own body's schedule. Physiologists have

. I enjoyed it, and I soon became fitter, but then the improvement stopped. I realised I needed a target, a tangible goal to aim for. Once I’d picked a goal race, I started to follow a schedule and added structure to my training. Every session had a

For one brief moment, probably while endorphins were still pumping through your body after a good run, you flirted with the idea of doing a marathon. Then the endorphins disappeared and the reality of training for four months and trying to squeeze

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

give up.The way to improve your lactate threshold is to train at your LT pace (see column three of the table, below). These LT paces are calculated at 85 per cent of your VO2max, or just a little bit faster than your marathon pace.Your weekly schedule

try for a quicker time or you can try and increase your distance. Personally I would go for the distance. You could think about entering a 10K race and then working towards a half marathon but again it depends on where you want to go with this running