It’s easy to understand why so many of you ask us for advice about choosing a treadmill. Next to good shoes, a treadmill may be a runner’s best friend. You can do practically anything your training demands – hills, intervals, tempo, long distance

structured speedwork, it’s a super way of improving your strength, power, economy and VO2max, but in a more rounded – and fun – way. If you add some good, strengthening hill-climbs, it’s a total all-in-one session. How? Choose what, for you, is a normal

I’m surprised the Chinese girl’s plimsolls aren’t melting as she passes me on the hill. It’s 35°C and rising at the start of the second annual Great Wall Marathon. No amount of sunblock or light-coloured headgear makes it seem like anything less

I’m surprised the Chinese girl’s plimsolls aren’t melting as she passes me on the hill. It’s 35°C and rising at the start of the second annual Great Wall Marathon. No amount of sunblock or light-coloured headgear makes it seem like anything less

), jog back (1) 4Tuesday: Jog out (1), 12 x 400m with 100m jog recoveries (24), jog back (1) 26Wednesday: Jog out (1), 4 laps steady (4), jog back (1) 6Thursday: Jog out (1), 10 x hill reps and recoveries (20), jog back (1) 22 Friday: Rest 0Saturday: Jog

to simulate varying pace and terrain. Typically, you key in how long you want the session to be (and sometimes the starting speed), and the treadmill does the rest. Programme choices often include speedwork repetitions, hill repetitions, heart

inA decent choice if you want to negotiate supermarket aisles as well as running routes. Its 12in wheels require a bit more effort than 16in ones, especially as the tyres are fatter, and you certainly notice the extra weight up hills and over kerbs

, it was hard to forget that you were pushing it, especially up hills. That, in short, made it less fun to run with. One unique feature was that the front wheel has a swivel option. Some runners found that this made the buggy highly manoeuvrable; others

Standfirst: 6- to 7-days-a-week mile schedulesAuthor: Sean Fishpool and Steve SmythePics:Issue date: aug01 /panelKeywords:uan63-->6/7 days a week   MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT SUNWEEK 1 30-40 mins slow 3 x 800m at mile pace with 3-min recoveries

Standfirst: 4 surefire stride-improvers for mile racingAuthor: Sean Fishpool and Steve SmythePics:Issue date: aug01 /mile panelKeywords:uan59-->There’s more to running than running, as any tuned-in coach will tell you. That’s especially the case