Q. I live in London and am training for an Ironman-distance race in the French Alps. It's going to be hilly. Is there any way I can prepare for the climbs?  If you're living in the city and don't have easy access to climbs, I'd recommend two strength sessions per week on a turbo ...

schedule from week to week and alternate your route or running partners to boost your motivation. If you're focused on an ambitious goal, such as a first race or a new distance, alternate focused weeks - complete with hills, long runs and speedwork

VO2 max - the measure of how much oxygen your body can get to your muscles - has tended to  grab all the headlines when it comes to evaluating endurance running performance. After all, it's relatively straightforward to measure, gives quantifiable data and is a decent starting po...

. If you’re running more than 16 miles, use the same formula, but only run the final three to four miles at marathon goal pace.Hills + 800sImprove form and fitnessCombining a hilly route with half-mile repeats elevates your heart rate, which boosts your

When: Weston-Super-MareWhere: February 13First man: Adam Watt 59:08First woman: Annabel Granger 1:04:27Last finisher: 2:16:45No. of finishers: 941Type of Race: Trail/ Road/ HillsRW Rating 2011: 89%No prizes for guessing the difficulty rating

; raising money for charity.Duchy Marathon **ENTER ONLINE**When: March 13  Where: Cornwall  2010 Rating: 88%Run this race if you like... a pre-race pasta party; stunning sea views; great camaraderie; hills; taking part in Britain's second oldest marathon

Halfway up Heartbreak Hill, something gives. My hamstrings, which have been grumbling with increasing regularity for the last three miles, tighten up altogether. I stop, limp to the side of the road and try to stretch some flexibility back

zone, they also quickly put your body into fat-burning mode, says Kimberly Shah, an online running coach in Chicago, US (njoyracing.com). To avoid injury, says Shah, newcomers should firstly build a base level of fitness before attempting the hill

and I was swept into an almost immediate baptism of sludge. The first of the seven big hills that define the Plod was upon us by the two-mile mark. The peak of the ascent, where a stile bottle-necked the pack for several minutes, proved my only grumbling

short 1.5-mile time trial. I had a cobbled climb, a tricky descent and some flat sections in it as well, so it was pretty hectic. Then I had four stages all between 100-120 miles in length. There were a few hills, all sorts of weather conditions