focused on hill repeats, a speedwork period, a racing peak, and finally a recovery period before you start all over. No training system is more widely accepted. But critics say that all key training elements can be woven into a one- or two-week cycle

workouts that will ultimately make you a stronger runner and faster racer. As a general rule, you need at least one easy recovery run after every hard session you do.Fast FixesTo rein yourself in on easy runs, wear a heart-rate monitor on all recovery days

and then function effectively at work! From now on, I shall be doing my long runs midweek. I managed a great hillwork session too. I picked the worst hill in our area but to be honest - dare I say it - I didn't find it too hard. I don't know how much I got out

Hard Training Q&AsTRAINING GENERAL• Do I need to take an "easy week" when my average mileage isn’t that high? • Should you try and break through ‘the wall’ in training? • Is it just the cold weather, or am I getting fitter? • How do I overcome

days a week. Once your body is happy with that, introduce some speed work, efforts or hills. Whatever you choose, build it up slowly and listen to your body. – FlavsA few light jogs in the first week will help ease the stiffness out. Your legs

to keep the blood flowing while I was lying on the sofa. I kept quiet about it not having occurred to me that I shouldn't be scrambling in and out of the loft with heavy boxes, digging the garden, and hopping on the train and doing some gentle hill

training.Cross purposesNick Anderson, former UK Athletics head coach for cross-country (runningwithus.com), says endurance is greatly enhanced by the discipline: "The undulations and hills power up your legs, and having to cope with the differing pace

in bare feet, which strengthens the muscles of the foot. I had 12 different training activities then. They varied from 20-mile slow runs to 15 x 100m fast strides, and included fartlek, hill climbs, road repetitions (up to 5 x 2200m), weight training

generally get my athletes to run at least a mile before doing dynamic stretches, then running drills before each training session. For recovery runs you don't really need to do this, as the first part of the run should be nice and steady, but for harder

I had the accident.On August 15, 2000, I was in a head-on car crash. A guy came over a hill on the wrong side of the road and just took me out; he was in a BMW, I was in a Peugeot 106 so there was no contest. I fractured my left tibia and fibula