Q I’ve recently taken up running, after losing 115lbs in 18 months and giving up smoking after 25 years. I’ve been running for about 20 minutes every morning for four months, but my goals are to build this up to 45 minutes, five times per week and to lose three and a half stone ...

head-on, you'll see your times improve twice as fast, and also feel a stronger runner mentally. And don't see your weaknesses as 'problems', but areas that can take you up a level. Rupert Pepper, Poole Runners (poolerunners.com) Be patient

Clubs regularly attend races as a teamThe days when running clubs were the sole preserve of ultra-competitive elite racers hell-bent on crushing the opposition at all costs and putting in more hours than Geb or Paula are thankfully long-gone. With hundreds of clubs catering fo...

and improve, but he also knows that accidents and injuries are out of his control and that sometimes goals have to be set aside to allow the body to recover. He did so and was back in action less than six weeks later, coming second in the Great Big Open Water

Should you snog before you jog? Athletes traditionally abstain from sex before big competitions. Muhammad Ali wouldn't do it from six weeks before a fight, while footballers in the 1970s adopted the mantra: 'Nothing after Wednesday if you're playing on Saturday.' New evidence sug...

We are never going to claim that running a marathon personal best is easy. Even if you've never run a marathon before, there's no guarantee you'll walk away with a new mark. You might have completed every training session; treated each ache as soon as it arose; and stuck to the p...

improves times. "They know where they are going, for how long, and how it is taking them a step towards their primary objective," he says. Yelling tells his runners to ask themselves, 'Why are you running today?' each time they go out for a run

Before we launched this site, about 150 testers – mostly recent users of the old site’s forums – spent two weeks on specially set-up forums giving us valuable feedback about our new baby.We’re giving our responses to that feedback here partly as a grateful acknowledgement of all ...

Cancer killersIt's estimated that one in three of us will develop cancer at some point. Exercise is, of course, very important in maintaining good health, but you can also do some more work in the kitchen to keep you fit and strong. By making some simple healthy adjustments to yo...

could sideline you for weeks. Improved flexibility also shortens recovery time; looser muscles are more receptive to glycogen replacement, which accelerates healing, says Richard Holt, expert running coach for www.momentumsports.co.uk. BREAK IT: Your