of your training, the marathon is going to be a real struggle. If you want to race or you have other commitments on Sundays, try to rearrange your week so you still complete the long run.If you couldn’t run as fast as the schedules suggested: At this stage

are the weekly long runs. These should reach their highest points between weeks Nine and 12. While on most weekends you will be concentrating on your stamina, we strongly suggest that you make at least one attempt during this period to race a half-marathon. One

runner, and the biggest lesson I learnt from my first marathon – although it sounds really easy – is just to keep going, even if you have to slow right down. Before last year’s London, I’d built up to about 40 miles a week with long runs of 15-20 miles

progress, and if necessary adjust your target time.Your training schedule should involve a healthy mixture of fast and slow running, one pillar of which is the weekly long run, which you should aim to do comfortably at 45-60 seconds per mile slower than

. These schedules contains a mixture of repetition running, hill sessions and pace runs, for improving running speed, plus long runs for endurance. For advanced runners, the highest weekly mileage reaches a plateau of 55-60 miles a week, but there’s no reason why

Standfirst: A repeatable 2-week build-up to a sub-60 10-mile race Author:Pics:Issue date: racing secrets bookletKeywords:uan92--Preparation phase (3-4 weeks)Gradually increase your weekly mileage to 40M, based on 6 training runs per week

, each followed by an easy jog back to the bottom of the hill. Getty ImagesRule 6: Make your long runs countMost runners training for a marathon believe that long runs of 18-20 miles prepare them to handle the full 26.2-mile distance. But these runs only

a long, two-and-a-half-hour run in Week 7. The schedules also suggest you finish Week 8 with a race. Race flat-out if you’re racing up to 10 miles, or run at your intended marathon pace if you’re running a half-marathon. If you race flat-out, try

is the long run. This will gradually build up from around an hour in the early weeks to over three. The other crucial sessions are the faster runs. On Thursday, this will alternate between marathon and half-marathon pace, while Tuesday will be between 5K

realise that you don’t have to be a fast runner to achieve great times. I always skipped the sections on speed in RUNNER’S WORLD because I was convinced that speed training was for the elite, or for runners who could run at least seven- or eight