Ready, steady… goStart slow. You will feel lousy before the marathon because of tapering, then when you start you’ll suddenly feel wonderful. Your body hasn't really changed so don’t revise your target pace because you feel good at mile five, or 10 or 15. You

of any marathon situation - for RW magazine subscribers:In the week before the marathonIn the final two daysOn race-day - before, during and after the raceRace-day checklistsGo well!We'll be right there behind you!

for a half-marathon; sub 38 minutes for 10K.Sub-3:15 Eventual standard: sub-1:30 for a half-marathon; sub 40 minutes for 10K.Sub-3:30 Eventual standard: sub-1:37 for a half-marathon; sub 43 minutes for 10K.Sub-3:45 Eventual standard: sub-1:45 for a

, and so on. Start with four to six reps, and work up to 10 by about two weeks before your goal marathon. Listen to your bodyHow much recovery time should you give yourself between reps in a speed session? Ask three coaches and they'll give you three

strategy takes on increasing importance. Training ChecklistYour mileage this week should be about half to two thirds the amount you ran during your highest mileage week.Almost all running should be slow (one and a half to two minutes slower than marathon

half-marathon; sub 43 minutes for 10K.Sub-3:45 Starts at around 25 miles per week; you ought to be able to run for 1:15 non-stop. Eventual standard: sub-1:45 for a half-marathon; sub 46 minutes for 10K.Sub-4:00 Starts at around 20 miles per week

can slow your finish time by several minutes, and heat or cold by even more. A survey of marathon finish times suggests that 12°C is the ideal temperature, a temperature of 0°C or 25°C adds seven per cent to your time, and if the day hits 30°C, you can

Liz Yelling has been competing as a top international athlete for more than 15 years. In 2006, she won the Bronze medal in the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne and she has twice represented Great Britain in the Olympics (Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008

this week. Almost all running should be at one and a half to two minutes per mile slower than marathon goal pace - except a Tuesday two-miler at marathon goal pace, sandwiched by one-mile jogs. Again, if you want, throw in some quick 100-metre strides after

Colgan. Elite Secret # 2: Get LooseElite runners take their warm-up seriously. "You need to spend at least 20 to 30 minutes warming up, jogging two to three miles interspersed with dynamic strides and drills," says Richard Holt, elite coach at momentumsports