for a while,” says Benji Durden, a former Olympic marathon runner who now coaches runners of all abilities. “You need to get your running legs under you.”But what exactly does that mean? Novice runners come in all shapes, sizes and pre

've achieved your goal - completing a triathlon. And then another.But now something's not quite right. There's an itch that hasn't been scratched to your satisfaction. You're wondering could you have gone any faster, trained harder, perhaps overtaken the guy

This week's problem may sound extreme, but it's one that many enthusiastic runners or marathon trainees can relate to. In short, how much training is too much? And when you feel you're overdoing it, do you really have to stop completely for a bit

and on the other weeks try Helgerud’s four-minute interval session or run the trial as a tempo run – i.e. run it at half-marathon pace and see how much easier it becomes as the weeks go by. You could even do several miles beforehand and use it to pick up the pace

for the last seven miles with me!I truly have the best friends on the planet, their support and encouragement gave me the strength I needed to keep on going!Lucrece, 5:05:28As I lined up at the Greenwich Park start, whether or not I'd finish this marathon

to train the brain before the body will follow."BAD HABIT: You 'flap'when you run "When I’m out training, I see non-elite runners 'flapping' their feet onto the ground," says Veronique Marot, winner of the 1989 Women’s London Marathon and endurance coach

. Nor should you use the table to pick out some illusory or goal pace. You must train at the pace calculated from your current racing performance. Only after your race performances improve should you drop down to faster training paces.While training

they all got the times/met their goals and had a fantastic day.meerkatsupporter1835--meerkat (right) and VelociraptorWhat was the best moment? Getting to Mudchute and finding that no one had nicked our supporting spot!; all the goodwill and sheer enthusiasm

major study carried out on marathon runners discovered that after 12 weeks of twice-weekly hill sessions, the athletes’ running economy had improved by three per cent. Although the subjects were trained runners, that improvement would still have helped

it on tape – fast-forward through the ads, and free up enough time for a decent little run.13 Goal for it. Too many runners think too far ahead – a six-month or year-long plan – when laying out their training. "But that vision can be lost pretty quickly when