bad?" Are you returning to running after a few years of inactivity? Are you motivated by the event T-shirts? Do you want a marathon medal? Do you want to start running in order to run or because you think running might be a means to some other end

, but it does allow your brain to switch off. You can generally buy it from a good herbalist or online. – Nick KirbyDo you eat before or after your run? When I trained for the London Marathon I used to run at about the same time each evening, and then would have

count, and no running to a boring day-in-day-out regime. I started running a year ago and this has made the world of difference. – roofusFound a route planner on the London Marathon site. It allows you to save your routes and also access other routes

This week's reader completed the London Marathon using a run/walk strategy – but she now wants to cut out the walks altogether, and it's not proving too easy. Can you offer any advice? "I'm getting really annoyed with myself. I trained for FLM using

, but there is nothing like running a short, fast race to boost your confidence and make you feel better about your running. If you are used to running halfs or marathons, even a 10K can do this for you, although something shorter like a mile race or 5K is the perfect

"Stop fighting it!"That's what a fellow runner yelled at me years ago in the middle of a very windy out-and-back marathon. "Don't fight the wind," he said. "Wait until the turnaround, then pick up the pace when the wind is at your back."The sheer

, and if you’ve been running for a few weeks, it’s a distance that you’ll be comfortable with. (Need a training schedule?)First-timers do tackle longer distances, of course – five-milers, 10Ks, 10-milers, half-marathons and even marathons – but we wouldn

GETTY IMAGESFern Oliner had been a runner for more than 25 years when she experienced a breakthrough in her performance during a half-marathon."For the very first time, I felt like a true runner,' she recalls. "There I was, running uphill, passing

and cons like all things, I guess. – RIBSThe right shoes are keyWhen you're running long and hard, for example in a marathon, you'll forget all about how you're running and revert to your normal style. My husband reckons I run like a lizard: my one foot

devils are sitting on your shoulder around about mile 20 in the marathon, you have had plenty of practice with their injury cousins in denying them any satisfaction. 3. Dream. The first three years coming back from not walking I spent a lot of time