are bulky creatures and marathon runners are frail waifs. Improving your strength will help to improve your miling, but you need to work on the right muscles. As you’ll be on your toes more in the mile than in a long-distance race, it will help to strengthen

to a fast recovery. (Some of the sections are geared towards the London Marathon, but you can carry the principles anywhere.)MondayMind Focus on miles 1-5 of the Marathon. Prepare for taking anywhere from 2-10 minutes to cross the start line

condition come race-day. TrainingThree weeks is the optimum amount of time to taper if you’re preparing for a marathon. There’s little you can do to make yourself fitter in this time – here are some basic guidelines to help you put in the miles without

-strengthening exercises. This isn’t necessarily true. A specific weight programme targeting your legs could reap a huge race dividend, particularly over longer distances. If you run a marathon in 3:30, for example, at a rate of 180 steps a minute, during the entire race

week.1. If it's tough enough for the pros, it's good enough for you"Both sessions here address pace. In a race we need to control our pace and know what paces we can perform at. The difficult discipline is swimming. In a race we cannot keep looking

time every quarter-mile. In the race, if your first mile is too fast, try to run the second mile at level pace.Tulloh: No one approves of fast starts – except the Kenyans! 10K may be arelatively short distance after running a marathon, but it is much

’s even possible to forecast your 10-mile performance from your mile or marathon times, although they are less accurate than a recent 10K time. Generally, you’ll run a 10-mile race about 55-65 seconds per mile slower than a mile race, or 20 seconds faster

straight line. The main set is five race-pace efforts of 90 seconds, with 60-seconds' recovery. Finish with a five-minute warm-down, focusing on your exit and removing your wetsuit as quickly as you will need to on race day.BikeThe one time when competitors

’t recommend going beyond a 10K, and even then we’d suggest you do a 5K as a practice race first. We’d probably suggest you run for 6-12 weeks before you think about a 5K; two to four months before a 10K, and four to six months before a half-marathon. We

speed from the first rep to the last.Tempo The pace you can sustain for approximately an hour – usually between 10K or half-marathon race pace, depending on your ability.3-5K pace Corresponds nicely with VO2 max and is typically 15-40 seconds per mile