Training for a marathon is tough and time-consuming enough, but at least you're not short of advice on training schedules. But the increasingly popular ultra marathon is quite another matter, as one reader has found. If you've got experience

"I've just completed my first marathon, peaking at 50 miles per week during my training. I'm now looking to train over the winter and enter numerous events to improve on my PB. What's the best advice you kind folks have on training after your first

This week's question comes from a forum member whose event schedule is looking a bit crowded..."I'm doing the Edinburgh Marathon on 27 May. It's my first marathon, and the training is going OK, though I had two weeks off due to injury. I've got

Are fast marathoners a breed apart, or can the rest of us be as fast if we work hard enough?"Are fast runners naturally fast, or can you teach yourself to be fast, through pure dedication and training? I'm a long way off a 3:15 marathon, but with a

Dean Karnazes on a typically epic training runWhat is Dean Karnazes made of? When the US ultra-marathoner announced his plan to run 50 marathons through 50 American states in 50 days, people thought he was either superhuman or insane. Mainly

is it just a macho 'hey look at me' thing?"– Paul JohnsonYour answersRunning wearing a backpack trains you to run wearing a backpack. It's useful if you're doing military exercises or mountain marathons, but it doesn't confer any advantages otherwise. You

, but it looks like the forumites have taken all the places!" And this from S3oB: "Noooooo! The training I can stand, but nearly eight months of the Abingdon Marathon forum?"Your forum threads have helped give Abingdon the kind of buzz that's normally reserved

George's Day means a pressing engagement with a succession of public houses, and drinking loads of beer is a really key part of it. I won't be training much in the week before a marathon anyway, and the alcohol should be gone from my system by mid

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

'd recommend getting in a few 5K, 10K, half marathons etc before you try a marathon."Every RW member knows that it's a bad idea to run any marathon when you've got barely any running experience and have done precious little training. The pulling power of London