overlooked by marathon runners, who mistakenly think that leg-muscle strength is more important for short distances than for the marathon. They are wrong.If you run a marathon in 3:30, and use a common stride rate of 180 steps a minute, you are taking 37

, jogging back down 6M steady 8M. Start easily, then put in bursts of 100-200m, jogging after each until you’ve recovered Rest or 5M easy Rest or jog up to 4M Half-marathon raceWeek 6 5M easy, off-road Hill session: 4 x 90 secs-2 mins hill climb, jogging

. The Intermediate Schedule / The Advanced Schedule Intermediate: For runners aiming for 3:30-4:30, with training over 5-6 days, and from 32 to 48 miles a week. Advanced: For runners aiming for sub-3:30, with training over 6-7 days, and from 44 to 60 miles a week

Even experienced marathoners can find race-day a journey into the unknown. Arm yourself to deal with the unexpected, though, and you’ll have a marathon experience to cherish. Here are links to the articles that show you how to ride out whatever

:26 "...on the day in the full field of runners it is harder than it looks..." Read the full quote Birdypie; 4:35 "...got me through the tough training in February and March..." Read the full quote Kikker; 4:57 "... I felt like I'd won the marathon

Send Us Your Story!Tell the world how your marathon went: we'd love to have your short, snappy stories to publish on this very site. If you're a forum runner or supporter, we may even be able to match you up with one of the 400 photos we took at the mile

, 4:14, Wads, 4:14, James Hunter, 4:14, Russ4568, 4:15, Higo, 4:15, Slotwin, 4:17, The Red-faced Ancient Marathon runner, 4:18, FrancesShattock, 4:18, Old but slow, 4:18, Heather, 4:19, Mark1, 4:20, BrendanMulgrew, 4:20, WildWill, 4:21, Philip Bosworth

new challenge - one that would push me to my very limits. It dawned on me that with the exception of Paula Radcliffe and Jon Brown, I'd barely heard of any British marathon runners. Was it just the case that there weren't any? And, if so, why? I did my

; the variety of road, heath and sea wallMay 3Three Forts Marathon, West Sussex 90% (see more) Tough courses with more than 3,000ft of climbing; running off-road and finding your own way round (there are no marshals); small fields - there were only 200 runners

1983 London Marathon winner Mike Gratton has been voluntarily advising runners live on our forums since 2004. This marathon training programme forms the core of his advice for anyone seeking to run seven days a week. It's suitable for men and women