your endurance, you need to become very efficient at utilising oxygen. Interval training is a superb form of developing this ability. This is where longer intervals, run at race pace (anything from 5K pace for 400m intervals, up to half-marathon pace

, but when I take a day off my appetite drops and I feel sluggish. After four years of running I've done two marathons, 3:58 and 3:41, so surely I'm doing something right?" – Little LizardYour best answersIf you feel fine, you're getting enough restIt depends

200m has relatively little significance to 10K or half-marathon speed, we suggest you run the 200m repetitions as you feel, rather than to a suggested time.800m RepetitionsThis is a good range of sessions between the 400m and mile, and the speed

. However, my recent promotion to Demi-God has awakened an interest in the psychological aspects of our sport.For instance, why do I feel just as shagged out after a three-mile race along the Thames towpath as I do after a Mid-Wales mountain marathon

.4. When does a jogger become a runner - do I have to run a marathon?It's a bit of a false distinction really. Very few of us can seriously claim any real excellence in our sport, and there is little difference between someone who plods round the park

story began four months ago, when forum member 200 Minutes, better known at home in Exeter as Dave Moulder, wasn’t feeling well. Really, really not feeling well.Dave was a healthy family man: an experienced marathoner who ran most days, didn't smoke

and Cancer Research UK – keen to give back as much as she can to the charities that helped her during her recovery. With Race for Life 2008 coming up she is keen to break the 30-minute barrier for 5K. "I’m building up towards the Flora London Marathon next

to Olympic athletes," says Sam Murphy, author of Marathon From Start to Finish (£12.99, A&C Black). “Taking the pressure off helps you peak when it really matters."BREAK IT: Sit down with your yearly race calendar and prioritise your races into 'A's, 'B

of a modest genius whose every contorted breath helped push him to places others dared not go.At the moment of his greatest triumph, though, he was as relaxed as the world had ever seen him. For the last five miles of the Olympic marathon in Helsinki

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