check out our training-pace calculator for a better indication of how these intensities translate in practice (calculated from a recent race time) or read our ultimate guide to heart-rate training for the most objective way of monitoring your progress

at 60 per cent. That's 140 (working heart rate) x 0.6 (60 per cent) = 84, added to your resting heart rate (60) = 144.) Sit down with the marathon schedules pace key and calculate your targets in one go, so you don't have to reach for the calculator

Steady - a comfortable, but purposeful, pace. About marathon pace -158-168Brisk (or Threshold (THR)) - around your target half-marathon pace-174-182Fast-10K-180-188Fast-5K-186-194Fast-above-5K-192-198Enter your race date:  (dd/mm/yyyy)Finished? When you

this at www.runnersworld.co.uk/heartrate)• 15 minutes at 80-85 per cent of your maximum heart rate• 3-minutes easy spin• 15 minutes at 80-85 per cent of your maximum heart rate• 10-minutes warm down at 60-70 per cent of your maximum heart rate

your BPM You can pick up a heart-rate monitor for about £30 these days (such as the Polar FS1 for £29.50 from Argos) and keeping a close eye on your heart rate is a great way to ensure you're not pushing too hard. First you need to calculate your

10.5 per cent per decade for men and 14.8 per cent among women. But that study yielded encouraging news for runners outside of the lead pack. For the non-elites, the decline was a little lower – and began later. "For these runners, significant age

maximum heart rate (MHR - calculate this at www.runnersworld.co.uk/heartrate) followed immediately by a 15-minute fartlek run at 65 to 85 per cent MHR. • A 20-minute fartlek cycle at 65 to 90 per cent MHR followed by a 10-minute fartlek run at 65 to 90 per

as it takes you to run the repetition – and walk the last 50 metres of the recovery before starting the next effort.” If you're using a heart-rate monitor, don't start the next rep until your heart rate drops to 120 (men) or 130 (women).Check your progress

, consider the pace you ran for your last 10-mile race or half-marathon. This pace is likely to be just below your lactate threshold, or roughly 80 to 85 per cent of your maximum heart rate, says Nick Anderson, the British cross-country coach. An even simpler

says. "If I do longer five- to eight-minute reps, I add some shorter hill sprints, or 30-second sprints just to break it up. I definitely look forward to sessions more now. Doing 10x1,000m straight can be quite hard, mentally." Combination workouts