the miles in. Why train on a treadmill? The humble treadie can come in very handy for a huge range of runners. Personal trainer Liz Fulford (www.fitnesstrainingspecialists.co.uk) says, "A lot of women worry

’s most important is being alert to any aches, pains or fatigue. A good rule of thumb is to take one easy day for each mile of a race or hard training session. Another useful measure is to check your pulse as soon as you get up. If it’s 20 per cent higher

Bettag is a Level 3 Performance coach who works at Serpentine Running Club, and who suffered a bout of overtraining syndrome in 2003. He says, 'When I started running I tried to do my own thing, and I experimented with high mileage. I ran around 280 miles

be affecting your training.Many runners keep a training diary – noting the number of miles they've run, their splits, or their nutrition; you can benefit hugely from doing the same thing with the psychological side of your running. Start writing down what you

© Getty Images If 26.2 miles just isn't enough, an ultra could be the race for you. Races longer than a marathon, ultras range from 30 miles to hundreds of miles and take place in hundreds of beautiful locations from Sussex to the Sahara

that if you alternate heavy and low loads of exercise, your performance will benefit more than if you just do unplanned sessions."Calendar at the readyGrab a calendar and get ready to plan your periodised year. Dr Cardinale says, "If you want to do well over

his famous four-minute mile as a set of 400m reps, and you can apply the same technique to make your targets feel more achievable. Split the race up into sections – just use the mile or kilometre markers on hand in most races – and the race becomes a

will be taking on Zurich’s Ironman triathlon course – that’s a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile cycle, and 26.2-mile run (yes, a full marathon). The trip promises to be the biggest and best ever with more than 60 forumites heading to Switzerland's largest city, including

with total flexibility in terms of how and when to clock up those miles. Online running community fetcheveryone.com has monthly mileage groups, which are great for motivation. You could even run the year – 2010 miles works out as 38.5 per week! Start a

, zinc and vitamin C. Cook: Don't let food poisoning spoil your next session – before you start cooking, check all the mussels are closed, and give any that are open a sharp tap with a knife. If they fail to close, or float to the top when you