GETTY IMAGESIf you've been running well and your muscles feel fine, stretching might seem like a waste of good running time. But scheduling in some stretching could slash your chance of getting injured, help you recover from existing injuries
GETTY IMAGESIn order to run at your best, your body needs time to recover between training sessions. Your hard work might end when you pull off your trainers, but your body keeps working afterwards, repairing and rebuilding muscle and gradually
first thing will be slow and put me at risk of injury. Start slowly and let the run come to you – walk first, gently jog and then speed up until you hit the right pace. Your muscles will have warmed up by the time you run full pelt, and you won
Loss of energy. Unusually stiff muscles. Lowered sex drive. They might seem like completely unrelated problems, but there's one sports condition that links them all - overtraining syndrome. It might sound made-up but it exists and it needs
carton of Maxi-Milk contains the same amount of protein as you’ll find in a portion of chicken breast and as much carbohydrate as a serving of brown rice. It is also high in both glutamine and leucine, amino acids that have been found to aid muscle
Waking up when it was still dark on Sunday morning, with screaming leg muscles and buses to the start leaving at 6.45am sharp, the prospect of taking on another race seemed impossibly cruel. But one thing spurred me on: the smug knowledge
for tougher training. Get your muscles in gear by clocking up long, slow miles but take care not to do too much to soon - aim to beef up your usual mileage by about 10 per cent per week to avoid injury. Phase 2: Strength training Maintain your aerobic
in the pool searching for the vaguest remnants of my swimming muscle memory. I've drawn up a plan with 3-4 sessions a week, regular swims of 1000-1500m interspersed with shorter sprints and drills.Deep breath - it's going to be a busy couple of months!
this side of Norfolk, there's no excuse to neglect hillwork. It's great for building your thigh muscles as well as your endurance, and will have you tackling those ‘undulating' races with ease. Warm up at a comfortable jog for 2-3 minutes
for the hills, while strong core muscles will help you maintain form as the miles tick by. Of course the element that marks out ultra hero from zero is perfect pace. Even the elite rarely "run" all the way in long ultras, so map out a run-walk strategy
