larger muscles and less fat. “And challenging your body through heavier lifting is a big part of this equation,” says New York-based running coach Monica Vazquez.In fact, a study at Georgia Southern University determined lifting 85 per cent of your

, and built up a km a day. My main drawback was, and I didn't find out about this until the race day, my pedometer was wrong, as was my friend's - so what I thought was 10km was only about 8!’ (More from this story) KRG on the challenge that is the New York

can do it then anyone (apart from my dear Nana!) can. It was so good that I've entered New York in November and plan to do Paris next April. All three in a year!Simonlala, 4:52 -->What concerned me about the first three miles was my heart rate. I

to the North Pole than it is to, say, New York or Chicago. Two hours to Oslo, then four more to the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard.The disbelief on the face of the security man was no real surprise. I was more troubled that the people I met in Longyearbyen

When Grete Waitz stood on the starting line of the 1982 Boston Marathon, she had good reason to be confident. After all, she had already entered and won three New York City Marathons, running each of them faster than the previous one. She

, New York, Bordeaux and Tromso. I’ve also run an ultra in France called the 100km de Belves – I found it easy physically but very tough mentally." Like most chefs, Roux has to fit his personal life around an über-frantic schedule. "I’m at work by 8am

that I got comments on how well I was doing from people who came round the house – if I got none, I knew I was slipping. It also spurred my husband into stumping up £100 for every stone I lost to go towards a new wardrobe. Basically, get everyone involved

of the 2007 New York Marathon, eventual winner Paula Radcliffe thought about her baby daughter waiting at the finish. She said at the time,"It was tough – my legs felt very tired. I just kept repeating to myself 'I love you Isla' to keep my rhythm going

, making it the most lucrative one-day annual fundraising event in Britain. And with charity runners making up a large part of the fields at an increasing number of events, from the Great North Run to the London Triathlon, or even the Paris and New York

me on my long runs. We ran our 20-milers only 30 to 40 seconds slower per mile than our marathon goal pace. These runs weren’t easy, but I made sure I ran easy a few days before and after the runs. That year I finished the New York City Marathon in 2