on my muscles and joints. I finally learned to cut back to my own comfort level. Then, over time, I slowly increased the intensity at my own pace. After six months of sensible running, I was ready to rejoin the fast group for harder work-outs." Dave

’ve already mentioned this several times, but it can’t be over-emphasised. All runners, from beginners to veteran marathoners, would like to run longer and easier. The R/W system gives you a new tool to achieve this. Does it come at a cost? Sure. Your overall

For the past two years, I’ve been teaching a class for novice runners on a university campus. But this is no typical college course – we spend more time running together than discussing and debating.The group meets twice a week for 50 minutes at a

for the next Olympics, the following tips should help to make running a little more comfortable for you.Start slowly. This one’s basic, and it works every time. Ease into your runs and pick up the pace only when you feel warmed up. Johnny Kelley, who completed

step at a time.Every new runner knows the mentality: if running three days a week is good, running six days a week must be twice as good; if running fast one day a week improves your speed, running fast every day must be even better. And when this type

age – solidly middle-aged – are always running in the past tense. The best days are behind them, as are their PBs. Every conversation is a trip down memory lane. They wax nostalgic about 10 or 20 years ago when times were faster, waists thinner

, running takes time to break into. "Every able-bodied person can be a runner," says Gordon Bakoulis, a running coach and author of Cross-Training (£12.99, Simon and Schuster). "Just start slowly and build up gradually." Most coaches agree that the best way

frequently gone away and I can continue. – LauraFTune into your heartThe thing that worked for me was putting on a heart rate monitor for the first time. Straight away it told me I was putting too much effort into my long runs. There were times when I

an interesting route. "This reduces boredom and helps you keep going," says Fulford. "You get a sense of actually running to get somewhere, rather than just waiting to hit the stop button once your time's up." You can use a mapping website, such as mapmyrun

This extract is from The Runner's World Complete Book of Running by RW USA Editor Amby Burfoot. You can now preview it, free, for two weeks without risk or obligation. All running programmes for beginners are the same: they move you from walking