to Olympic athletes," says Sam Murphy, author of Marathon From Start to Finish (£12.99, A&C Black). “Taking the pressure off helps you peak when it really matters."BREAK IT: Sit down with your yearly race calendar and prioritise your races into 'A's, 'B
the pace of your runs is essential to improving, it's key to have the correct variation. "You need to make your recovery runs really easy and your hard runs really hard," explains Chris Frapwell, coach to GB Olympic marathon hopeful Dan Robinson. "Easy runs
British finisher in the 2004 Olympic marathon. "This allows me to have a quality session that gets the best from my body when it matters most." And take a complete rest day every week. "As well as keeping my body in one piece, it keeps me mentally
slashing precious seconds off their most vital statistics, but becoming an addict to that rush isn’t best for you in the long run. "Expecting consistent progress is terrible for motivation as it’s simply not possible, from beginners to Olympic athletes
thoughts together. But as these other pressures started mounted up, I was running tired all the time simply from trying to do too much. Through guidance from Sarah Rowell (former Olympic marathon runner) I came to understand the concept of quality
