), and take a rest when I need one. I've had two chest infections which knocked me out for more than two weeks, both after races, and I feel more tired than normal. I'm concerned I may be overtrained. Should I take this complete break or just cut back? What

've had two chest infections which knocked me out for more than two weeks, both after races, and I feel more tired than normal. I'm concerned I may be overtrained. Should I take this complete break or just cut back? What about getting back to proper

Q I’m a 53-year-old male who races all distances from 5K to the marathon. I train six days a week: four hard sessions, two easy ones, plus a rest day. Do you think this is too much for someone of my age?A The real key to making any training programme successful is to get the rig...

workouts that will ultimately make you a stronger runner and faster racer. As a general rule, you need at least one easy recovery run after every hard session you do.Fast FixesTo rein yourself in on easy runs, wear a heart-rate monitor on all recovery days

and the reps high, but I’m worried that doing weights means I’m overtraining.A I go with ‘something completely different’. Like you, I’ve always felt that the best approach for distance runners was to use light weights and high reps. You’re much less likely

This week's question comes from a forum member whose event schedule is looking a bit crowded..."I'm doing the Edinburgh Marathon on 27 May. It's my first marathon, and the training is going OK, though I had two weeks off due to injury. I've got it in my head that I want to do the...

, fatigue, overtraining and burnout. "Beginners - and even intermediate exercisers - should leave the gym thinking that they could have done more," says Kravitz.Once is enough The research is clear: for the average person, one set of an exercise is just

every few minutes as you're running, to get a general idea of your rate throughout the session. You will probably find that, even if you maintain the same pace throughout, your heart rate will rise by 5-10 beats over a period of 30 minutes

. – Johnny JHow weighty are your weights?It depends on what strength training you do. An hour with toning weights isn't the same as a hardcore back session. A big back day will leave you on your knees. No way is that rest. It's dead easy to overtrain. – Stump

salvaged what could have been a disastrous day. In such a situation, elite runners see no need to push so hard to hit the prescribed times that they overtrain.2. Reduce repeatsA second option is to adjust the number of repeats. So instead of doing five