Devising training sessions is easy. Anyone can come up with a plan that sounds great. Take my old high school track coach, for example. Way back in the mid-1960s, he ordered us distance runners to do 10x400 metres, each in 60 seconds. That’s what US
further. (Isn’t 26.2 miles far enough?) Instead, they want to improve their speed endurance – the pace at which they can cover substantial distances.Fortunately, you can have it both ways. You can follow training plans that build the length of your long
, training too much and training too little.So I went to Plan B: I interviewed the best running-injury experts in the world. Like the medical studies, the experts didn't always agree. But certain principles emerged. From these, I developed 10 laws of injury
especially need a check-up if you haven't seen your doctor in a while, and you're just starting to run," says Dr Maharam. "Be sure to discuss your plans. Your GP will pay particular attention to certain things during your check-up, and you might get an extra
programme was a big success," says Pierce. "Our people didn’t hurt themselves, and most ran their best-ever marathon. I think we showed that you can teach people to train more efficiently."The First Training PlanThe FIRST marathon programme includes three
Amby Burfoot is Executive Editor of Runner's World USA, and the 1968 Boston Marathon winner Imagine that there was an exercise programme that could guarantee to get you in shape with only three identical 30-minute exercise sessions per week. I
called Dr David Swain from Old Dominion University in the USA. Swain is planning a 3,400-mile coast-to-coast bike ride this summer, but once ran two miles in 10:54 in army boots. Swain tells me that the Tour is basically three events - long peloton rides
weight to get faster, he has this advice: "lose fat, not muscle". Fortunately for runners, many studies have shown that exercise-based weight-loss programs help you achieve this goal much better than diet-only plans. "If you're not already doing some
rate per hour. From this, you can plan how much to drink every 15 to 20 minutes while running a marathon (450ml for every 500g you lose). In the future, experts will no longer tell you to drink XYZml per hour. They’ll say: drink when you’re thirsty
