at Loughborough University. "So there is a conditioning aspect to it and a technical aspect to it. But it also creates those race-like conditions so you are better equipped to handle tempo changes. You don't get that from more singular forms of training

© Getty Images The two Olympic marathons held last August in Beijing were literally races for the ages. Kenya's Samuel Wanjiru, then 21, broke more than an Olympic record with his 2:06:32 win; he crushed long-held conventional

Leading the field: Paula RadcliffeThe Athens Olympic Marathon in 2004 was meant to be Paula Radcliffe's race. Since her marathon debut in London in 2002 the British world record holder had never been defeated over the distance. Certainly the Kenyans

legend Liz McColgan, who has set up a new elite training facility in her home town of Carnoustie, Scotland. "When you're tired, the first thing to go is your form – when I was gearing up for big races I'd almost focus more on this than my running

and infection after the race. You may also be feeling disorientated – or even depressed – in the come-down after achieving such a significant running goal.Unfortunately, there’s no formula for calculating how long your body will take to recover – this will vary

I've ticked most of the 'must-do' boxes in my 20 years of running, from 5Ks to marathons, a multi-day event and even a night run. But I've never raced a mile, attempted cross-country or donned fancy dress. Nor have I run a European city marathon

The 5K is a perfect distance for the beginner looking to run their first race. But, given that it’s halfway between middle and long distance, it’s also a notoriously difficult distance for the experienced runner to master. Whichever camp you fall

Start racing faster"To improve your time, you're going to need to run faster throughout the race, not just at the finish. Many racers start too slowly and then end up running too quickly

-road terrain is that you are running on an uneven surface, so you need to prepare your body for that," says Barden. "If you were to do all of your training on the road, you might initially feel OK in a cross-country race, but your body will fatigue a lot

Half a century ago, American marathoner Buddy Edelen snuck out for a 40-minute run on his rest day. Edelen was the first man to break 2:15 for 26.2 miles, yet he suffered the same crisis of confidence about taking days off that plague most competitive runners...Subscribers can vi...