commitments. And experiment with cross-training. If you give cycling and swimming a go you could progress to trying a triathlon. But above all, don’t waste precious years and then regret it later. —Bud Baldaro, coach and RW Contributing Editor

Q I gave birth nine weeks ago, and before this I was running up to eight miles every day. I went for my first run the other day and felt dreadful. I want to run a 10K in a couple of months, before tackling a half-marathon in the autumn. I

Q I want to add some fartlek sessions to my training regime, but I’m not sure how to go about it. How hard, and over what distance, should I push on the quick bits? How easy, and how long, should my recoveries be? A A fartlek session can be either

the recovery – only change one variable at a time though.—Bud Baldaro, coach and RW Contributing Editor

Q In the last 18 months, I’ve run three marathons. As a result, though, my times have gone backwards for 10K and half-marathon. I thought that all the training I’ve been doing would make me faster – what am I doing wrong?A Firstly, you need to ask

Q How do I fit running around my job as a fitness instructor? I take several classes every weekday, except Thursday, and find it really hard to fit in more than two or three 40-minute runs a week. I really want to run a half-marathon, but how can I

Q At my best I am your average physical wreck of a 40-year-old, looking to get fit. I’ve quit smoking, and I want to reach a level of fitness higher than I’ve had at any age. So I’ve started running to lose some weight. I’m finding it hard, I only

Q I started running last summer by running and walking a mile every three nights, and built this up to around 15 miles a week. I’ve now done three 10Ks, all in around 53 minutes, but in the last one I had trouble with some of the hills and had

) should predict your marathon capability, though a race closer to April will give you a more accurate picture than one in January.—Bud Baldaro, coach and RW contributing editor

Q How do speed sessions benefit me? I’ve tried things like 400m repetitions at 5K pace, but as I never seem to be out of breath at the end of the session, surely they’re not doing me any good?A Many people think that they only need to do interval