to visualise between now and race day.Nutritional Needs Your mileage may be dwindling, but keep those calories coming in as usual. Your body still needs to repair tissue damaged during your mileage build-up. “This is no time to diet,” says Tichenal. Even though

« Two weeks to goDuring the last week of your taper, things can get ugly. Two weeks ago, you ran 20 miles in a single run, but now you shouldn’t even be totalling that distance in the whole week before the race. And as your mileage plummets, your

Every good marathon-training plan should ‘taper’ during the final two or three weeks. That means you run less and rest more. For some people, the idea of backing off on their training just before the big race seems counter-intuitive. "So many

yet, but any time you train for a race, your mileage goes up. At first, the increases seem small. Then they become larger and larger. Then you hit the Monster Month – the four weeks of heaviest training that come after the build-up phase that boosts

to big meals or desserts, thinking the extra calories they've burned justify it," says Dr Laura Kruskall, a sports nutrition specialist at the University of Nevada, US. "Unless you do a long run, it doesn't." Despite evidence of carb intake boosting

records”, or, “I’m not racing”.Too fast Most runs feel difficult. Your breathing is laboured, your legs feel heavy and you struggle to maintain your pace. Just right Your runs are at a comfortable, relaxed pace, but once or twice a week you run at least

You've heard the usual recommendations for so long that you accept them as gospel. And most of the advice is solid. Who can argue with putting in mileage, peaking for races and stretching after a run? But just because many coaches, sports