, such as 'relax', 'rhythm' or '100 per cent'. Lastly, focus on your 'race' – your splits, breathing, strategy. This process brings you back into the here and now, where good concentration always needs to be."
It's an all too common story: runner sets achievable goals; runner puts in the necessary physical training to meet goals; runner falls short on race day. So, what's the problem? Could it be that you're spending too much time becoming a stronger
Colgan. Elite Secret # 2: Get LooseElite runners take their warm-up seriously. "You need to spend at least 20 to 30 minutes warming up, jogging two to three miles interspersed with dynamic strides and drills," says Richard Holt, elite coach at momentumsports
The Workout On road or the track, run a fast 1km interval at 10K pace, rest for 90 seconds, then run a 2km interval at half-marathon pace. Rest for 90 seconds, and repeat the set twice. "This is a hard session, but is excellent for speed endurance," says
and maintain a reasonable pace, you still only have about 2,000 calories worth of glycogen stored in your muscles – enough to get most runners to about mile 18 or 20," he says. "As glycogen reserves are used up and fatty acid metabolism increases, your heart
pressure should be at/or lower than 120/80; HDL (good) cholesterol above 50; LDL (bad) cholesterol lower than 100; triglycerides lower than 150; and blood glucose level lower than 100. Get a check-up (blood test, blood pressure check and a sounding of your