hardest. Never give upI never doubted myself, but it was many years until I won another race. I was a slow developer, with not much natural speed. I was good at cross-country, but at the back of the school team, and I never got my colours, which rankled a

schedule. You may not achieve the three hours, but the extra amount of training should enable you to improve on last year’s time. —Bruce Tulloh, RW Coaching Editor

Q I’m a 33-year-old female, and after being collected by the ‘slow police’ after 19 miles in last year’s Berlin Marathon, I’m desperate to get my time down in this autumn’s race. I guess I should do speedwork but I don’t know what my targets should

be regarded as normal. For those who have to work and run, a good rule of thumb is, “One day off a week, one weekend off a month, and one month off a year”. If you have a planned training period of 8-10 weeks leading up to a big race, you can then carry

practise this beforehand to find out how much is good for you. I’m sure you’ll find it less of a problem the second time round.—Bruce Tulloh, RW Coaching Editor

be enough at this stage.— Bruce Tulloh, RW Coaching Editor

For nearly 20 years, I wrote for RUNNER’S WORLD and its predecessors, Running and Jogging. I have also given countless clinics and seminars, coached dozens of athletes and met tens of thousands of runners at races around the country. Throughout

on whatever the next week will throw at you. —Bruce Tulloh, RW Coaching Editor

rhythm. Incidentally, the harder training should improve your 10K performance at the same time.—Bruce Tulloh, RW Coaching Editor

will get from the time off. Even the most dedicated runner can afford to have one rest day every two weeks, and I recommend that you should have one easy week out of every four; the easy week should usually come when you are racing at the end of the week