If you want to run faster on race day, there comes a point where you have to run faster in training. Long, steady runs are fine for improving your base endurance and threshold runs are great for boosting your aerobic efficiency, but to cap

exercise, or you’ll feel a sudden, stabbing pain in the knee while running, which eases off when you rest. Sitting with your knees bent prior to a race can make things worse, as can running on hills or hard surfaces.SignsDespite the acute pain, your joint

Q I had a couple of years without racing, and then took up speedwork again 11 months ago. But even though I’m back up to 40-50 miles a week (from 15-25) and doing speed sessions (typically 6 x 1 mile with four-minute jog recoveries, or 16 x 400m

self-esteem is higher when we are running well. If you are building up for a big race in 12 weeks time, the best period for a training camp is in the third or fourth week, so that you can build on the increased fitness in later weeks. The fact that you

and Wednesdays, the low-mileage group didn’t run, while the high-mileage group ran for 45 minutes.Race Day ResultsAt the end of the 18 weeks, the runners in both groups had nearly identical statistics:Exactly the same reduction in percentage of body-fat (10 per

’were ’is next door neighbours, like. To make things worse, he were sick on their cat.”“Aye. He ran a crackin’ race next day though. Knocked three seconds of t’ Commonwealth 10,000m record, as I recall.”“Four, actually.”“Ah,” says the angel on my left

marathon the OMO starts interfering at the first sign of discomfort. “Oi!” he says. “Have you seen yourself? You look knackered, mate. Bloody terrible! And you’ve still got seven-ninths of the race to run. I’ve just worked it out.”The effect is immediate

children like pulling the legs off flies.I’ve always hated stretching. Warming up, it seemed to me, was a waste of time. As far as I was concerned, the first 10 miles of the race was my warm-up. Result: I am barely able to touch my knees, let alone my toes

when preparing for the Marathon des Sables – my first-ever endurance race.“The French organisers being French, of course, stubbornly refused to translate any of their notes into English. “And my French being what it was, I had to translate

.“It’s me back,” muttered Big Ron. “It hasn’t been right since London.”Good Lord, someone had actually run a race! Perhaps there was hope for us yet!“You never told me you were doing the London, Ron. How did you get on?”“Not this year,” he snapped. “1996