the physical battle – he remembers the 5:30-minute mile pace he used to do, so racing at 7-minute miles sticks in his throat. But believe in yourself and look forward, not back. Enjoy and celebrate every success, however small. – Ann Williams There could be a
This week: Do you really benefit from warming up before a run – and if so, how hard and how far should you go?"How far, or for how long, are you supposed to warm up before a race? The more I warm up the better I seem to perform. I ran a 5.4-mile
race? Can I continue running 40-50 miles per week without risk of serious injury? Or this a stupid idea?!"– Michael FirmstoneYour best answers...Keep up the training, and enter a race evry couple of months to give you targets to aim at. Start trying
speedwork session, or come to a standstill at the end of a race, without a cool-down many times, and not been sore afterwards. However, I can't see that there is any positive physiological reason for actively avoiding a cool-down. I'll be interested to see
likely to suffer if you fall out of a window while you're drunk or if you're still trussed up and tied to a tree in the middle of nowhere when the race is due to start. – VelociraptorWear St George kneepadsYou might be risking a twisted ankle, or some
time, there's some evidence that human skeletal muscle switches fibre types from "fast" to "slow" due to training. But how's a beginner to know which race length suits their biology best? Probably a case of experimenting with different distances. I
in my training when I am on my own; less so in races. When I ran my 2nd half last month (I ran all the way) I so wanted to walk from miles 7-9 when it was really windy and slightly uphill, but I was determined to get a PB – and also what works for me
, but only so I can get to the gym/race/work. I keep it as light as possible. If I could ditch the pack, I would. – coughie I'm training for a half Ironman, and I run once a week with my wife. She's a beginner and runs at a far slower pace than me, so
cushion unless your backside is sufficiently padded to start with. – SnapstingetI learned the hard way that it's essential to do cross training to maintain running capability. I ran a lot from 1985-2000, 40+ miles per week and races once a month. All I did
'd always run, I couldn’t see any reason why I shouldn't continue during my pregnancy for as long as I felt OK, which was for about six months – including some races. When it got uncomfortable I moved to a cross trainer. Believe me, exercise in pregnancy
