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
't mean no running at all, but avoid any major exertion) for each mile of racing. You wouldn't find a pro racing a half marathon two weeks after a marathon – and if they can't recover, nor can the rest of us. – Johnny JThe marathon will take it out of you
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
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
, or is it OK just to cut back the miles?"I have been running for three-and-a-half years, and the last year has been a bit confusing. In terms of racing it's been a success, but training has been difficult. Normally I train every day (70-80 miles a week
?"For years I've not taken a complete day off, apart from two days' bad flu and after a couple of hard races. My days in the gym give my legs a rest as I focus on upper-body strength. My fitness-freak boss says I should have a day of complete rest once a week
-twitch muscle fibres will not in themselves make someone a fast runner. The one thing that is consistently proven to improve fitness (and speed) is training. Generally the more you train the better you get. Less is NOT more! Don't get worked up about what your
seemed to fit! I always listen to music when I'm building up to a race, and I need it when I'm cross-training in the gym.Why do you wear those long socks? (bald eagle1)They're compression socks. They're to support the calf and reduce soreness after
I'd experience if someone told me they were decorating 50 bedrooms in 50 days."Too Much Water: "Apparently some crazy Germans do 12 in 12 days for the 12 days of Christmas."Plodding Hippo: "I get bored if long running alone, but in a race I'm in too
