GETTY IMAGES At the start of a brand spanking new year, and in the terrifying knowledge that Brits put on an average of 5lbs (2kg) over the Christmas period (according to the British Dietetic Association), we've come up with these inspirational

training camp, held in Portugal in association with 2:09 Events, packs in two shorter runs each day, yoga and core-stability classes, talks from experts, a handicap cross-country race and a long run at the weekend. This year our annual training camp

the magic 100 mark in 2003, and has been dispensing advice and her own training schedules through her hugely popular forum thread, Shades Marathon Training since 2005.grecian 2000 has notched up 110 marathons so far, and lists his favourite races on his

short stretching routine before you crack on with your main training session. Taking time to stretch (gently) at this point will help prevent injury. Start by stretching to 50-60 per cent of your range of movement for 10-15 seconds, and increase

of periodisation, it can seem tough between 'peaks'. Runner Lasse Viren, dubbed The 'Flying Finn', won very little other than his four Olympic gold medals, from double victory in the 5000m and 10,000m at the 1972 and 1976 Games. He mastered the art of peaking

Keith's solution: Self-talkRunners need to learn to manage their internal dialogue. The average person has 10-15,000 thoughts every day, and you need to get as many of these thoughts working for you as you can.There a couple of techniques you can try

solid encouragement from the race's army of marshals. More long-distance highlights... Marie Curie Cancer Care Great Daffodil Run 15 (Northamptonshire, May 10) Brathay Windermere Marathon (Cumbria, May 17) The Needles XC Marathon (Isle Of Wight

GETTY IMAGES You've followed your training schedule to the letter, successfully dodged injury and illness in the run-up to the big day and all of a sudden you're lining up at the start. Get your head

before returning to gentle 5-10-minute running or cross-training sessions. Make time for plenty of rest and recovery while slowly building your training volume over 6-12 weeks - bearing in mind, of course, the problems that originally led to you

year took me from retching after half a mile to a sub-2:00 half-marathon. I wanted more. The RW forum sowed the seeds of this madcap tri adventure. I bought a new bike, a £10 Aldi tri suit and put in a few weeks of training before turning up for a