– From the Forum first.)We've grouped the tips into these categories, all on this page:General | Long runs | Speedwork | Hillwork | Heart rateThe name of each tip-giver - each of whom we salute - prefaces each one, and you can click through to the whole

Warming up before a race or a speedwork session should mean more than just a 10-minute trot. Gentle running will get the blood flowing, but to avoid that heavy-legged sensation in the opening mile of the race, or the first few repetitions of your

This much is true: your genetic make up puts a ceiling on your speed. How many "slow" and "fast" twitch fibres you're born with determines whether you will be a Linford Christie clone or a counterfeit Steve Cram, but that doesn’t mean you’re a victim of your DNA, or that you can...

Desert Race: Marathon des SablesThe 700 runners who wake up one March morning in Southern Morocco for the Marathon des Sables (MdS) are faced with vast expanses of wind-swept flatland, strength-sapping sand dunes and the prospect of six days spent battling against a crippling, ho...

. I’d like to do some speedwork, but worry that I’m not quick enough yet. Is this the case?A Absolutely not! Any regular runner can add speedwork to their training schedule and everyone can benefit from it. In fact, you’re now at the ideal stage

Ease into faster running with these introductory sessions:1. Easy fartlekFartlek, or speed play, is variable-paced running that emphasises creativity. During a 30-minute run, choose objects to run to – lamp-posts, trees, buildings, other runners, whatever. Make choices that mark...

Q I’ve completed a couple of 10Ks and half-marathons, but worry that I only seem to have one pace. I want to run faster so I’ve tried adding tempo runs to my schedule. But when I make a conscious effort to speed up during a run, I soon find I have to slow down again. How can I s...

," says Jason Karp, an online running coach in San Diego, US (runcoachjason.com). If you're new to speedwork or coming back after injury, reduce the number of intervals in the following workouts by half and spend more time warming up, recovering

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 this with some speed, you need to turn t...

Speedwork pushes you out of your comfort zone - and improves fitness - faster than any other workout," says running coach Nick Anderson (runningwithus.com)."You recruit muscle tissue that otherwise lies dormant and  you train your body to become