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
, increase the speed settings to make sure you're always sprinting at 8/10 effort. If you've only got time for a short workout, this short sharp session (10-15 minutes) does the trick. Warm up with an easy jog on an 0.25-1
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
surface to run on – so it's generally a good idea to recreate outdoor conditions as much as possible on the treadmill by setting it to a 1% incline or increasing the speed slightly, to adapt slowly to outdoor running. When you do get going outside
in a specific event (such as winning your age category in a race).Performance goals relate to a certain level of achievement (for example, a sub-40:00 10K).Setting different targets means you're more likely to focus on the positive outcomes of your
, while capital-based runners can also test their times in the Self Transcendence series in Battersea Park. 10K opportunities also abound, and those inspired by the Flora London Marathon can tread city streets in the Bupa London 10,000 and the Bupa Great
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
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
and compress it firmly against the injury site for 12-15 minutes. Try to elevate the injured area. Repeat this hourly, or as often as you can for the next three days. You can use it again if you feel twinges as you gently stretch out the injury on subsequent
