the process. As your bone density falls, you'll become more susceptible to stress fractures and other injuries.Heart Your maximum heart rate falls by about one beat per minute each year – and there's nothing you can do about it. The stiffening of your blood

be there but female runners sometimes assume that, even though their periods may have stopped, they’re healthy in other ways thanks to their running. In truth amenorrhoea can lead to infertility and a loss of bone density. In the short term that might mean more stress

marks two years since British heptathlete Jess Ennis suffered a disastrous stress fracture in her final competition before the Beijing Olympics. And in those two brief years Ennis has banished her injury and bagged Indoor and Outdoor World

Put a pin in itAfter great initial success with a gold at the World Youth Championships in 2006, Harry suffered from a spinal injury which took him out of action for almost a year. Stress fractures on the vertebral column in his back meant he

competed against at junior level, run in the Barcelona Olympics ignited a spark. If she can be an Olympian, reasoned Holmes, then so can I. Olympic ambitionsFour years later in Atlanta she achieved her aim, but a stress fracture curtailed her medal chances

) and avocados have the added power to help lower LDL and reduce your risk of heart disease.Reduce injury Eating unsaturated fats can actually help stave off injuries, such as stress fractures. A 2008 study in the Journal of the International Society of Sports

confidence that the situation is surmountable. Good luck.Q. I have made a gradual return to running, after a stress fracture of the medial malleolus earlier this year due to over training for my third marathon. I am doing my third half-marathon on October 28

of the richest sources of the omega-3 fats, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). ‘These fats decrease heart-disease risk and improve bone strength, helping runners avoid stress fractures,’ says Dimmick. They’re also a great source

(during push-off). If your foot is too stiff to bear the impact, a tibial stress fracture could result. And if your foot is too unstable to land in a controlled manner, you could develop runner’s knee.The most common foot complaint of runners is plantar

are dairy products, dark-green leafy vegetables, broccoli, tinned sardines and salmon. Stress fractures – which are common among female runners – can be prevented by adding more calcium and vitamin D to your diet, according to the Orthopaedic Research