Lochaber Team Strides Marathon, Inverness-shire, Scotland Sunday, April 28WHY RUN IT?Speed, scenery, ScotlandRun in the shadow of Britain’s biggest mountain (Ben Nevis), this is surprisingly one of the UK’s fastest courses.FEES£13 (SAF affiliated

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

  Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat SunWeek 1 5M easy, off-road 7M steady with a few strides 6M easy Run to a hill, then 10 x 30 secs uphill, jog down Rest or 5M easy 6-7M steady, off road 9-11M slow, no pressureWeek 2 5M easy Warm up, then 3-4M at a brisk

, quickens your stride, expands stride length, develops your cardiovascular system, enhances your running economy and can even protect your leg muscles against soreness. In short, hill running will make you a stronger, faster and healthier runner. What’s more

strides Race – 10-20K, plus warm-up and -downFINAL WEEK 8M easy Warm up, then brisk 4M 6M, inc 6 x 1 min fast, 2 mins slow 5M easy Rest or 3M jog 25-30 mins easy running and striding RACE DAYPace Key

, this intensive schedule is for you. By training six days a week, you'll see your fitness and speed improve as your times fall. Week OneMon 5M (approx 45 mins) easy. Finish with two sets of 100m strides.Tue 2M jog, then 8 x 400m (80 secs) fast with 400m (2 mins

. The first rule is to ease slowly into any run. Deliberately hold back for anything from 5-20 minutes; doubly so before speedwork. Stop trying to push, and your body will naturally lengthen its stride and become quicker during the course of your run

stretching and a few strides, then pick the session that corresponds with your weekend race.5KThis one is called a fast-finish mile. Run one mile with the first half at 10K race pace and the second half 16-20 seconds faster. Recover with six to eight minutes

Running shoes are designed to help protect our bodies from the impact force of each footfall. These forces are proportional to a runner's weight, so a 15-stone person, for example, produces 50 per cent more force with each running stride than

improvements, often four to six per cent. No surprise there. Interval training has been a favourite of top coaches and runners since the end of World War II. This type of training involves fast intervals of two minutes to 10 minutes at about your two-mile race