We Brits were once in love with the mile. From the 1850s to the end of the 19th century, UK athletes dominated the world rankings. In 1954, Roger Bannister finally did what many thought impossible: breaking the elusive four-minute mile barrier

Weeks 1-3Focus on building up the distances of each discipline and preparing your body for the demands of the race.  ➊ You should aim to be able to cover the distances you will be racing. Build up the distances slowly, especially if you're slightly

cruised to the finish to win in 8:58:36, the fourth fastest women's time ever at Kona. Her marathon split of 2:53:32 smashed her own marathon record too. Faced with such awesome running, Caroline Steffan looked thrilled to come second in 9:06:00. Julie

of a race: getting through a difficult mile, passing runners comfortably, finishing smooth and strong.Time savings: 10-20 seconds Change Your ShoesIt may be obvious advice, but it is worth repeating. Buy a pair of racing flats or performance trainers

100m at race pace. CYCLE 20 minutes, checking gears, tyres etc.Evening RUN: 15 minutes with 3 x 30 seconds fast strides, alternating with 60 seconds recovery jog. Sun CYCLE: Warm-up: 10-15 minutes steady. Main: 1 hour 15 minutes easy spinning

, in which a group of runners added only one thing to their usual training: a weekly, 20-minute continuous run completed at a pace which was about 10-12 seconds per mile slower than 10K race speed. In just a little over three months, these 20-minute sessions

and run at 65 per cent of your working heart rate. (To calculate effort based on your WHR, subtract your resting heart rate from your max – eg 200-40 = 160WHR. Then calculate 65 per cent of that = 104, and add it back onto your resting rate = 144 target

’t find 30 minutes to devote to a run, head out for a quick 10-15 minutes in the morning, then slip in another 10-minute trot later on that evening.Tip from the trenches: “I recently bought my seven-year-old daughter a bike, and she now rides

."NUTRITIONPass on the extra carbsBread, bagels, pasta, potatoes and pancakes - you just can't get enough, right? Wrong, says sports nutritionist Nancy Clark, author of Nancy Clark's Food Guide for New Runners (£12.95, Meyer & Meyer Sport). Running two or three miles

running for decades, you’ll learn something from their answers. Every beginner asks at least a few of these questions at some point. Here are the answers:How do I get started? Start walking for an amount of timethat feels comfortable - anywhere from 10