with the motivation to train day in and day out so he can achieve the results he wants. And when things don't go the way they're supposed to, he knows that plans can, and must, be altered to suit new circumstances.Setting a goal is a process that must begin

months ahead of time guarantees your entry, avoids late fees and, most importantly, commits you to the training because you don’t want to waste the cash. ‘This early investment in a race supplies you with motivation because it’s a concrete  step,’ says

easy to maintain motivation at this time of the year, according to two-time Ironman 70.3 champion Emma-Kate Lidbury (eklidbury.co.uk). "People often overlook the mental aspect of training and racing. It can become very difficult to keep going

into three time phases - daily goals, midway goals and target goals.Daily goals provide a focus for your daily training sessions and will, like the other goals, depend on your level of fitness and what your plans are for the coming season. Midway goals

from grim experience. He punctured twice in the qualifying bike race for the Beijing Olympics last year and didn't make the team. "I was really low afterwards and didn't feel like training but I did have a Plan B, which really helped me out," he says.Plan

motivated – once you’ve completed the run.Strike a balance between... Running & cross-trainingAerobic activities such as cycling, vigorous hiking, swimming, pool running and using your health club’s exercise machines offer an array of benefits. On days when

Sutton. “If you are losing your motivation, you have to step back and make changes. You have to have a plan to stimulate motivation,” says Baldaro. “A motivation plan is just as important as a training programme.”Coaches, sports psychologists and other

training plan, diet and race-day strategy. "Every race is a puzzle," says coach Jeff Horowitz, author of My First 100 Marathons (£15.99, Skyhorse Publishing). "Look for clues to solve it." Did you rest enough during your taper? Did you go out too fast? Did

running on an individual basis and see how changing training schedules and recommending things like hill work or tempo running can help people improve. The coaches are around during the day to look at training plans and to talk about individual problems

with 400m repeats at goal pace, say, instead of 800m - to remove the intimidation factor. "It's better to make mistakes in training and learn from them than to make them on race day," he says.Think Positive: "Success consists of going from failure