in one of toughest UK winters, falling in ditches, slipping on ice and trying hard to stick to the nutrition and training plans devised by our experts.  16 weeks on, one last question remains: how did they do?AdrianNew PB: 3:29. Previous best: 3:44“The

or the increasingly popular ultras and others will be looking to run fast times! Whatever you decide on, make it ambitious but also work out achievable short-term goals and consider the following points, which we'll cover in the next few pages: •Planning•Conditioning•Consistency•Motivation

regular time and place is efficient, and probably as essential as any single factor in keeping you running. It means you don't have to think about it or make plans. You just run every day at six o'clock or whenever; it's a regular as trudging

's mileage will increase as he prepares for L2B, but he won't be doing the number of miles that most ultra-runners do. He plans to do his long runs at weekends, and do his mid-week training by running home from work whenever he can. It will give him plenty

, and they all get so much from listening to each other; it's very motivational," he says.2. Go the extra mile If you haven't changed your race distance since you started triathlons, then the chances are your training hasn't change much, either. Even if you

motivation that the thought of lining up for a race underprepared. You might be raring to get out on the track for the summer athletics season, looking for a new-year PB, or focusing on an autumn marathon. Either way, now's the time to get planning

Running addicts can be hard to take, but being laissez-faire isn't ideal, either. "Competition motivates you, but you need to focus on your own performance, not on how others do," says performance counsellor Shaunna Taylor of the Association

for recovery," he says.Successful training requires strict planning and preparation. Wheelchair and other disabled athletes may also have a heightened susceptibility to infection and must be doubly careful with rest and nutrition in order to stay healthy. "I

. This philosophy is transferable to the rest of us: training with company can be just as beneficial in helping you to achieve your particular goals. A partner could encourage you to adopt more variety in your running and thereby foster greater motivation

, might even struggle to turn up" - and with his encouragement began attending some training sessions. The transformation didn't end there: Harmston also gave up drinking and started to eat more healthily.He used the club's running sessions to kick