by the number of runs you are doing per week (that is, if you’re doing four runs, you can increase by four miles). Follow a progressive training programme that gradually builds to a racing peak Daniels’s ideal training plan lasts 24 weeks or longer, and moves

This extract is from The Runner's World Complete Book of Running by RW USA Editor Amby Burfoot. You can now preview it, free, for two weeks without risk or obligation. All running programmes for beginners are the same: they move you from walking

", a branch of statistics used to predict future trends. He's surprised by the relative linearity of the mile record progression over the past century, but notes that it would be "risky" to assume the same going forward. Since about 1982, he perceives a

Amby Burfoot is Executive Editor of Runner's World USA, and the 1968 Boston Marathon winner Imagine that there was an exercise programme that could guarantee to get you in shape with only three identical 30-minute exercise sessions per week. I

working towards the progress ahead."Find a fitness friend Beginners' running coaches agree that one of the best ways to stick with your exercise programme is to get a training partner. When someone is counting on you as much as you're counting on them, it

or a nasty, week-long cold. You’re ready to get back into your training routine but want to make sure you don’t overdo it and suffer a setback. A series of progressive R/W sessions may do the trick. Try a couple of 2/1 sessions, then a couple of 3

further. (Isn’t 26.2 miles far enough?) Instead, they want to improve their speed endurance – the pace at which they can cover substantial distances.Fortunately, you can have it both ways. You can follow training plans that build the length of your long