pastry on your pies instead of short crust or puff pastry," says Norris. Switching to filo saves you 110kcal and 10g of fat per serving, reducing its effect on your blood pressure and cholesterol.17. Chilli peppersThey add heat to a meal, but they also

weeks before a race as it will familiarise you with the open-water scenario," says Griffiths. As you near race day you can trim the distances." Warm up with 10-15 minutes' steady swimming - practise sighting every six to eight strokes and swim in a

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

equal parts orange juice and water, plus a pinch of salt.Drink 100-200ml of an isotonic solution every 10-15 minutes; a standard 750ml bottle containing an isotonic drink should see most people through 50-75 minutes of training. You can have solid food

good way to do this is to note your personal best times from 1500m to marathon and compare them with equivalent times for different races using this race time calculator. If your PBs are comparatively better over the longer distances, then your training

training load with a series of explosive exercises including sprints of 20-100m, jumping, bounding and rapidly repeated leg presses with low weights. In a subsequent 5K time trial, the explosive training group improved by five per cent on average, whereas

in 3:30, for example, at a rate of 180 steps a minute, during the entire race you will take 37,800 steps. Stronger leg muscles allow you to spend less time on the ground with each foot-strike and increase your stride length.A reduction of just 0.02 of a

two or three intervals with five-minute recoveries), or do a continuous 25-minute tempo run at a pace that’s 12-15 seconds per mile slower than your usual 10K race pace. TaperIt’s tempting to think that extra time spent training in the last weeks

It's training day and you've planned a 10K after work; that means you need a decent lunch to keep you going. Scanning the various options at your local café you opt for a large plate of carbohydrate-packed pasta, no added cheese. The perfect meal

The Workout On road or the track, run a fast 1km interval at 10K pace, rest for 90 seconds, then run a 2km interval at half-marathon pace. Rest for 90 seconds, and repeat the set twice. "This is a hard session, but is excellent for speed endurance," says