, its how you work up to your max that counts.Sports science laboratories often use a graded treadmill run to establish MHR. The speed of the track is gradually increased until you can no longer keep up, and your heart rate at this point is assumed

often see round figures quoted in general guides, ranging from 70-90 per cent of MHR. Unfortunately, the reason they’re so vague is that – as we’ve found out – we’re all different.In the early days, you’d have needed a physiological lab test to find

, circuit training, flexibility work, plus some fast running on the treadmill. Oxygen intake sessions and/or hill training outdoors.March-May: Start to phase out some of the gym work and replace it with a combination of sprint drills and short, fast running

of running – not mileage totals, not your marathon PB, and certainly not the percentage of VO2 max you can maintain when running at lactate-threshold pace while holding your breath on a treadmill set at a six-per-cent-incline in a hypoxic tent. These Zen

on treadmills, not of cyclists. No one can say exactly how the two differ, but they do. The triathlon legend Mark Allen has lived in those narrow spaces. Allen is the fastest runner ever to win six Hawaii Ironman Triathlons. In 1989, he closed with a 2

. If your baby seems uncharacteristically sluggish, consult your obstetrician. Listen to your body If running becomes uncomfortable as your pregnancy progresses, switch to fast walking. Or consider swapping the treadmill for a new contraption

' the next day."—John Campbell, former World veteran marathon record holder 17. Keep it in proportion"If you run 30 miles a week, then about seven of those – or approximately one-quarter – should be quality miles. Quality miles will boost your aerobic

't really seem to help. I subsequently found that my maximum was much higher at 203.""The best way to determine your maximum heart rate is on a treadmill," say Dunbar. "After a thorough warm-up perform two flat-out, four-minute runs, separated by a two

dreading: Discovering it's not that fast; lactic acid. Favourite races: Henley Half-Marathon (despite the one-mile hill) Did you know? I hold the world record for migrating from adolescence to middle age (overnight). • My

all this time I'll never know! So I’ve been off to the gym, forgoing the treadmill for the cross trainer and bike.I headed off to Dorney hoping to have a bit of fun - I wasn’t looking for a PB. But unfortunately the darned blisters flared up again