weights, aerobics, swimming or mountain biking. If you’re committed to doing long runs in marathon preparation, then plan to go somewhere different every couple of weeks. Get someone to drop you 10 miles from home so that you’re not going over the same old

. I didn’t fully recover for months, and of course, I didn’t get selected for the Olympics. This was a time when I really needed a second opinion. Mix your training I retired from serious athletics in October 1967, equalling my PB of 13:12 for three

excellent cross-training for running, but to run a half-marathon well you also have to get used to spending a long time on your feet. I suggest that you use the days when you run to get in as many miles as possible – maybe a 15-16 mile run on the Sunday, a

session, I suggest you start with a one kilometre warm up. Then run 3 x 1K at your 10K race pace, with two or three minutes of jogging after each. Finish the session with a one kilometre warm-down. As you get better, try to build up to 6 x 1K

it’s run at lactate threshold pace; it offers excellent mental and physical preparation for a 10K.Tulloh: The more I see of runners, the more I am convinced that it is their aerobic capacity which can be improved most. I went up to 15-20M runs when I

Q After running a sub-3:00 marathon in my mid-30s, I spent the next 17 years running only occasionally. But last year, to celebrate my 50th, I returned to serious training for the Flora London Marathon. I finished in 3:28, and this has got me

and found I couldn’t handle any more than 10 minutes of cardiovascular exercise! Is this normal? A When you wrote, your marathon was still less than four weeks behind you. At this point it is quite normal to still be feeling the after-effects, especially

, swimming one hour a week, and spending 30-40 minutes per week on gym work.For the running, try to do one session a week of speedwork, with things like 10 x 1 minute fast, two minutes slow (or 12 x 200m fast, 200m jog if you’re on the track). This should

minutes at 20K and another five minutes to the finish – so your aim for the first one should be to break 1:45. And yes, it is a good idea to run an intermediate distance first – a 10-mile run if possible – so that you can get used to the slightly slower

running over 400-1000m stretches, but your long runs should be really slow. The crucial question is how long you can train hard without taking a rest. A lot of our top marathon runners cover 100 miles a week for most of the year, but the elite cannot