," says Andrew Kastor, coach of the ING New York City Marathon online training programme.5. Warm-up properlyTreat yourself like a runner - from day one. That means taking time to properly warm up and cool down. "A good warm-up makes it much easier

and temperatures are mild.2. Warm upDo your normal pre-race warm-up, including some strides, so you’re ready to run hard from the beginning of the test.3. Start the testStart your test in lane one. Don’t go out too fast; you want to find the fastest pace you can

pedalling at 90rpm to warm up and I'm lulled into a false sense of security. Then he leans down and turns two dials; one to increase the resistance and another to start the vibrations. The first few blasts of 30-second intervals on resistance level one

Colgan. Elite Secret # 2: Get LooseElite runners take their warm-up seriously. "You need to spend at least 20 to 30 minutes warming up, jogging two to three miles interspersed with dynamic strides and drills," says Richard Holt, elite coach at momentumsports

.swimfortri.com).Pool session"This session involves holding race pace over an extended period and will help to simulate race-day conditions," says Bullock. "Do this 10 days before the triathlon." Warm up, doing 6-8 x 50m, with a 10-second rest between each. Do front crawl

, with this tension transferring to the head and face," says Greg Whyte, from the Research Institute for Sport and Exercise Science at Liverpool John Moores University. The fix: Warm up your neck and upper back with self-massage, as well as doing neck and shoulder

the hamstrings, gluteals, calves, groin and quads in two sets of 30 seconds after exercise, and two sets of 7-10 seconds after a pre-speedwork warm-up jog. If you want to progress further and you have time in the week, try yoga, too.Strength training

' with We Will Rock You blaring out...)So I needed something versatile, something that will let me clock up the slow miles in the snow and then, more importantly, isn’t going to turn me in to Fricker Stew in the heat of the desert. Enter my new best threads

an event:• A 30-45-minute cycle, building in the first 10 minutes to race pace, followed by a five-minute run at race pace. Build this up to 20 minutes at race pace over four weeks. Warm down with an easy jog for several minutes then jump back on your bike

," says Jason Karp, an online running coach in San Diego, US (runcoachjason.com). If you're new to speedwork or coming back after injury, reduce the number of intervals in the following workouts by half and spend more time warming up, recovering