Q. Whenever I race, I find that I feel sluggish during the first few miles. Can you give me some tips to speed me up during the all-important opening section of a race? A. The first thing you need to look at is your pre-race warm-up. If you

pace, warm-downThu 6-8 miles, steady paceFri RestSat 4 miles easy, with some fast stridesSun Warm up, 5-6 mile race, plus 4-5 miles steadyTOTAL: 45 miles approxWeek FourMon 6 miles easy, off-roadTue 6 x (800 + 400) at 5K pace with 90 secs

with 20 seconds' rest between efforts, then 4 x 50m race pace effort. Cool-down: 10 x 50m alternating bilateral and catch-up drills. Fri REST DAY CYCLE: Warm-up: 15 minutes steady. Main: 1 hour 15 minutes easy on flats, work hills up to 85 per

strides Race – 10-20K, plus warm-up and -downFINAL WEEK 8M easy Warm up, then brisk 4M 6M, inc 6 x 1 min fast, 2 mins slow 5M easy Rest or 3M jog 25-30 mins easy running and striding RACE DAYPace Key

(or 400m) with 90 secs (or 200m) slow Rest 4M jog with strides Half-marathon or 10k race or timetrial Week 6 (43-47M) Rest or 4M easy 6M easy 9M steady 6M - warm up, then 6 x 3 mins fast, 2 mins slow (or 6 x 800m

, then speed up if you’re not tired Warm up, then 6M at a fast pace, timed 6M fartlek, inc bursts of 200-300m Rest or 5M easy, off-road 4M, jogging only Half-marathon raceWeek 9 5M easy, off-road Warm up, then 6 x 3 mins fast, 2 mins slow (or 6 x 800m

, 10 mins jogWed Warm up, then 12 x 400m at 5K pace with 90 sec recoveriesThu 5 miles easyFri RestSat 20 mins easy, plus 6 x 150m stridesSun Warm up, race 5-8 miles, 10 mins jog recoveryTOTAL: 33-36 milesWeek SixMon 6 miles easy, off-roadTue 7

-6M at 80% max 2M warm-up, then 6 x 800m or 3 mins, with 400m jog recoveries, then 2M cool-down 5-7M easy, inc strides 2M easy, 2M fast, but not 100% Rest 60 mins mixed fartlek 8M easyWeek 2 5-6M with gradual acceleration 2M warm-up, then 5 x 1000m

, with 6-min recoveries 6M easy 8M fartlek on grass, inc 20 x 30 secs (approx) 3M jog 5M, no pressure 3M warm-up, then 5-6M race (not flat-out) WEEK 7 5M easy, off-road Rest 2M jog, then 5-6M at half-marathon pace, then 1M jog 5M easy, inc 8 x 200m

to maintain interest during these build-up weeks, but save the real speedwork for the final eight-week focus.(Approx 35- to 45-minute 10K)   Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday SundayWeek 1 5M easy, inc strides 2-3M warm-up, then 8 x 400m or 70