at the start of a race is a pretty sure way to feel bad at the end! You can’t expect your body to go straight from standing still to, say, eight-minute miling. Instead, coax it up to speed. Begin with 10-15 minutes of very gentle running. Once you

-downThu 6 miles easyFri Rest OR 25 mins easySat 15 mins easy, 15 + 10 + 5 mins THR, with 3 min recoveriesSun 12 miles easyTOTAL: 50 miles approxWeek ThreeMon 7 miles fartlek, alternating 1- and 2-min burstsTue 6-7 miles easyWed Warm up, 8 x 1000m at 10K

100m at race pace. CYCLE 20 minutes, checking gears, tyres etc.Evening RUN: 15 minutes with 3 x 30 seconds fast strides, alternating with 60 seconds recovery jog. Sun CYCLE: Warm-up: 10-15 minutes steady. Main: 1 hour 15 minutes easy spinning

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

on track, with 400m jog recoveries) Rest 5M easy 17M slow with 5M in middle at marathon pace Week 7 (43-47M) Rest or 4M easy 6M - hill running: 11 x 30 secs, or fartlek with 12-15 30-sec bursts 6M easy 7M - warm up, then 4

  Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat SunWeek 1 5M easy, off-road 7M steady with a few strides 6M easy Run to a hill, then 10 x 30 secs uphill, jog down Rest or 5M easy 6-7M steady, off road 9-11M slow, no pressureWeek 2 5M easy Warm up, then 3-4M at a brisk

miles steady paceWed Warm up, then 3-4 x 1 mile at 10K pace, with 3 min recoveriesThu 6-7 miles easyFri RestSat 10 mins easy, then 20 + 10 mins THR, with 3 min recoveriesSun 10-12 miles easyTOTAL: 45 miles approxWeek SevenMon 2 miles easy, 2 miles

recoveries, then 2M cool-down 5M very easy, OR rest 30-40 mins light fartlek, with short efforts (30, 40, 50 secs) Rest Warm up, then 4 x 400m with 400m jog recoveries, then 10-min cool-down 10-12M easyWeek 4 4-5M easy 2M warm-up, then 4 x 800m or 3 mins

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) or 13-15M steadyWEEK 10 5M easy, off-road 6-8M at a comfortable pace 2 x (8 x 200m) fast, on grass, with 1-min recoveries 6M easy, inc 1

400m, with 400m jog recoveries and 5-6 mins between sets, then 2-3M cool-down 6-8M slow Out and back run: 20-22 mins out; faster back Rest 7-8M tempo run 10-12M easyWeek 7 4-5M steady, inc strides 2-3M warm-up, then 5 x 1500m or 5 mins, with 600m or 3