can save even more when entering our sister race, the 2011 Women’s 10K

and exercise to reach your optimum weight Health and Injury – staying fit and well as a runner Nutrition – eating right to fuel your running Training for racing – focussing your running, from a mile to the marathon Women's running – running during every phase

nightmare if she lost, frankly.”  Holmes was a precocious talent at junior level, winning the English Schools 1500m title, but joined the Women’s Royal Army Corps at 18. She became an Army judo champion and when athletics meetings came around, ran against

) or faster (quality)? Luckily, bigger brains than mine have grappled with this question.Researchers Weigh InA study at the University of Northern lowa examined the quantity part of this dilemma. In the study, 51 university-aged men and women volunteered

on the beach, and more for maintaining my lean body mass. If you’re interested in good health, as opposed to performance, you definitely need to do some strength training. This is particularly important as you age, and also for women, to help protect against

, the percentage of red cells may rise to just below 50 per cent (normal levels are approximately 40-50 per cent in men and 37-47 per cent in women). At this level one would not expect any “thickening of the blood” leading to heart attacks. However, athletes taking

and aim to create a calorie deficit of around 500kcal per day in order to lose 500g (one pound) of body fat over the course of a week. Most women typically expend around 2,000kcal every day (which is why it often appears on food labels as an official guide

heavy alcohol consumption leads to fat accumulation around the middle. Women should drink no more than one drink daily, and men should limit themselves to two drinks per day.Stay fit Studies show people lose specifically from their waist when exercise

for someone in their 40s, because maximum heart rate declines as we get older. The rough rule of thumb for estimating your ‘age-predicted’ maximum heart rate is to subtract 0.8 times your age from 214 for men, or subtract 0.9 times your age from 209 for women

and 2092(0.93age) for women. There’s a great deal of individual variation in MHR, though. For example, the age-predicted MHR for a 25-year-old may be 195, but in reality it can range from 175 to 215. The rate of age-related decline of MHR also varies, which