Running fitness

When considering running fitness, it pays to talk to a qualified coach. While it's easy enough to lace up your shoes and trot around the block a few times, most people find that after a few weeks they stop making progress.

Running fitness depends on a number of factors. Of course you need to exercise regularly, but if significant progress is your goal, there needs to be more to it than that. True running fitness depends on getting a number of factors right:

• Mileage: For many people this is the be all and end all, but in truth it is just one tool to use when trying to get in shape. While there is a pretty direct correlation between mileage and conditioning at low mileages, once you get past about 15 miles per week, the returns start to diminish.
  
  
• Intensity: This is a huge part of the equation - varying your intensity will make more difference than almost anything else. Look at the way racers train - they mix up long sessions, hill workouts, intervals, race pace workouts, and even easy jogging for recovery. All of this is designed so that each time you set foot outside the door there is a particular goal for that day's workouts.
  
  
• Recovery: Crucial for long-term health - you need at least one day per week of total rest, and at least one or two more of easy recovery workouts. These can either be gentle jogging, or indeed another sport - swimming or biking for example.