Steve Haywood Health & Fitness

Christine Ohuruogu - British Olympic Medallist

I have trained and advised people regarding their running for some time now. For people looking to start running for the first time or for those who have just started there are always lots of questions and one of the most fundamental to crop up is “How do I train?” This may seem simplistic but it is an intelligent question. People don’t know when to train fast or slow or how often and so I have looked for ways to give answers that may stick in peoples minds.

I am going to assume that people are hopefully training with a goal in mind, be it a 5k Race for Life or the London Marathon. On the day of that race the idea is to be at your peak of fitness so the idea is this. Think of your training and yourself as your current account, you take money out and you put money back in . The steady runs are putting in a reasonable amount to keep the account in the black. The harder runs, the interval work, the hill work mean that you have to take out a fair amount that may leave the account temporarily in the red, however, if your training is well thought out you will put back into your account with interest.

Poor management of your account will mean that you never have enough in there and consequently struggle to cope. Good management of your account will mean that by race day you have more than enough funds to complete the task. Therefore, seek advice with your training, don’t just bumble along blind and don’t become a bankrupt runner. This advice is for all levels of runner but especially people starting out, so to really enjoy your training and racing see your bank manager (coach ). Enjoy

Disclaimer: This analogy with banks was thought out pre credit crunch but I am sure you will get the idea.