Every runner (and most non-runners) are familiar with static stretches - the image of a runner sticking his leg up on a park bench and holding the stretch until it hurts is pretty much a stereotype. Read more >>

No matter how many older, wiser heads are there to to give advice, we invariably begin our running career by repeating the same mistakes everyone has made before us! In particular, the three mistakes everybody makes are increasing the mileage too quickly, choosing footwear that is a recipe for blisters and skimping on drinking water during running.

Let's deal with each of them in turn: Read more >>

One of the least recognized, but potentially most harmful situations that serious endurance athletes often land themselves into is the overtraining syndrome. The overtraining syndrome quite simply means the athlete has done too much. This is often due to the fact that almost all endurance athletes suffer from the same universal misconception: the fear of doing too little. Read more >>

We all know after a particularly tough run, there can be stiffness for the next day or two, and the next run can feel like dragging a piece of lead around. These effects are often accepted as part and parcel of running, but with a good post-run recovery program they can be alleviated, and you might be vary surprised how soon your legs start feeling fresh again. Read more >>

When discovering the joy of running or exercising for the first time, the tendency is to begin each run the same way you mean to continue it, and perhaps even get carried away with yourself if the opening stages. However, gradually one learns the importance of having a proper warm-up schedule either the easy way (by listening to older and wiser heads) or the hard way (getting injured!) Read more >>

One of the most common kinds of injury is due to a tightening of the iliotibial band (ITB), a ligament which runs all the way from the hips to the feet. When it tightens and contracts due to exercise, the places that tends to feel it is around the outside of the knee. Here are a couple of stretches you can do to loosen up the ITB before and after racing: Read more >>

When you begin running, the temptation is to look at long distance and marathon runners and immediately want to jump to their level. We think the challenge will be for our cardiovascular system to take the strain of a sudden increase in mileage, but it is actually the muscles and tendons that will give way first! Put simply, one's body needs to gradually 'learn' how to handle long distances. Read more >>

There are many pitfalls one can fall into when one is recovering from an injury, which act to increase the tilme it takes to recover. The adage 'runners always seem to learn the hard way' is often used to describe how runners get injuries in the first place, but it can be equally well applied to how we cope with injuries too. Read more >>