See, it's funny you say that because I find it useful! I do about 8.5 miles 2 to 3 times a week. This takes me about 65 minutes, but I can do 10 miles plus (relatively) comfortably. As someone said earlier, so much is in your head, psychology is everything. I find that around 20 minutes in, I need an energy boost mentally, and the right soundtrack works for me, just to raise that belief and take me past the magic half way point.

Having said that, I've also found that spoken radio is good. I need distraction, and a spoken debate allows me to get engrossed. My legs are perfectly capable, it's just my head that persuades myself I'm tired, so if I distract my head, the rest just happens. I discovered this, believe it or not, during the Ian Holloway deadline day debacle of 2013, when we signed about a million players. Listening to 5 Live allowed me a personal best that night. I now find my natural routine is often Monday and Friday nights because of the radio schedule.

I tend to only foam roll for specific injuries and if you have an injury you'll want to head to a physio for the right advice. For minor aches and pains you can refer to YouTube for video guidance but they are far from being a necessity if you're not injured. If you warm up well and stretch a bit afterwards then you'll not need one for just the standard rigours of distance increase.

You definitely don't want to dedicate your time to a 5k PB before upping distance. You'd benefit from some speed work here and there along with hills and intervals, but you also need to gradually up your distances week by week (along with aforementioned drop down weeks). If you start setting 5k personal bests along the way, that's fantastic, but that should only be considered a bonus. A lot of people find their short distance running goes the opposite way when training for longer distance stuff due to an emphasis on building slow twitch muscle fibres over the fast twitch fibres. But everyone is different.

Edited by Part Time James (09 Mar 2015 3.18pm)

I use the Addidas miCoach system and have done for the last 6years. I lost 4 st through running as a result...superb system that will work out programs and training plans for you based on your CURRENT fitness not just some random plan. In addition it accurately measures the distances etc and has a great ecosystem...much better than Nike+

I also listen to talk radio as it allows me to 'zone out' and its only then that you relax and your breathing doesn't become an issue.

I went from running 2 miles in 28mins to 6miles (10km) in 42mins in little over 10months!

The Voice of Reason In An Otherwise Mediocre World

Running is each to their own. For some clubs work but I like running alone. Most important thing is make sure you get good running shoes that are right for you. Ignore fashion. There's some terrific inner soles that can be moulded to the exact shape of your foot, well worth £45. If you want to run races great, if you don't that's also fine. Start slowly and build up. A good idea to consult a running coach because they can help with your running and also help prevent injuries. (Knees, shin splints, tibial band etc.) Hope you have a great time running and keep doing it for decades. I'm in my sixties and still running.

Always aim to finish a training run feeling that you could still run a bit further without any great distress - in other words never run yourself into the ground unless it is an actual event.

Also,if you are ill e.g. have a cold, rest. If you try and run through it you will probably make it worse and take longer to recover.

Used to love my running before I discovered powerlifting.

I tried joining Stiders of Croydon but found some of them were total pricks to be honest so packed it in after a few weeks.

No better feeling than running in the rain and I'm working my round to getting back into over the summer ready for winter!

Pride of South London
Upper Holmesdale Block P