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Twice recently I have had occasion to curse runners - under my breath, admittedly. I fundamentally will always defend runners almost to the hilt, but on these two occasions I bemoaned their gross stupidity. Runners are humans, after all, and most humans are stupid. On each occasion one of these runners ran out into the road that I was turning into in my car, complete with precious cargo of three-year-old daughter strapped into the back seat. They didn’t look, and they didn’t slow down, so both times I had to make an emergency stop and risk getting rammed from behind, which with my daughter in the back was a horrifying thought. (I’m not too keen on the idea of her daddy getting hurt, either, actually).

Now the reason these runners stepped blithely off the kerb into the path of my not-speeding motor was that they were listening to their iPods. How would the law view it if my nightmare scenario ensued, and in stopping suddenly for this cretinous, moronic, irresponsible, iPod-listening runner in order not to cause them harm, I was rammed from behind and my tiny, vulnerable precious little girl was hurt? First of all I suppose the driver of the car behind would be responsible, because you always are when you hit the car in front, no matter how suddenly it stops. But if was shown that I had stopped unreasonably - for example, in the eyes of the law, stopping for a dog is reasonable, but stopping for a cat is not - then could a third party, the stupid runner could be invoked?

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In the first of this series on speed I looked at one of the basic requirements: how much force you apply to the ground. Now it’s time to expand a little on how to get stronger without getting heavier, and how weight loss can play a part in improving your distance running.

In a nutshell, heavy weights lifted for a small number of repetitions will produce strength gains without bulk. And since we’re talking about strength for running, then the range of exercises required is small too. So we’re thinking about doing a small number of exercises - let’s think about two, the deadlift and the squat - for a small number of reps and sets - let’s say 2 x 3-5, with a pretty heavy weight - what would be defined as around 85% of 1RM, or 85% of the most you can lift at one attempt. There, that might be all you need to know. Simple, and effective.

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Do you want to go faster? There’s no catch, no hard sell, say yes if you want to. Oh, so you do. Now, is that ‘I WANT to go faster’ (and will do what it takes), or is that ‘Yes, well I’d quite like to go faster,’ as in ‘I’d quite like to play the saxophone,’ (but can’t really be arsed to practise for an hour a day for the next two years, do exams, perform in front of people and risk humiliation, let alone actually buy a sax.’? Getting faster when you are a novice and intermediate comes naturally. It will happen whether you want it to or not, as long as you run consistently and train with variety, and race fairly regularly. Eventually a runner reaches a plateau, and maybe assumes that that is their speed ceiling. This is where apathy can kick in. It’s all too easy to choose the path of least resistance, and decide to move up a distance in your events: my 10k time has plateau’d, so I’ll start doing half marathons.

If you WANT speed, then you’ll want to have a think about what makes you faster, and then to train those components of your fitness. Put some focused work in. Runnersdaily is going to look at these components over the next few training blogs, and help you work out how to make yourself run faster.

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Variety is the spice of running. Just as running in different types of shoes will challenge and stimulate your biomechanics, so will varying the surfaces you run on. You become more durable, with better lower leg strength and sharper reflexes. A more complete runner, let’s say. Runnersdaily casts a critical eye over what’s out there.

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The above figures are how much diabetes is costing the health services of Northern Ireland and Wales respectively. (I don’t know how the £55,000 per hour was calculated, but if you multiply that by 24 hours in a day, it comes out at well over a million pounds too). Reports by Diabetes UK, and Diabetes UK Cymru claim diabetes is one of the biggest health challenges facing the nation.

Iain Foster, Diabetes UK Northern Ireland director, said: “Diabetes…causes more deaths than breast and prostate cancer combined. But how avoidable is diabetes? Correct diet, correct activity and exercise levels are key, obviously, but how easy is it to know what constitutes ‘correct’?

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I was so sad when the Eastway, aka Lee Valley Cycling Circuit closed down to make way for the Olympic Park. It was an undulating, hilly, closed one-mile loop in east London, just by Hackney Marsh, and possibly the perfect location for run training. Hill reps on the main hill. Mile reps, obviously, with the happy knowledge that your time there was equivalent to a faster flat mile. Long tempo runs with built-in mile splits. All that on Tarmac, but you could run on the MTB loops, or on the verge alongside the road surface too if you wanted softer or less even terrain. With its car-free environment, it had everything any runner could want. But it is no more.

Where are the other good running locations in London? Here are 10 of the best - and we’d love to hear about your faves too!

1. Hackney Marsh. How long it survives under the Olympic onslaught we don’t know, but this is a very popular running venue. Flat firm, footing, road or grass to run on, two fields, the smaller measuring almost exactly 1500m around its perimeter, which is good reference for your interval training.
2. Richmond Park. Beautiful and very big, this park has flat stretches, hills, road and off-road. Cars are allowed here, so sunny weekends are less than perfect from that point of view.
3. Bushy Park. Not far from Richmond, this park has traditionally been the stamping ground of some of the world’s best runners - Sonia O’Sullivan, Benita Johnson, Craig Mottram and hosts of Kenyan and Moroccan stars have all been found putting the miles in here.
4. Regents Park. As well as being a gracious and spacious green space, Regents Park has a quirky old running track which I love. It’s got a slight slope, it’s gravel, it’s so narrow that running the bends too fast would make you wipe out, and it’s about 385m. And free to use. Go and get a 770m PB now!
5. Epping Forest. The forest proper is outside London, but there are a few strands creeping down into the borough of Waltham Forest, with trails that take you out of London and into the main forest. Try not to get lost.
6. Hampstead Heath. Parliament Hill Fields usually hosts cross-country championships, testament to the demanding naure of the hills there. Maybe too much male socialising going on in certain areas of the Heath, but an excellent running venue nevertheless.
7. Clapham Common. London’s well-bred youth and yummy mummys can be found making sure they are slim enough to fit into their designer gear. Usually plenty of runners out, so the vibe is good.
8. Greenwich Park. Steep hills make this the obvious alternative to the flatter venues listed, like Wimbledon and Clapham. A beautiful park in a lovely setting by the river.
9. Wimbledon Common. Maybe a little scruffy, but plenty of room to follow the trails.
10. Hyde Park. Despite its central location, Hyde Park is not too manicured, and it is surprisingly big. A great central running venue.

Do let us know your fave London runs, and happy running!

After our look at the value, or otherwise of Pilates for runners, Runnersdaily casts its jaundiced eye over yoga as an adjunct to your run training.

The first thing to point out is that there are several styles of yoga. According to the British Wheel of Yoga, there are the ‘classical’ types, which have 11 varieties, and the modern styles, which number seven. That adds up to 18. The best known classical style of yoga, most practised in the west, is ‘hatha’ yoga. That would be the style my nan used to do in the 70s, then. The trendiest style is bikram yoga, which isn’t even on the British Wheel of Yoga’s list, (that makes 19 yogas, then) and which is carried out in a heated room.

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There’s been a lull as summer eases its way out and autumn glides in. The long evenings and bright early mornings are receding and as the air becomes a little brisker each day, we start to reset our sights on a new season of racing. It might be cross-country, it might be a few road 5ks and 10ks as we build towards a spring marathon.

Preparing the mind can be the hard part of race readiness. Physically you might be in great shape yet fail to achieve your goals on race day. Usually that difference between race outcome and the quality of condition you were in as you toed the line is down to mental preparation. So Runnersdaily present 10 tips to help you get more from your fitness on race day.

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I’m worried about you. Are you in good health? Dunno, depends on your definition of good health, you mutter in a surly undertone…

Well, let’s aim high, and shoot for a physique like Mark Foster (men) or Yelena Isinbayeva (women), 8-10% body fat, an immune system as robust as Bruce Parry’s and enough energy to outlast my three-year-old daughter on her birthday weekend (I have just tried, and failed…please help). And if you fall short of those lofty goals, at least the fact that you run regularly means you are ok. Does it?

Fit you may be, but fitness and good health don’t necessarily go hand in hand. To awaken your inner hypochondriac, here are 10 conditions that may not be obvious, but which may over time bring you down. Don’t think I’m scaremongering - the point of this post is to open your eyes to the fact that there can be quite a wide disconnect between being a competent runner and being in excellent health.

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The weekend - 48 hours of Bacchanalia, hedonism, sleaze… and maybe a little running - lies ahead. So we’ll start our weekly link round-up with a quite different 48 hours…

1. In the world of ultrarunning Dean Karnazes is a figure of some scorn - or maybe envy, since he is a self-marketing marvel. Aiming to break the record for the furthest distance run on a treadmill in 48 hours was his latest stunt.
2. Talking about self-marketing marvels, a reminder of how last week (yes, this was in the round-up) Carl Lewis revved up the motor on his mouth with a few choice opinions on the Jamaican sprinting phenomenon.
3. And then Pat Butcher had a word or two himself on the subject of Carl Lewis. Maybe this will start a big war of words.
4. If your weekend is, like mine, a near unending cascade of sensuous delights of every possible description, then you might like to pay attention to the concept of naked weight loss.
5. Finally, if your weekend pleasures involve retail therapy, you have several tens of pounds burning a hole in your pocket and you fancy some new shoes, then here is a totally unbiased review of some Nike shoes from the Nike running website.

Have a great weekend!