THE A TO Z OF RUNNING PERFORMANCE

Whatever the distance, running requires dedication. It's about discipline and digging deep, passion and pushing boundaries. But it's also about feeling good. Running can liberate you from a sluggish body and even inject youthfulness into old age. And regardless of your level or experience, you can always learn more...

- Fiona Bugler

ALTITUDE TRAINING

Exercising at altitude - usually over 2,500m (8,000ft) above sea level creates useful adaptations to working muscles. These make runners more efficient at both sea level and altitude, by increasing the concentration of red blood cells, which helps to boost endurance and speed.

You can travel to the mountains and train at altitude for two weeks to a month, or you can visit a hypoxic chamber, like the one at The Altitude Centre in Trump Street, London (altitudecentre.com). Training in these conditions not only prepares people for the rigours of altitude, but helps those with little time to train.

Sessions in the chamber are usually short, as most benefit is gained from high-intensity intervals, such as 10 x 1-minute fast, with a 1-minute recovery. Oxygen-deprived intervals are an effective way of boosting VO2 max without overloading your system, which means you get the fitness benefits with less recovery cost. To acclimatise to altitude, it's recommended you visit the chamber in the final month before your race. For longer-term training, follow a marathon schedule and use the sessions in the sharpening phase of training (around six to 12 weeks of a 16-week schedule) for optimum results.

BAREFOOT

As mentioned earlier this issue, barefoot running was given a boost in 2009, with the publication of Chris McDougall's Born To Run and the story of the Tarahumara tribe who did ultramarathons in sandals that were little more than straps of leather. The big manufacturers jumped on board, but according to figures from the US sales had slumped again by 2014.

Stalwarts of the trend, however, such as Vibram Five Fingers and Vivo Barefoot, continue to promote barefoot running and work hard to educate runners as to its benefits.