Packing light for an endurance event can seem like an insurmountable challenge. From fluids to food and kit, here’s how to get it right I felt well prepped. My first serious trail run lay a week away. Madeira’s mountainous tracks and cliff-top coastline beckoned. Our route: the classic MIUT ultra spanning the Portuguese island in the north Atlantic. But we weren’t crazy. We would do it in two stages rather than in one, crazy-goat go. And we would hack off the first 35km. So that left around 80km over two days. Sure, the gradient chart for the first day looked like a heart attack victim’s cardi ..read more

Welcome to the Weekend Debrief awards! Rehydration is available in the form of beer and prosecco, refuel with cake. And for one last time, runners, come and share your stories below the line. *Drum roll please* Ladies and gentlemen! Please place your grubby running shoes by the door, don your finest non-sweaty non-Lycra attire (assuming you have any) and take a seat and a glass of prosecco for the Weekend Debrief Awards. Oh and don’t worry, canapes in the form of miniature cakes will circulate shortly. After the finish [of parkrun] one of the runners came over and asked if we'd had the baby ye ..read more

The strong record of the country’s athletes is often attributed to these factors, but hard work, planning and creativity play a key role It is 3.15am and I have just woken from a fitful four-hour sleep. I am already wearing running shorts and I quickly pull on a T-shirt and step outside. It is pitch black and my breath turns to mist in the cold air. Fasil is washing his face at the outdoor tap. He has a night off his job guarding a half-constructed building and is staying with Hailye. He beams, clearly surprised that I kept my word about joining them for this session. “Ante ferenj aydelehim ..read more

Exercise requirements, nutritional needs and injury risks fluctuate throughout every woman’s cycle. Now there is a simple way to track what is happening and why Women’s sport is on the rise. With bigger and better programmes such as This Girl Can and Couch to 5K available, and running events such as parkrun growing significantly, opportunities for women have never been greater. Media perceptions are also changing: the BBC and ITV included female pundits in their World Cup coverage and, while parity is some way off, live broadcasting of women’s football and rugby is becoming more common. So, ac ..read more

In Berlin’s Olympic stadium and on the streets for the marathon - what a weekend it has been. As always, I want to hear your stories, so share your highlights and lowlights below the line What a fabulous weekend that was. On Friday morning I flew to Berlin for the European athletics championships. Since then I’ve seen so many stunning performances and crammed so much in that it feels like about a fortnight ago. If Berlin is anything to go by - and to misquote Mark Twain - reports of athletic’s demise are much exaggerated. Attendances of between 40,000-60,000 every day, a crowd who not only got ..read more

Track racing, snakes in the park and some news. As always, I want to hear your running stories below the line Well I’ve had a busy old week since we last met here, running friends. First up were the mile relays last Monday evening in Battersea Park, with a couple of Windmiler teammates. The mile race was, as mile races always are, short and sharp and lung hackingly-painful. But more memorably, of all the things I would have expected to find at a race in a London park, I probably wouldn’t have put a large snake high on the list, but you live and learn. Might have run a mile PB again if I’d seen ..read more

The UK’s top sprinter on smoked salmon before a session, his love of a good javelin competition and how his grandad’s funeral inspired him to get into the sport What have you been up to recently? I’ve been in Berlin doing some photo stuff with Nike for its new shoe, the Pegasus Turbo. Then just seeing my mates in London quite a bit, watching the World Cup football, having barbecue and social with the lads … That’s about it. I’ve been pretty busy competing and travelling so I haven’t had much down time. Where’s your favourite place to run? I’m not really fussed where I train – as long as I’ve g ..read more

At what temperature should you wash technical gear – and should you put your trainers in the machine? We put the big laundry questions to an expert Most runners have found themselves at the sink dealing ineffectually with muddy, sopping wet trainers and wondering if they dare machine-wash them. Can you do it – and what is the best way to tackle a “rainproof” jacket that is starting to whiff? I asked Michaela Uzzell from appliance manufacturer Miele for her advice on the most common runners’ laundry conundrums ..read more

Why don’t more women try track racing? Someone has to keep me company, folks ... As always, share your weekend triumphs and flops below the line It will come as no surprise to regulars when I say that I love the track. Track sessions, mostly on my own, twice a week, are the bread and butter of my training. But I also love a track race: and I wish more people did them. Of course I know that it’s not always possible, practical or accessible for many people to enter track races. But I also know that lots of people simply don’t realise they exist - exist, that is, at a fairly local, low key level ..read more

Racing, pacing or helping to create a new world record? As always, share your weekend stories below the line Who is holding the PB klaxon? Get it ready! Before my long run yesterday, I ran with my little girl in junior parkrun. Having only broken 11 minutes for the 2k distance a few weeks ago, she was definitely gunning for a PB. The grass is so parched that the course is like running on the road. The signs were good. But I was absolutely gobsmacked (and a little out of breath from her sprint finish) when she crossed the line in 10min and 01sec. Not bad for a six year old! Celebrations, natura ..read more