In the northern hemisphere many runners will have their sights on a spring marathon while here in my home South Africa, runners will be looking to complete qualifying marathons for the big ultras, Two Oceans and Comrades. For this reason I put together a few essentials to get your marathon journey off to a good start.

Over December I put out 24 holiday training tips in the build up to Christmas. These summarize almost all the basics you need to know whether beginner or experienced. Here I have listed them all together for you so you as a reminder and to help you keep moving forwards towards those running dreams! I have also added links to blogs that expand on the tip. This is a good list to print out and stick on the fridge ;-).

The start of a new year is always a time of great bravado where grandiose goals are set. Unfortunately, for many, it does not take long before the goals are either postponed to the following year or completely discarded as impossible. What if there was one goal, that if you just stuck to that, would almost guarantee achieving all your other goals?

Training in its simplest form, is merely placing a demand, or load, on the body (the workout) and then allowing it a chance to respond (recovery). It is that response to the load that we call “getting fitter/faster/stronger”.

Two simple adjustments you can make to your running that will help make your stride lighter, quicker and your running more effortless are: to lift out of your hips and to keep your head up.

Why all running clubs should have cow’s milk on the pub menu.

They say there is always something new to learn, and this past Sunday I learnt about a whole new type of marathon training during my local running club's LSD – PANIC TRAINING!

Superfoods, supershoes, superfuel, super workouts and super recovery gadgets have all become the rage over the past decade as over stressed, time constrained weekend warriors try to find that elite performance edge.

Paradox: a situation or statement that seems impossible or is difficult to understand because it contains two opposite facts or characteristics: Examples: - Running is fun. - That was such an awesome race, my muscles were crying.

Information on running form can leave one feeling insecure and confused about how you run. To help you I have summarized the basic essentials to pay attention to in the infographic below. Don't over think it, pay attention to your body and think "run easy".