Good Run Guide: 40 Great Scenic Runs in England & Wales

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The above advice provides a guide to a developing a regular weekly training schedule but if you are planning a race, you should consider developing a longer-term schedule that builds your training over time with the race date as a goal. The following table provides some general advice on developing a longer-term training schedule for a medium distance race (3 to 10 miles). You should use this in combination with the training pace guidelines above and should recalculate your target paces as your training progress. 8 - 12 WEEKS Use our Training Pace Calculator (see below)- This will suggest a target pace and weekly distance for each type of run based on a recent race result and the total distance you run each week. We recommend Easy rather than Steady Runs as part of a training schedule aimed at performance improvement. However, if you would like to include Steady Runs in your tarining, we suggest that you substitute them for some of your Easy runs.

How much running should I do each week? It is possible to run as little as 10 miles per week and still achieve a good level of fitness and participate in shorter distance races.

If you are not quite at this level, take a look at our Beginners Guide to Running article, which also contains a Beginners 5K Training Plan. Select the Saved Route you want to edit and then simply continue drawing. New points will be automatically added to the end of the route. You can save the extended route with a new name.

Learn to judge how easy it feels - You should be able to hold a conversation while running at an Easy pace and should be able to run at the same speed for at least 20 minutes at a Tempo pace. If you are finding it very hard to do this or you are finding it very easy, adjust your speed as necessary, using a stopwatch to pace yourself if it helps. Over time you will get used to judging how fast you are running, even without the aid of a stopwatch.

Why is Age-Grading useful?

Predicting Race Times - You can use you current Age-Graded percentage as a method of predicting finish times for races. Always warm up and cool down for approx. 10 mins. before and after Tempo, Hill and Interval sessions.

Each finisher receives a mug, chocolate bar and fruit. There are series and individual medals/prizes. The following table describes a number of common types of running and the benefits of each. It also sets out our recommended guidelines on effort levels and distance for medium distance runners (running distances between 3 miles to 10 miles) who are aiming to improve performance. Motivation - As we get older it is reasonable to expect that we won't be able to run at the speeds we achieved when we were young. This can be demotivating for runners who are 'past their peak' even if they are running well for their age. So, rather than focusing solely on how fast you are running, it can be more motivating to focus on your Age-Graded performance. This is very much dependent on your personal goals, your current level of fitness, the time you have available and most importantly, how much your body can cope with; there is no set recommendation that suits everyone. Adjust your training pace for strong headwind or difficult terrain - Bear mind that the paces recommended by our Training Calculator are based on running on flat, even surfaces, without a headwind. If this is not the case, you should aim for a slower pace so that you are still running at your target level of effort. If possible, try the pace out on a flat route in good conditions to get used to the level of effort required. This will help you to judge the right level of effort when conditions are more difficult.Comparing with other Runners - By factoring out age and sex it is possible for two different runners to compare their performance for the same run on even terms, enabling people to compete with each other regardless of age and sex. You will often find that Running Clubs talk a lot about Age-Grading as it provides a way for Club Members to compare their race performances, irrespective of how old they are.

Select a race where your finish time reflects your current performance level and where the race is of a simailar type (hilliness and terrain) to the one you plan to run, as this will improve the accuracy of the prediction (i.e. don't choose a hilly cross-country race if you are predicting a time for a flat road race). If you are relatively new to running it is not always easy to translate the target level of effort into how fast you should run. You should only follow these guidelines if you are already reasonably fit e.g. you can run 5km without stopping. Good Run Guide brings you another Wednesday evening trail race series. The races are 5 miles each long and loosely based on one of our recommended running routes through scenic and sometimes challenging parts of Wimbledon Common. They start at the iconic windmill and offer a mixture of adventure, fun and challenge all set within the lovely Wimbledon Common and completely traffic free. However conveniently there is a large free car park at the start. Warm-up and cool-down - Always remember to warm-up and stretch and cool-down and stretch before and after any exercise.

If you use the Good Run Guide Log Book, we can analyse races you've logged to estimate your Performance Degradation Factor. When you log runs in your Good Run Guide Log Book, you will be able to calculate an Age-Graded percentage for each run. These maps have been put together using open source mapping to highlight cycle paths and routes. They can often provide better detail for offroad mapping of runs and cycle rides than other sources but may be incomplete in some areas as the maps are still under construction. It is possible to run as little as 10 miles per week and still achieve a good level of fitness and participate in shorter distance races. However, if you want to train for medium distance races and achieve your best possible performance for the time spent training, a good goal is to run between 15 and 40 miles a week (depending upon time constaints, the speed you run, and how well your body copes with training). Always monitor your own health and tiredness levels each week so that you don’t overtrain. Also, cross-training such as cycling, swimming and strength training, can have a beneficial effect, so it is worthwhile considering adding this to your weekly schedule if possible.