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By Tina Talbot, THE London Marathon is upon us and for weeks we have seen more runners out and about.

It could be that the weather is changing for the better, but if you are training for the marathon, you should be sticking to your strict regime.

There are lots of variations of training and I know the internet and running magazines advocate different variations and we find that the running athletes that we maintain - here I mean regular sports massage and physiotherapy check ups - all follow regimes which suit them.

Where we often start seeing problems is when speed training and the long training run is introduced.

Athletes are often surprised that speed training seems to break them in the form of shin splints - the irritation and pain on the front of the shins - and hamstring and adductor tears in the back and inside of the thigh.

In an amateur marathon runner, the speed is usually 40-60 per cent of their maximum capability, which means all their muscles are running on is fat and carbohydrates.

This is why natural marathon runners are lean and when this muscle is asked to do speed training it suddenly has to work at 80-90 per cent of capacity.

The muscle now needs to use protein as its fuel and the marathon runner now finds that not only have they never used the muscle this way, it is weak and therefore tires quickly.

Breakdown can and does occur.

Too much too quickly will affect the biomechanics of your legs and it can easily be avoided if you train sensibly. Make sure you have periods of rest, allowing your body to recover.

This is why a long run is not included just up to the marathon itself.

You do not want to enter the big race still recovering from your last training session. Also watch your shoes and their mileage. Ensure that the shoes you wear for the marathon are not new but have got 80-100 miles behind them.

So to all you amazing marathon runners out there: Good luck.

n You can contact Tina Talbot on 01305 776102 at The Nielsen Clinic, Budmouth Sports Centre

12:28pm Tuesday 8th April 2008

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