Extension Fitness

To race a distance well, it helps enormously if you can easily cover the distance.

For a 10K or half marathon, your training should gradually make the distance feel familiar. Once you can cover it comfortably, you’re in a much better position to run it quickly.

You also need to practise the demands of your event. This doesn’t mean racing every weekend and accumulating enough medals to require structural reinforcement at home. It means regularly rehearsing a realistic target pace in manageable portions.

And don’t neglect your “chassis”.

Your cardiovascular fitness may be excellent, but your bones, muscles, tendons and ligaments must also tolerate thousands of repetitive steps. Easy running, sensible increases in volume and long walks can help develop this resilience.

Build the distance.

Practise the pace.

Condition your body to handle the work.

Not revolutionary. Still effective.

Finishing strong isn’t simply about trying harder on race day.

It comes from preparing for the actual demands of the event: building the capacity to cover the distance, practising an appropriate pace and developing the physical resilience to sustain it.

Here’s what Jo has to say about her experience:

“I have just started running a program with Tim from Extension Fitness, and his knowledge about running is remarkable. He analysed my running pattern, posture, and correcting the techniques. I do strength training and follow the running program that Tim creates for me. I tried to follow what I can remember in a running event last week, and finally, I know what it means to be finished strong! I can finish the 12k from the beginning to the end with a relatively similar pace! I would recommend Tim to achieve your fitness goal!”

— Jo G

Well done, Jo. Maintaining a relatively consistent pace across the full 12K is a very pleasing sign that the training is moving in the right direction.

Three important principles for becoming a better distance runner:

(These are rules 4-6 from my “12 Rules For Running”)

4/ Get comfortable with running for a long time.

If you’re training for a 10K or half marathon, covering the distance shouldn’t feel like an extraordinary event. Develop the capacity to complete it comfortably before becoming preoccupied with speed.

5/ Practise your event.

You get good at what you practise. This means regularly rehearsing a realistic race pace in sensible, manageable portions, not racing every week.

6/ Develop your chassis.

Your cardiovascular fitness may improve faster than your bones, tendons and ligaments can adapt. Easy running, gradually increasing volume and even long walks can help develop the physical resilience needed to tolerate a lot of hard running.

Cover the distance.

Practise the demands.

Build a body which can handle the work.

💪

Sweating profusely and gasping for air can make a workout FEEL productive.

But difficult and effective are not necessarily the same thing.

If strength training starts to resemble an aerobics class, you may simply be performing the exercises too quickly and resting too little.

Allowing your breathing to settle between sets isn’t being lazy. It helps you lift with greater control, apply meaningful effort to the muscles and perform the next set properly.

Critically, this fosters consistency over weeks, months and years. The benefits of consistent, long term training at moderate intensity DWARF any gain from a short term campaign of intense training which is abandoned because of injury or demotivation.

Judge your strength training by the quality of the work not by how exhausted you look at the end.

Good coaching isn’t always about keeping a client for as long as possible.

Sometimes, the most responsible thing a coach can do is recognise when another professional is better placed to help—and make the appropriate referral.

Here’s what Marie had to say:

“I cannot recommend Tim at Extension Fitness highly enough.

From my first consultation, he took the time to listen to my concerns and understand my medical history. With his background as a physiotherapist and his strong knowledge of fitness and rehabilitation, I felt very confident in his approach.

He was very patient, encouraging and genuinely invested in improving my strength, mobility and overall wellbeing.

What impressed me most was his recommendation that I seek further advice from Clare, a highly trusted colleague of his who is a neurological physiotherapist. That level of professionalism and genuine concern for a client’s ongoing progress is rare, in my opinion, and was very much appreciated.

I am now solely under Clare’s care. Thank you, Tim, for introducing me to her.

I would recommend Tim at Extension Fitness without any hesitation.”

— Marie Lambert

Thank you for the generous words, Marie. I’m pleased I could help connect you with the right professional for your ongoing care.

A strength session doesn’t need to feel like a cardio workout to be effective.

A pounding heart, burning lungs and profuse sweating tell you that you’re working hard. They do NOT necessarily tell you that you’re building strength or muscle effectively.

Strength training works best when the effort is focused:

1/ Challenge the muscles during each set
2/ Rest long enough to recover between sets
3/ Maintain good technique
4/ Progress gradually over time

If fat loss is your goal, strength training can certainly help. It builds and preserves muscle, supports your long-term physical capacity and may make everyday activity easier.

But these benefits accumulate gradually and no workout can reliably compensate for poor eating and drinking habits.

Pushing harder is not always better. Sometimes it simply creates excessive soreness, poor technique, injury or a reluctance to return for the next session.

You should finish feeling WORKED, not destroyed.

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Complexity isn’t always a sign of expertise.

Sometimes it reflects genuine nuance. Other times, it’s jargon, unnecessary detail and peripheral information presented as though it matters enormously.

Good coaching should help you understand what matters most and what to do next.

For most people, progress still comes from getting the big things right:

1/ Train consistently
2/ Recover adequately
3/ Make sensible adjustments over time
4/ Ignore most of the noise

Expertise shouldn’t make you more dependent or confused.

It should make the path forward clearer.

Very interesting post on applied anatomy of the IT Band!

New horizons in iliotibial band biomechanics in runners - Running Writings New horizons in iliotibial band biomechanics in runners August 12, 2026August 12, 2026 by John Davis The iliotibial band, or IT band, is a thick strip of fibrous tissue on the outside of your thigh. It’s the fifth most common location of injury among runners, and it’s also a very weird anatomica...