I’m running Edinburgh Marathon this year, instead of London, which I usually take part in. And this has lulled me into a false sense of security – I keep thinking ‘it’s not for ages yet…’ when it’s actually just 4 weeks after London. So I’ve finally got my finger out and started training properly. A couple of weeks in, I’ve noticed that I’m feeling stronger and less ‘battered’ than I normally do at this stage and I firmly believe that this is, in part, due to the strength training I’ve been doing. Nothing fancy – no gym membership or equipment involved – just twice-a-week circuits using a park bench. I’ve been doing dips, planks, push-ups along with step-ups, single-leg dips, lunges and squats – increasing either the number or difficulty of each exercise where necessary. With such high impact forces and stresses on the body during running, I believe increasing the resilience and endurance of your muscles and connective tissues is an effective way of helping it to cope with the increase in training that marathon running involves – without leaving you injury-prone or feeling permanently sore and faituged. Try it and see…