Lose weight: The biomechanical consequences of lifting 1, 5, or 10 extra pounds with each step can get you huffing and puffing just a little more from climbing a flight of stairs, imagine what it does to your body over the course of a 26.2 mile marathon, or even a 3 mile fun run!

What workouts to do after taking some time off Let us assume you have taken 2 months off from running. In this article we will make an assumption that you are new to the sport and have ended your season on a good note and without injury. You simply took time off because you needed to and are now ready to get rolling again.

Dave Green writes: "Cycling helps running performance but running does little to improve your cycling" said an injured triathlete to me recently.

To improve as a runner or indeed to maintain good fitness through running requires a lot more than just hitting the pavement and the hills. You need to look at the big picture of performance. There is more to performance than training.

Most everyone has run at some time or another. Maybe it was when you were a kid and you were chasing the ice cream man or perhaps you ran cross country in high school. Running is a great pastime, activity or sport depending on how you look at it. Now, marathon running is another story.

Alex Mrosczyck-McDonald writes: Some people are natural born runners, while others have to encourage their inner runner to emerge.  Here are 5 tips that, if incorporated regularly into your training, will help you to work your way up in the pack.

Tim Crowley, CTS Pro- Level Coach, writes: Running and swimming have an important thing in common: in order to go faster, you need to either increase the distance per stride (or stroke), increase the turnover rate, or both.

Jon Lauder of Endorphin Fitness takes us through some training tips and advice for preparing for that local 10k race.

So you've been training for eight or maybe 12 weeks and marathon day is getting closer by the minute. You've put in countless miles and have one last hurdle to clear before you can tackle race day: the long run.

If you look out the window right now chances are you won't see the sun. If you go to the mall then you'll probably have to park a mile away, and if you walk into your favorite grocery story you might be greeted by a ten foot tall dancing Santa - the same one that your obnoxious neighbors have proudly planted on their front lawn. That's right it's December!