How to beat your Personal Best on a Park Run: Expert tips to ensure you do

The 9 am Park Run is a Saturday morning ritual for over 400,000 runners, each week. So far over 50 million have completed this healthy activity which is now available in over 1800 communities throughout the world. It's free, friendly and really inclusive - people, at every level of fitness can run or even just walk at a pace they enjoy. In the pre-run brief, the volunteers remind us that it is not supposed to be a race but many runners are passionateabout improving one or more competitive targets - keeping up with a friend, getting ahigher place in your age category but the ultimate rival is yourself - beating your personal best (PB). The problem is, the more runs you do and the older you get the harder it is to beat your PB.

As a professor of Sports and Nutrition, I am in a fortunately position to keep up to date on the latest, evidence based, nutritional and training tips to improve performance. Although these tips vary in intensity, they are relevant for elite athletes, club runners, determined weekend warriors or the majority of Park Runners who just want to improve their general fitness. Hopefully the advice in this article will, not only, help you smash your PB but make your run more enjoyable and comfortable. Let's start with the training.

Training techniques

In order to beat your PB, you have to train yourself to run faster, at an aerobic pace, for 5 Km, up and down some pretty steep hills. If you usually train by plodding along, on the flat for half an hour or so twice a week, this will not improve your times, even if it does help with basic fitness. Training needs to be more structured and focus on four different elements:

* Strength to power up the hills

* Speed to eat up the time on the flat and downhill

* Stamina to last 5K

* Heart and lung capacity to keep you running aerobically

Strength, lung and heart capacity: Find a local hill and try a pyramid training formation. You can stride at 3/4 pace uphill at increasing longer distances then recover whilst walking down between strides. Run at a pace which makes you very breathless for a minute or so after you stop. This will increase your heart and lung capacity so in the race you can run faster without tipping into anaerobic respiration - a state where you need to stop and remain breathless to pay back the oxygen it has used. The hill runs will also strength your musclesto help you stay strong up the hills on the race day. Try not to juts focus on running,incorporate cross-training activities like swimming, cycling, or light weights which helps conditions different muscle groups and still supports your heart and lungs.

Improve speed. After you have warmed up, set a training running pace the same or faster than you would like to run on the day. So, if for example, like me, you are trying to beat 22 and a half minutes this would be pace of 4.5 mins/km or 13.33 km/hour on running application or treadmill. Depending on what stage you are, run for a couple of minutes then walk or jog slowly between episodes - restart when you feel recovered, a technique often called Fartlek. As you get fitter the distances running at these speeds increase but I suggest you don't go further than 1 km. Instead of increasing the distance, increase the pace. Increasing stride length (Stretching): During training and before your race, ensure you adequately stretch to open up your stride length (see video). If you have time, a Pilates class will help strengthen, mobilises and align your ankles, knees and hips which is particularly important for increasing stride length. During your warm up, alternate strides with dynamic stretching - this is where you swing your limbs to increase their range of movement. Remember to take 10 mins to stretch again after your training sessions and park run. This is the often the last thing you feel like doing but will reap benefits in the longer term and most importantly help protect you from injuries.

Running style: Work on your running form and technique to become more efficient, conserve energy and reduce the risk of injury. Try not to slouch when you get tried, stay tall and look 10 m in front of you, not at your feet. In particular, increase stride length by lifting the knees higher, pushing out the foot before placing on the ground, push your toes into the ground at each step so you consciously feel your calf muscles contracting . Maybe get a friend to video you running or ask advice from a more experienced runner.

Rest and Recovery: Allow your body to recover adequately after each training session or event. Overtraining can lead to injuries and hinder performance. Ensure you get enough sleep and listen to your body when it needs rest.

Mental Toughness: Train your mind to push through challenges and stay focused during runs. Think of a point in the race you struggle most with - mine, for example is the start of a particularly step hill. For others, it may be getting through the last 500m without walking or even the anticipation of the start. In your mind, visualise yourself relaxing and enjoying the challenge which will reduce anxiety and negative thoughts. Remember, progress takes time, so be patient and enjoy the journey - after all this is meant to be fun.

Nutrition: Increasing the amount of training can put a strain on the body unless it is prepared with adequate nutrition, not just on race days but across the week. Here are the main elements to focus on: Hydration is a critical factor before, during and after exercise. It helps maintain an optimal body temperature by replacing the fluids lost through sweat. Dehydration can lead to heat-related illnesses such as heat exhaustion or heat stroke. It can lead to muscle cramps, kidney damage, fatigue, decreased endurance and a higher risk of muscle or joint strains. Proper hydration supports electrolyte balance, efficient nutrient transport, aiding in energy production and overall performance. Protein consumed in adequate amounts helps to promote muscle synthesis and repair facilitating quicker recovery after intense workouts, reducing the risk of muscle soreness and fatigue. Fish, seafood, eggs and meat are obvious sources of protein but plants alone can also ensure you get a wide range of essential amino acids (The building blocks for proteins). Protein rich plants include beans, chickpeas, lentils and peas; almonds, peanuts, walnuts, chia, flax and sunflower seeds; whole grains, quinoa and brown rice. Try to increase a variety of protein rich foods in the days before and after exercise sessions.

Essential minerals: Modern intensive farming, over cleaning and processing are depleting many minerals such as zinc, magnesium, selenium and iodine from the foods on the shelves. Additional sweating and the increased metabolism needed for exercise can further increase requirements for the body. Minerals are essential for the formation of protein, bone and cartilage, production of hormones, immune factors and anti-oxidants enzymes which protect from oxidative stress which are a by-product of energy production.  Foods rich in essential minerals include clams, mussels and edible seaweed; cocoa, walnuts, pistachios, Brazils or hazelnuts as well as seeds such as pumpkin, sunflower and unsalted peanuts. These is also good arguments for including a multimineral complex in your daily health routine especially when training. Look for one, such as Phytomineral, which has the complete range of essential minerals, including iodine at levels around 100% RDA and not more. Nitrate rich foods: Nitrates are found in many in plants including beetroot, celery, most berries, spinach and other leafy green vegetables. In the presence of vitamin C and phytochemicals nitrates are converted to nitric oxide (NO). Nitric oxide relaxes muscles around arteries, improving blood flow to organs such as the heart and muscles, reducing blood pressure, improving energy levels, sports performance and mental agility. Phytochemical rich foods are an essential addition to every exercise programme whatever the fitness level. A recent study has highlight how they influence multiple important biochemical pathways that support the ability to train stronger for longer. Higher intake improves safety, comfort and recovery whilst exercising, which in turn can improve motivation, enjoyment, enhance the health benefits of exercise and ultimately performance. They help mop up by-products of energy production called free radicals by supporting anti-oxidant enzymes. Too many free radicals in our cells will damage our vital DNA, so exercising without adequate phytochemical intake can do more harm than good.

They also have other exercise supporting properties including:

* Protecting joints and tendons

* Reducing delayed-onset muscle symptoms and muscle damage

* Improving muscle and tissue oxygenation

* Act as prebiotics which improves gut health

* Helps circadian rhythm, improves sleep and post exercise fatigue

* Elevating mood and motivation to exercise

* Reducing viral colds and flu which disrupt training

Asian and Mediterranean diets are typically abundant in phytochemical-rich fruits, mushrooms, vegetables, salads, herbs, spices, teas, nuts, berries, seeds and legumes. Typical western diets, on the other hand, are often deficient in phytochemicals, meaning we need to eat a lot more of them, preferably with every meal of the day. There are many healthy dishes which involve tasty phytochemical rich foods made from readily available, low cost ingredients. In the busy world we live in, it’s often difficult to prepare fresh healthy meals on a daily basis. A well-made Phytochemical rich supplement, for some people, is a convenient way to increase phytochemical intake. They can contain foods which are not commonly eaten in a typical UK diet such a turmeric, ginger andcranberries. The vast majority, however, have not be evaluated for safety and effectiveness in robust medical trials. There are some exceptions, such as the Yourphyto which was developed by the scientific committee of the latest UK national nutritional intervention study which is evaluating strength, body composition and exercise levels.

Avoid Vitamin A and E supplements: Regular vitamin A and E supplements, unless correcting a known deficiency, should be avoided. Unlike natural phytochemicals which promote a natural adaptive increase in anti-oxidant enzymes when needed, vitamin A and E are direct anti-oxidants and can actually override this process. Vitamins A & E can also block signals which reduce the anti-oxidant enzyme levels when not needed. As such they cause anti-oxidant enzymes to remain elevated, even when the oxidative stress subsides. Combined with their direct antioxidant properties this can result in a state called anti-oxidative stress. These biological processes explain why studies have reported that excess intake of vitamin A and E reduces sports performance.

Gut health

The importance of looking after the healthy bacteria in the gut is often overlooked by runners. A healthy gut , improves performance for several reasons:

* It improves optimal absorption of nutrients, including carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, and minerals, to support energy production, muscle growth and repair.

* Healthy bacteria help to ferment non-digestible carbohydrates, producing short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) that can be used as an additional energy source.

* Intense exercise can temporarily suppress immunity, but a healthy gut helps maintain immune balance, reducing the risk of infections. Several studies have shown that athletes who take lactobacillus probiotics have fewer breaks in their training programmes from colds and flu.

* Poor gut bacteria (dysbiosis) contribute to increased inflammation, potentially leading to issues such as delayed recovery and increased susceptibility to injuries.

* Regular runners often experience bloating, cramping, or diarrhoea. Runners with better gut health are less prone to exercise induced symptoms.

Strategies to improve gut health, include quitting smoking, lowering alcohol and processed sugar intake; eating healthy probacteria rich foods such as kimchi, kefir and sauerkraut as well as prebiotic high fibre foods such as in beans, mushrooms, herbs and vegetables. Nutritional supplements can be a useful way to increase prebiotics and probiotic bacteria in the diet. If considering a probiotic, studies have shown that blends combining mainly lactobacillus a prebiotic and vitamin D enhance the growth of the healthy strains and help dislodge unhealthy colonies from the gut wall. As good example would be yourgutplus as ithas also has been evaluated for safety in clinical studies.

In conclusion, there are multiple reasons why one person becomes an elite athlete whilst another may experience aches for days after a short jog. Genetic makeup, local facilities, family and peer influences are key, but all of us have the capability to improve our exercise performance by practical changes in our training programme and nutrition.