Liz Yelling's top 10 Marathon tips

It's almost Marathon Sunday, and this time last year Liz Yelling shared her top ten tips for getting to the start line illness and injury free, rested, de-stressed and ready to go the distance!

Liz's tips ended up being the most popular story on our website in 2013, so we think they're worth sharing again ahead of the 2014 Virgin Money London Marathon!

Liz is one of the fastest British marathon runners of all time. She made her debut in 2003, finishing eighth in the Berlin Marathon, and went on to run in two Olympic Marathons, won a Commonwealth bronze medal in 2006 and has a best time of 2:28.33 which she ran in the 2008 London Marathon.

Here are Liz's top 10 marathon tips in the build up to this weekend's Virgin London Marathon.

1. Flick through previous race photos or results from events you've enjoyed and re-read your training diary – feel good about what you've achieved so far.
2. Trust the training you have done so far. All the miles in the bank don't leave you in race week.
3. Be confident. Believe you can do.
4. Enjoy the countdown to race day. Be organised. Leave nothing to chance.
5. Give yourself more time than you think you need to get to the start.  
6. Give yourself the best chance to run the second strongly by starting off at your planned pace. It should feel controlled and easy. Runners around you might be moving faster than you but stick to your pace plan. Be disciplined and patient.
7. Don't go off too fast! Allow your pace, breathing and stride pattern to settle down. Just tick the first few miles of the race off in a consistent, metronomic style. Use as little energy as you can as the race unfolds.
8. Your goal is to reach half way (13.1 miles) feeling as fresh as you can and really ready to tackle the second half. Your marathon really begins here.
9. Everyone experiences tough moments in a marathon. It’s how you respond and react to them that make or break your day. Deliver what you've trained for.
10. Post race enjoy some downtime. There's no need to get back into running immediately. Relax and recover.

For more, check out Liz's website www.lizyelling.com!