WITH little more than three weeks to go before the big day, you might be starting to ask yourself ‘have I done enough training?’, ‘do I need to squeeze in one more two-hour run?’ and so on.

You’re not alone with these concerns, but in the final weeks less actually becomes more, as your body needs time to recover and build strength for race day.

Running your best possible half marathon requires two main things: optimal training and optimal recovery.

Optimal training allows your body to adapt and get stronger, fitter and faster, and optimal recovery will get you to that start line feeling energised, injury-free and ready to race.

George Anderson, official training partner of the Vitality Reading Half Marathon, gives the Chronicle his top tips to help you build towards race day:

1) Long runs.

Your longest half marathon training run should be three weeks out from race day.

Two weekends before, reduce this long run by about 30 minutes.

One week out, your long run times should again reduce, and be taken at a gentle pace.

2) Listen to your body.

A little soreness is usual after pushing yourself on the harder runs and it’s therefore important to understand your body.

If your muscles are telling you they feel tight, there’s no harm in taking a day off to recover.

The last thing you want to do is pick up an injury so close to race day.

3) Sharpen up.

Focus now on protecting your fitness and feeling great on race day.

Use these final weeks to sharpen up slightly with a few of shorter, faster sessions.

4) Be consistent.

All your other training should remain to solidify the gains you’ve made over the past few months.

The training you do today will take two to three weeks to have a real long-term effect on your fitness, so with three weeks out from a half marathon you could actually reach a point of diminishing returns if you’re not careful.

For more information about the Reading Half Marathon, visit: www.readinghalfmarathon.com