Whenever I get to less than eight weeks to go before a big race it signals a bit of a milestone.

I know that the previous few weeks will have seen me building up my time spent running and I should be starting to feel stronger and fitter.

I like to break up these final eight weeks into two four-week blocks.

In the first four-week block I think about building my training further and including some faster, race-pace specific training, then in the second four-week block I put the icing on the cake of my training and then back off the miles as the races draws closer so I can run well.

With less than eight weeks to go until the 2010 Bristol 10k, how do you plan to focus the rest of your build up?

Try my advice for the next four weeks:

● Run faster – drop some speed work into your weekly run mix. Faster running means race pace feels easy. Make sure you include recovery periods to maintain quality. Try eight, two-minute fast with two-minute recoveries.

● Practise your pace – what time would you be really happy with at the 2010 Bristol 10k? What does this equate to in minutes per mile (or your running speed)? How much running have you done at this pace? Try running two sets of 10 minutes at your target race pace (with a four-minute jog recovery).

● Practise your routine. With six weeks to go try a run in all your race gear. Shoes, shorts, and so on. Make sure it fits you well and you feel confident, competent and ready to go for it in it. Trial what you are going to have for breakfast and when you are going to have it on race day.

The really good thing is that if your build-up thus far hasn't really amounted to very much other than completing the entry form and submitting it then promptly forgetting about it for a while, your luck is in. With eight weeks to go you've still got just about enough time to lace up your running shoes and do enough to do yourself justice. Don't leave it much longer though because the closer the race gets, the harder it is to fit the training in. You can't rush running training. It takes time for the body to adapt. So, if you've done very little or nothing so far then it's definitely time to crack on. The golden rules of getting going still apply:

● Start slowly – be progressive and appropriate. First build the time you are able to jog/walk/run for.

● Commit to a regular routine.

● Leave your front door with purpose, passion and intent – have a reason for running every day.

In my last column I suggested you up the ante a little in your training and I've done that too. We all find stepping up a gear hard as it takes a while for better fitness to truly kick in. After a few weeks struggling with running more miles it seems like my body likes me again and I'm getting used to it. My eight-month-old daughter is almost sleeping through the night and this is giving me the chance to get more recovery sleep too.

If you can do one thing this next month give yourself a real reason for running the 2010 Bristol 10k. Make it important to you and when you pound the streets of the city on May 9 you'll not want to stop running.