The homework for the past couple of newsletters has been for those people who've significantly reduced their 2,000 metre best to write in and tell us what they thought the successful factors were. Richard Comfort: Although not quite at the same level now, I got down from 7.03 to 6.31 in a year by a combination of distance and repetition work alongside the legendary George Meredith (50 - 59 Lwt champion). For a 2,000 metre race I defied convention by setting a very clear goal for the first 500m - an average of 1.38.9 - and made sure I hit it to the tenth. It made the first 500 go quickly and, from there, I tried to knock a tenth off the average figure each 100m. Each 100m became a race in itself and it gave me motivation each time I achieved the goal. Towards the end, I did not have it in me to hit the 1.34s needed to get the last few tenths off the average and ended up on 1.37.7 but certainly feel that the short-term target setting helped me a great deal when I did not have George shouting in my ear as he did during training day after day.If you've got a Top Tip, whether it's on how you improved your 2,000 metre time or any other aspect of training and racing, then drop us a line at the usual address, webmaster@vermonthouse.co.uk