I received a good tip this weekend and wanted to share a few I received over the years from other runners I interviewed or ran with at some point.

When you’re running, breathe out when your left foot strikes the ground and this helps with cramping.

Eat a bunch of nachos before you go on a run every once in a while. It will feel like hell, but will prepare the body for a race. When you hit a while, you’ll make it through.

Don’t be afraid of walking. It’s okay to run five minutes and walk five minutes. Many are afraid of walking but it helps you have the energy to finish.

Try not to take a gel before going up hill. Wait until it’s flat.

Treat a training run as a training run. It’s not necessary, in fact it’s detrimental, to go all out all the time. A lot of age groupers try to do this to show off. Don’t.

The most important night of sleep is two days before the race. Most people don’t sleep well the night before a race anyway.

Try compression socks. They can help with lactic acid build up.

Don’t take a hot shower within 24 hours of a marathon. It can make lactic acid worse.

You don’t need water for the first 60 minutes of running. You should be able to last an hour without needing any hydration.

The longest you need to hold a stretch is 30 seconds. After that, you’ve already maximized a stretches potential and you’ll be wasting time.

What about you? I am sure you have tips to offer!