• Don’t eat sport beans with caffeine.
  • Long run on the weekend, keep your base up during the week.
  • Don’t stress if you miss a midweek run.
  • Cross train when you’re not running.
  • Yes, you must cross train.
  • Don’t buy new shoes too close to a race, but….
  • Don’t race in too-worn shoes.
  • Take it at your own pace.
  • Try and find time to run or workout with friends. They might be faster than you, but treadmills go at anyone’s pace. And you always need a helper to count crunches.
  • Make this battle personal. It’s the only way you’ll find the strength to train for so long, to skip going out with your friends in order to hit the gym, to get up on race morning and pour yourself into shoes and hit the pavement.