The worst pieces of running advice I’ve ever heard

You need to lose weight to run fast - no you don’t! eating healthily and working with your body rather than against it will help you get stronger, fitter and stay injury free.

To run faster just pretend you’re being chased - worse bit of advice I was ever given on asking how I run faster!

Why do you need to learn how to run, you just put your trainers on and run - crazy! running is so much more than putting your trainers on and heading out of the front door, if you do this you have more chance of being injured.

To run fast you just need to run fast - another bit of advice on how to run fast, to run faster you need to slow down some of your runs.

Running on the pavement will destroy your knees - I’ve heard this so many times, no running will not destroy your knees, not warming up or cooling down, not eating the right food, and running fast in every run are just a few things that will contribute to destroying your knees.

You should be running until you throw up - again I was told this by a “seasoned” club runner when I first started running, my friend Becky and I joined a club and we were chastised for not throwing up at the end of the session, apparently, we hadn’t worked hard enough.

Run through the pain - pain is subjective and some discomfort is ok but continuing to run and ignore your body will lead to disaster.

Treat yourself to a new outfit for the big race - please don’t wear anything new on race day, it will end in tears and probably a lot of chaffing!

Go hard at the start of a race and then just hang on until the grim death - I’ve seen this so many times, starting out too fast and finishing in pain and misery. Start slow (10-15 secs slower than race pace) and finish strong!

If you run a lot, you can eat what you want - no you can’t, you need to eat nutrient dense food that will fuel your body.

You don’t really need to fuel for a marathon - again, some advice I was given, guess what, I paid for it in the end

Of course, it’s ok to have a McDonald’s the night before a race - if you eat something your body isn’t used to then you’ll pay for it the next day when your digestive system gets rid of it, usually when you least expect it and get caught short.

You’re too old to run! - this is crazy, you’re never too old to run, we’ve just coached a 71-year-old to run her first 5km!