Here are 22 principles that have stuck with me as a result of decades of training, competing and coaching.

I have been thinking a lot about the Boston Marathon this week: The race is on Monday. Here are some thoughts that new Boston runners (and even those who have run it) may find helpful.

What's your race plan? Usually we run best with a plan going into the race. Sometimes it goes out the window because of conditions, whether they be weather, illness, injury, mindset or something that happens in the race. But, still, its best to have a plan.

Don't over-stride. It promotes heel strike, which stresses the leg and knee. Over-striding is inefficient.

Be early to your race to avoid unneeded stress. Save your adrenaline for the race!

Runner and triathlete friends, have you planned your 2018 races? Do you have your training plan ready? Are you now training for the big race? If the big race is near, are you following a periodized progression, peaking and recovery plan? If it's far, are you targeting other races and working on the base, lactate threshold, VO2 max, strength and nutrition that you need to excel?

For the wind on my face,. because I can, to challenge myself, for the thrill of the race.

I can taste it! I am so close to qualifying for the Boston Marathon.

Needless to say, I have learned many lessons from my marathoning, many of them what not to do. Here are several thoughts that I hope my fellow runners find helpful, even if they are just reminders.

The advent of fall racing calls on us to shift gears, and taper for our target (A) race. Here are questions I ask of myself and my athletes at this juncture:

Anxiety is a natural state leading into a big race, especially when the race is new to you and is an out-of-the-ordinary challenge. Race anxiety is self imposed, a form of approach-avoidance.

As a strong climber both in running and biking, I actually look forward to hills (except when I am already in extremis in a race).

Nine seconds. In swimming, track and auto racing, nine seconds are a lifetime. In a 5K, nine seconds often are the separation between the podium and not medaling. Even in marathoning and Ironman racing, nine seconds can be the difference between qualifying for the Boston Marathon or Ironman Hawaii and going home disappointed.

Two recent articles on runblogrun.com1,2 by Jeff Benjamin (brought to my attention by Coach Jim Spivey) offer fun retrospectives on racing by Olympic Marathon gold medalist Frank Shorter and multiple Boston Marathon winner Bill Rodgers. We (meaning Frank, Bill and I) are the same age, with Frank a few months older than me and Bill a day younger than me. And, we are all runners and Frank and I have both competed successfully in multisport events.

As I have gotten back into masters swim training this year, I have watched my times drop, not so much because of better swim conditioning but more due to a strong focus on better swim mechanics.

As a coach, long-time runner and running store "shoe fitter," I am often asked about "the right" running shoes. Here's my guidance, distilled, absent the benefit of information about a specific runner.

The importance of form in swimming has been brought home to me again over the last month as I have resumed twice-a-week masters swim workouts.

It's not too early to ask, "How will I race this spring?" That is, beyond your training, what can you do to assure before and during the race that you race well?

"To achieve in sports you first have to have a dream, and then you must act on that dream. The best athletes are those who truly enjoy what they are doing and display a tremendous amount of work ethic. They continue to persevere in spite of setbacks, and never lose sight of their ultimate goal." - Dianne Holum

To call me "serious" about running (or triathlon)? That sounds too much like how one approaches a job. Running and triathlon are not my job (except when I am paid to coach athletes - and that's about their running, swimming and biking, not mine.) Running and triathlon for me are, as I tell those whom I coach and help, fun.