Happy Halloween runners! When it comes to running, most of us want more treats than tricks. But all tricks aren’t bad. Here are 13 {oooh, a spooky number!} running tricks and quick fixes I’ve learned during the years to solve some of the challenges that come with endurance running and races.

1. Say goodbye to sports bra chafing. Have you ever experienced painful chafing on your chest or back where your sports bra band sits just under your chest? Yeah, me too. Even when I lather Aquaphor under those seams, chafing can still happen. Try applying a small piece of kinesiology tape such as GO Tape, K-Tape or another similar brand to the area of the skin that often chafes to prevent the painful rubbing. Be sure to apply it without stretching it.

2. Conquer drinking on the run at race day aid stations. It’s easy to grab a cup of water or sports drink during a race at an aid station and have half of it end up on the front of your shirt or on your chin. Make sure it gets in your mouth using these two tricks.

• First, make sure the cup is only halfway full to prevent liquid sloshing out of the cup and onto you. If it is more than halfway full, dump out a little of the fluid as you continue to run.
• Second, pinch the top of the cup with the palm of your hand so the circular opening becomes a straight line with just a tiny edge on one end creating a spout. Keep the top of the cup “sealed” with your hand as you drink from the spout to help it all get into your mouth.

3. Protect your clothes from dirty running shoes while traveling. If you travel a lot like me, your running shoes see a lot of cities and a lot of runs. To keep your dirty soles from tainting the other items in your suitcase or the bottom of your suitcase itself, use a shower cap from the hotel bathroom to cover the bottoms of your shoes. This is a great trick, especially if you’ve been trail running or running on dirt recently.

4. Make your own arm warmers. If you don’t own a pair of arm warmers or don’t want to toss an expensive pair mid-race, consider making your own. Find an old pair of crew/tube socks or purchase a cheap pair from Walmart. On the part where your feet would go, use a pair of scissors to cut a hole for your thumb and fingers. You can also leave the end without a hole to keep your fingers warm like mittens. Slide them on your arms and keep them on until your body warms up.

5. Get throw-aways you actually don’t mind throwing away. Speaking of staying warm on race morning, you can get clothes to wear before the race and in the starting corral that you won’t feel guilty about leaving at the start or tossing alongside the road early in the race. Go to a thrift store, Goodwill or the clearance section of Walmart where you can find jackets and sweatpants as cheap as a few dollars. Most races will donate discarded clothes to people in need.

6. Keep fluids cold on hot runs. There is nothing worse than running during the hot summer months and then drinking fluids that are about as hot as the sweat dripping down your arms and legs. Keep your water or sports drink colder for longer by freezing your handheld water bottle overnight before a long run. This will help ensure you have colder fluids for longer. Keep other drinks out on your running route hidden in bushes on ice.

7. Never fear rain on race day again. No one wants to wake up on race morning with rain pelting down from the sky, but we’re likely to experience a rainy run or race at least once. Have no fear! You may look silly in the starting corral, but these four tips will help keep you dry before the gun goes off:

• Keep your head, hair and hat or visor dry before the race by wearing a shower cap.
• Stay warm and dry before you start by wearing a garbage bag over your clothes. Simply cut a hole at the bottom of the bag for your head and keep your arms and body inside like a poncho. Of course, ponchos work too, but this is a cheaper and easier alternative.
• Tie plastic grocery bags around your shoes to keep rain out of your socks and shoes before the race starts.
• Wear latex gloves over your real gloves to prevent rain from penetrating the materials and freezing your hands. I find if I can keep my ears and hands warm, the rest of me tends to be pretty comfortable.

8. Ziploc bags do more than transport sandwiches. If there is one running trick I use often, it is carrying plastic Ziploc baggies with me everywhere. I use them to protect my phone from sweat while running and to keep things in my pocket I don’t want to desentegrate from sweat, like subway passes, cash, paper maps, salt pills, etc. I’ve successfully run in the rain while listening to music numerous times by enclosing my phone and earphone jack in a Ziploc.

9. Dry shoes quickly. An old trick to dry out running shoes that are damp from sweat or rain is to crumple newspaper into a ball and stuff them into the shoes to soak up the moisture. You may also consider putting your shoes close to the refridgerator that gives off some warm air to help them dry faster. Never put your shoes in the dryer, as the heat can break down the materials in your shoes and limit their lifespan.

10. Instant foam roller: In need of a foam roller but don’t have one handy? No problem. Use a rolling pin from the kitchen. You can also use a tennis ball, lacrosse ball and/or golf ball from the garage to get deeper into areas like shoulders and hips.

11. Stop hitting snooze. How many times have you set your alarm with the best of intentions to wake up for an early morning run, only to hit the snooze button until there’s no more time to get your workout in? Guilty. Add motivation and eliminate an extra step in the morning by sleeping in your running clothes. When your alarm goes off, you’ll have to get up since you’re already dressed.

12. Run in the snow. As a southern runner, it’s very infrequent that I run in the snow. But if I did regularly and I didn’t have access to snow running support like Stabilicers, I would use sheet metal screws in the soles of an older pair of shoes to help make running in the snow a bit safer. Be sure you are still careful and watch where you are running, especially if there is ice. If you google DIY snow shoes or snow running, you’ll see several tutorials for how to do this effectively.

13. Use Halloween candy as fuel. And last, but not least, if you’ve run out of fuel or can’t find any GUs handy, take some easy to consume Halloween candy (or any candy) with you such as jelly beans, Sweedish fish, candy corns, etc. Bring about 100 calories of candy for every hour you plan to run. It’s instant sugar to help maintain your glucose levels. Avoid anything messy that would melt or be difficult to put in a plastic bag or pocket.

What running tricks do you use to help you during runs and races? What’s your favorite kind of Halloween candy? Are you dressing up for Halloween? If so, tell us about your costume.