You wouldn't expect a guy who's downed 37 brats in 10 minutes to dispense quality running advice.

But Tim "Eater X" Janus is a dedicated runner, despite the fact that he consumes 4 pounds of Tiramisu in six minutes.

"I run a lot actually," the professional competitive eater told me.

 
"And for dessert, a 5-mile run"

"The most I run is 12 or 13 miles but I usually do 3 to 6 miles. I try to get that done as fast as possible. Just bang it out. Get it over with."

His practical advice: Keep your feet low to the ground.

"I try to glide. Almost like an elliptical like motion. You run efficiently. It doesn't require a whole lot of energy and I find I can run and run and run."

I tried his tip on my run yesterday, and I liked it. It also seemed to spare my knees.

This type of stride is endorsed by Jeff Galloway, the running guru who Kelly and I are basing our run/walk model after.

"Instead of overcoming gravity," Galloway writes, "we're trying to minimize its effect by staying low to the ground and reducing extraneous body motion."

I also learned from Janus that you can learn the same lessons from either running a lot or eating a lot.

"A lot of sports biographies talk about how sports is a good metaphor for life," he said. "For me that always seemed like garbage, a big cliche. But I think competitive eating has taught me that they AREN'T full of crap.

"I LOVE competitive eating," he continued. "And I think by virtue of caring about it I do well. I certainly learned that if you work hard at something and care about it, you can be good at it."