Stuff I thought would make me faster

I am about to read Shermer's The Believing Brain, a book about how we come to believe in things, and how often we get fooled in the process. I thought I'd list some of those things which had me fooled, and how I've since stopped believing in them. I am happy to say my mindset is skeptical, but optimistic. I take equal pleasure discovering something is true or outright false.
       I should point out that nothing on this list is completely wrong. If any claim was totally false then we would be foolish to believe it for any length of time. You would be hard pressed to find anyone advising you to drink 5 gallons of water per diem, run with rocks in your shoes, or chug a beer before racing (then again...). In contrast, these items were convincing because they appealed to some kind of rational way of thinking. Sometimes they were even based on solid scientific research. Science likes averages (as it should), but it's possible for an average value, like an average family of 1.8 children, not to represent a single actual family. If vitamins did not work for me, I cannot claim they will not work for anyone.
Here is a list of what I believed would make me a faster runner.