Today let’s talk about an important part of running - stretching!
I’d say developing a habit or routine of stretching is more important than all the techniques and different stretches you can do. You can totally get lost looking at stretches on Instagram and YouTube.
Think of stretching more as a wake-up for your body, a ritual to get ready to move. You’re telling your body, “hey, we’re gonna go running in a few minutes.”
The video below is a good intro to some stretches you can try.
You don’t need to replicate those stretches 100% - ease into it!
You can stretch and warm up as you do chores around the house - reach! Bend!
Make it gentle - don’t force it, and don’t strain. Don’t get up out of your chair after three hours of computer work, and then try to touch your toes! Be kind your muscles.
Walk a bit, do some kicks, get your bones moving first before you start yanking your legs all over the place. You can even put on some music and dance a little (for me it’s ‘Party Hard’ by Andrew WK).
The point is to warm up, to get the blood flowing. You are not a professional athlete at this point (that can take awhile), so you don’t need to mimic one just yet!
As you build the habit of stretching, and running, you’ll learn more stretches to do before and after your run.
Good read: ‘Why you should stretch more often than before and after exercise — especially nowadays’ from the Washington Post
Keep running the soft run!
And disclaimer - no, I’m not a professional run coach, but just someone who started running four years ago and I want to share what I’ve learned in hopes that you’ll avoid some of the mistakes I made.