One thing I did not do a good job of during the off season was keeping up with my stretching. I've never been a very flexible person, but by the end of last season I was making progress. Well, I lost all that progress during the off season. As I've been trying to get back into my running form, I've found that I'm definitely tight again, and its affecting my ability to run well.
This was really stupid of me, and I can't stress to the rest of you how important good stretching is, especially after exercise when your muscles are warm. Besides the basic stretches you probably remember from gym class, here are some other good ones to do after running.
I have never seen the standing ham stretch, which I'll have to work in. In the fall of 04 I trained for a marathon and ended up with a pelvic fracture...nothing has been the same since. Once I was very flexible but it's really a problem since running.
ReplyDeleteThat one is pretty good. I've been doing a lot of work on my hamstrings, since that's where I'm feeling it the most when I run. I just can't seem to hit my full stride right now.
ReplyDeleteIt's probably from me not stretching enough after riding my bike on the trainer in the winter. Stupid me.