Hello running pals! Hope you had a great week of running and congrats to those of you who ran the Rock N Roll Philly Half Marathon today...hope you PRd (I saw some of you approaching the finish line and you looked strong!)! I managed to log in 25 miles for the week, despite skipping last Sunday’s recovery run to entertain a visitor and then my Thursday night run got cut short by a torrential downpour which I just wasn’t up for dealing with, though Ross Martinson from Team Philly always reminds us that we have no idea what the weather will be on race day, so it’s good to prepare in all kinds of weather. This Saturday’s 16 miler was definitely a tough one (the map said 16, though my app only credited me with 15.45)….despite cooler temps, the humidity turned out to be quite formidable (especially on my nipples - ha!) combined with accumulated fatigue on my legs! Thanks to my co-runners (Lee, Angela, David, Bob and a couple of people who’s names I didn’t catch), we made it through!
For this week’s blog, I’ve taken a deeper dive into post-run stretches, as a companion piece to last week’s warm up article. Stretching doesn’t need to take a long time and important component to keeping you injury free! According to Matthew Dobler, Physician's Assistant and former Athletic Trainer at OrthoCarolina (via workforyourbeer), "Stretching after running is helpful to your body in many ways. Primarily, stretching after running helps to decrease injury. After your muscles have been warmed up by your run, they are more pliable. If stretched appropriately, your flexibility will improve, which will allow your joints to move through range of motion more fully with less effort."
So, to help your post-workout stretching routine (and mine), I checked out several YouTube videos and found a routine which looks strong to me.Are you doing all of these? I do most of these pretty well, though really need to focus more on the IT Band stretch and Piriformis (a small muscle located deep in the buttock, behind the gluteus maximus) Stretch, as I definitely feel the muscles tightening with increased mileage.
And, before we cross the finish line for this week's blog post, a couple of things I was reminded of this week:
- Epsom Salt baths are nice...until the salt gets in your eyes.
- Weigh yourself before and after your run to see how much fluid you need to replenish. It was extremely humid for this week's 16 mile run and I weighed 5 pounds less at the end of the run.
Hope this helps your run farther and faster…and always hoping it will be more fun. If you have any additional feedback on this week’s post or ideas for future blogs, tweet me @Radio1045Johnny.
Teaser – I’m expecting have an interview with London Marathon finisher Dan Smith (from Bastille) for next week’s post!