aches

[Sweder]

Agreed, post run stretching is the key to avoiding stiffness and tightning in the legs. Andy is far better informed than I (well, he reads so that's an advantage right off the bat) so I'd follow his advice.

Personally I hate stretching at any time, but I hate it slightly less than the feeling that my hamstrings are auditioning for a place in the London Philharmonic strings section (as they were this morning).

Our Jog Shop Guru gave me a useful tip on pre-track stretches (which I think is more relevant as in track work you tend to exert more pressure on muscles during 'high speed' sprints). He observed a number of runners touching their toes and 'bouncing' to reach the floor. Bouncing during stretching is a common error and can cause injury. Slow stretches where you gently increase the tension in the muscles to an optimum point and hold for a few seconds seem to be the ticket.

Sam gave us a 10 point warm up/ pre-run stretch. Its very simple and avoids the elaborate origami that you often see in running clubs and at the track.

1. Touch your toes (or at least wave to them) keeping legs straight
2. Bend backwards from the waist, head back, to warm the back muscles
3. Side stretch left (tilt to left, slide left hand down left leg - ooh err, missus)
4. Side stretch right (opposite of 3)
5. Twist left (hands together and turn at waits to left and hold)
6. Twist right (opp of 5 . . .you get the idea)
7. Left knee grab (lift left knee as high as possible, pull in to chest)
8. Right knee grab . . .
9. Left thigh stretch (hold left ankle and raise behind back to stretch thigh)
10. Right thigh stretch . . .
11. Clean off gravel/ mud/ grass where you fell over during 7 - 10. DM

To be honest with you SW I haven't tried a luke warm bath let alone one of the ice variety. I hope to extend running to post FLM this year, in which case I will join SP on Seaford Seafront and test the skinny-dipping theory further in (slightly) warmer times. Domestic body-washing appliances are designed to dispense hot water, and who are we to meddle in such matters? I'm with you on that one.