Post Run Stretch?????

So I guess everyone knows that the right way to start and end a run is with a good warm up and stretch… I guess that was everyone except me.

Until recently, my warm up and cool down happened on my front steps.

Warm up: walk down the steps

Cool down: do one large lunge (take three step at a time) with each leg on the way back in. Combine, if the weather is good, with taking off my sneakers.  Pour a cup of tea.

I say recently because I suffered an Iliotibial (IT) band injury. And unlike other injuries (shin splints, cracked ribs, or a broken toe) this one was interfering with my running.

And by interfering, I mean making it incredibly painful just to do my warm-up, never mind actually run my normal 13 miles.

Not sure if it was my advancing age and associated wisdom (though I doubt that), but I had the good sense to get some advice. Some friends recommended Paul at Middlesex Physical Therapy.

Low and behold, he recommended stretching. And changing my running gait – apparently I hunch when I run.

That whole thing sounded a bit sketchy. But since I could not run, I figured I’d give stretching and rolling my leg muscles with a foam roller or a stick a try.

Despite my initial reservations, it is actually working. First of all, I am running again, with a ton less pain :-) and second, I am actually getting a bit more flexible.  

I’ll never be doing a split, but I think I finally understand the value of a nice post-run cool down. I do it nearly every time.

I have not, however, stopped hunching.

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