Stretching is an important part of staying injury free when running. The energy utilized by muscles is converted into lactic acid when sprinting or running log distances. This causes a burning sensation in the muscle during the workout and leads to muscle soreness the day after due in part to muscle breakdown by the lactic acid. Stretching is a great way to get the lactic acid out of the muscle and thus prevent muscle soreness. Stretching will also make your muscles more flexible and can improve performance.

It is very important to stretch the right way. Stretching should be done slowly and with a controlled movement. Rapid movement will cause the muscle to contract instead of extend. Stretches should be done slowly and be held for 20-40 seconds once the maximal extension point has been reached. Do not stretch beyond the point where you begin to feel tightness in the muscle. Do not push through muscle resistance, and never stretch to the point of discomfort or pain.

Yoga is a great way to stretch and gain flexibility. There are a variety of yoga poses that stretches parts of the legs and torso that are important for running. Yoga can be a especially beneficial for runners who are taking part in a particular event, or those who simply want to maintain their flexibility. Stretching is essential for keen runners in order to avoid injuries, which could lead to time off work and health insurance claims. Yoga is a great way to ensure that your muscles are properly stretched before taking part in any form of running exercise. The following set of yoga poses will stretch all the muscles involved in running. The pictures have been kindly provided by our good friends at Cloud9Fitness.com.

During a typical 10 mile run your feet will hit the ground 16,000 times.  Running causes impact to your knees and other joints and your body needs to get used to this impact or you risk getting an injury.  The most established way of making sure that you are not increasing your mileage too fast is to use the 10% rule.  This rule states that to allow your body to get used to the increased stress you should not increase your activity by more than 10% each week.  Activity refers to mileage and intensity if you are trying to increase your speed you should not at the same time increase your mileage.

After running my first 1/2 marathon in April 2004 I thought I did not need to stretch after running anymore.  I was wrong.  After recovering from the 1/2 marathon for 2 weeks I thought I could still run 6 miles easily.  However after my 6 mile run my heel started to hurt a lot and feel very tight.  Stupidly I decided to go running once more without stretching.  After that run my heal hurt so bad I was not interested in running anymore. Turned out I had got plantar fasciitis (PF).