Pre- and Post-run Routines
- Thread starter Bare Lee
- Start date
I personally do very little. For a normal run I'll do minor streatching while my GPS looks for satellites, no stretching afterwards. For a race, I'll do an easy warmup run then minor stretching, again, nothing after.
I do nothing before my runs.
After my long runs(haven't had a long run in a long time) I submerge my feet/legs from the knees down into a pail of very icy water for twenty minutes and my legs feel better than new after the icing.
After my long runs(haven't had a long run in a long time) I submerge my feet/legs from the knees down into a pail of very icy water for twenty minutes and my legs feel better than new after the icing.
20 minutes in ice! Sounds like the cure would be more painful than the initial injury/fatigue...
Don't you guys read the SocDoc stuff: Stretching is for Bozos!
My real problem - one of many - the skin around the outside of my heals and side of my grand toes take turns cracking.
The shock happens in the first three seconds after that it feels heavenly.
You should use some kind of moisturizer for your cracking feet every night before bed time or right after your shower in the morning, that is if you shower in the mornings
NickW
Guest
After I listened to this advice I developed PF for the first time in my life which I haven't been able to get rid of in almost a year. I now firmly believe there's a time and a place for stretching.
Now before I run I roll out my calves and hamstrings and then I do some real brief stretching. After the run I may or may not roll out the legs, but I do a much more thorough stretching routine. Depending on how I feel throughout the day I may also massage my sore leg muscles as needed as well as I may stretch more as needed as well. I sit a lot throughout the day and I get super tight if I don't stretch periodically throughout the day. On days when I am pretty active I stretch much less as my muscles stay loose and don't tighten up on me.
I do not do anything special before my regular runs because I can start slow and let the whole body loosen up gradually by itself.
Before a race when I know I am starting fast from the very beginning I roll my calves (mainly soleus) on my water bottle to loosen them up in advance.
Before a race when I know I am starting fast from the very beginning I roll my calves (mainly soleus) on my water bottle to loosen them up in advance.
I warm up the muscles in my feet and legs for fifteen minutes (like a good little MAF-er) by either walking or doing some sort of drill. My favorite is to strap myself from the waist to an immovable object and run in place, then walk around for a bit until I feel nice and warm and my soles are a bit tingly. Afterward, I also do a cooldown walk. I set up a little washing station outside the garage, so afterward, I carefully wash and massage my soles with a soft brush and cool soapy water. If my calves feel a bit tight, I might do some time on my foam roller just to keep them loose.
Then give me my red nose, bub. The more I stretch (and roll, and poke and prod) the better I feel. The better I feel the more I run; the more I run the fitter and faster I get. I see no downside.
I gather my gizmos and RoadIds and just run. Warmup before I do any speed. Light stretching afterwards. Wash feet and shower.
Later in the day, quick dip in 153 proof alcohol to sanitize any scratches and toughen the skin. (I don't like the smell of rubbing alcohol.) Heated massager afterwards. Occasional light stretching when needed.
I did a lot more stretching in the first year, as I was getting into shape and adapting, but haven't needed it as much in the past year. Though a bit more stretching today, as it's been a while since I've done the stairmaster.
Later in the day, quick dip in 153 proof alcohol to sanitize any scratches and toughen the skin. (I don't like the smell of rubbing alcohol.) Heated massager afterwards. Occasional light stretching when needed.
I did a lot more stretching in the first year, as I was getting into shape and adapting, but haven't needed it as much in the past year. Though a bit more stretching today, as it's been a while since I've done the stairmaster.
Lately it has been the, ahem, "morning constitutional" (at least 45 minutes prior), followed by the "post-run constitutional". If the first does not happen, I feel and run like $hit!
Oh good...I'm not the only one that does very little before and after. HAHA. I used to stretch like crazy and do warm up and cool down runs that seemed to me to be way too long. Then I read some studies finding no significant difference in stretching before or after or none. Basically it is a personal preference. So I will stretch a little before. I know my calves get tight on longer runs, so I will stretch those out. Any warm up is really just a walk or maybe a very slow jog. Afterwards I will do a little stretching and walking for a cool down. One of my "treats" for my longer runs has been going to Jamba Juice and getting a drink. I am more religious about getting that than I am about stretching...haha.
I never do anything for pre-runs, I just hit the road running sometimes i start slow, sometimes I can hit it hard right away. All depends how my body feels. I never did anything for post-run, but now I hose my legs down with cold water. I got this idea from a movie that DNEchris posted on here called "On the Run" In the movie Jack Foster was hosing his legs down with cold water, it made sense to me so I tried it. For one it feels so good, and does help with recovery. The only thing I won't be doing that now since it's starting to get cold.
As far as stretching I never do it, it makes my body feel worse.
As far as stretching I never do it, it makes my body feel worse.
NickW
Guest
Gentile, do you realize how lucky you are that stretching makes you feel worse? If I don't stretch I get all knotted up so bad I can barely walk.
Oh, shower in the morning...maybe that is why no one wants to be around me at work!The shock happens in the first three seconds after that it feels heavenly.
You should use some kind of moisturizer for your cracking feet every night before bed time or right after your shower in the morning, that is if you shower in the mornings
Actually, I shower and am in water a lot. Shower before and after swimming three days a week and shower in AM and PM. I often wipe my feet before going into the house with moist wipes and it seems the chemicals in those dry my feet even more. My wife keeps telling me to put something on my feet also. I was applying Aquaphor at night and before I went into work, but it seems, believe it or not, that it was absorbed into my system and I had a constant and peculiar lingering smell across my muscus membranes of the nose. Or, who knows, maybe a have some more serious malady. I asked a doc that I swim with, and he said the smell from absorbing medicines, etc. was a common experience with patients.
What do you think? I believe I am going to go all natural and use olive oil on my feet at night.
P.S. I do stretch my hamstrings after running.
NickW
Guest
I was using moist wipes too in order to clean off my feet, but my wife yelled at me and brought up the point that the skin can absorb whatever chemicals might be in the wipes, so I stopped doing that and she has gotten used to me walking around in the house with dirty feet during the day.
Olive oil is a good if not even better altrnative than the other stuff you were using.
I used either oilve or coconut oil.
Try using the oil faithfully for at least two weeks and see if that makes a diference. Which it should.
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