Who put my legs on backwards this morning? W3r1

[jillie100]

Well, did my warm-up walk and went to start running and my legs felt like they were on backwards, they didn't want to bend at the knee! Took a good minute of shuffling along before they began to co-operate. Would some stretches before I start help this? I usually only do my stretching after my run.

The second of the 3m runs was pretty pathetic by the end - I kept going but was thankful no-one was around to hear me panting like a pair of ancient bellows and see the unlovely sight of my red sweaty face. It was HARD!

[LMS2110 Graduate]

Hiya Jillie, I'm just back from my run today too - quite nice, sunny cool breeze and the smell of wet trees and grass from last night's shower.

I've never stretched before a run, and there have been several blogs on here suggesting that stretching should only really been done after running ie when everything is warm. I believe the warm up walk should get your legs ready for the first run - and I also reckoned that heat seemed to be pretty crucial for my legs as back in the winter months when weather was appalling,, I wore thermals, leggings and did a good walk before my legs obliged by bending the right way! Why not try popping on your leggings, massaging your legs by rubbing vigorously, then do a slightly longer warm-up walk to make sure they are really warm and ready before running.

I hope you'll soon find that your breathing/wheezing/gasping improves ... The lungs seem to benefit quite early on by improved fitness ...

Lots of luck for your next outings - the programme is amazing and will work for you if you can hang in there.

Cheers, Linda

[unfitmum]

love the image of legs being put on backwards!!! Made me chuckle!

[Nerdio Graduate]

Stretch before or stretch after? I have suffered with stiff hamstrings, which loosen as I run. So, I started doing very light stretches, or more 'get things moving'.

Today though I did not do any stretches, and ran W6R2 without any issues. I think I would tend to agree then that post-run stretches are the order of the day. But it is a good idea to keep everything moving in-between runs, so light stretches (leg raise etc.) can only help. Just enough to keep the muscles working.

I am no expert, but this works for me.

Don't worry about the hard days, the next run will be so much better I am sure. If it doesn't work out, just try again. Reaching the goal is the order of the day, how you get there is up to you.

[Fletchasketch Graduate]

I've been having all kinds of knee problems, caused by tight quads and hamstrings, and my physio has me doing dynamic stretching to start with - these are stretches that you do as you move about, a combination of warming up and stretching, so you're not stretching cold muscles. There's lots of information about this if you google it.

I also use the dreaded foam roller before and after running and it really helps. It hurts, but it helps!