Thank you all for your advice and support on Monday. I did it all .... drank loads of water the day before, had a good night's sleep, slightly increased my carbs, paid more attention to my stretches and changed my route. I was still tired for the first 18 minutes but felt much lighter and happier.
PS: Here's a link to the runner's stretches I found: medicalnewstoday.com/articl...
Well done.
The stretches you link to are not specifically runners exercises as far as I can see. The dynamic stretches for pre run and static stretching for post run that are linked to in the guide to the plan may be more appropriate healthunlocked.com/couchto5....
Ok thanks
What I should have said is that they may all be great stretches for runners, but I could see no differentiation between dynamic stretches for pre run and static for post run. Doing static stretches pre run does have an association with potential injury.
This FAQ Post about warm up and cool down may help healthunlocked.com/couchto5...
Don't worry. IannodaTruffe - I don't do static stretches. The link was a good reminder. There were a couple of cool down stretches I'd forgotten about. I spent a good part of the morning reading the articles in the various links.
Very well done you, but do remember that a healthy eating regime and great hydration is important all the time, not just before or on running days.
Do please pop into the Catch-Up Corner, which is, this week, all about Strength and Stamina work and has a load of links to our amazing sister site, the Strength and Flex forum.
There are a lot of links to stretching exercise there, because as IannodaTruffe has replied, the kind of stretching we do is so important
healthunlocked.com/couchto5....
Thanks OldFloss I am trying to ensue that my diet and hydration are good but may be a little low on carbs. I have been doing strength and flex also ... am up to week 4. I will visit the Catch Up Corner definitely.
A little help please? 
Too fast, too fast! (W8R2)
Little run 
W8R2 - Tired & Hungry!!
W8R2
