Before I get to my questions about stretching, I have to fill you in on my Scuba adventure.....Wow!!! I never knew how much I would LOVE it!!!! Last night we did our first confined water dive and I think I'm hooked. It was so cool. We had our first two quizzes (which I aced...100% on both) and then headed to the water.
During the dive we were shown three skills: how to recover and return a regulator that has fallen out of your mouth (this is actually two skills and there are two ways to purge your regulator) and then we learned how to clear our masks underwater when it becomes filled with water. Once we demonstrated mastery of those skills, we were cut loose for about 1 1/2 hours to swim underwater to our hearts content. Man was it awesome. It is so peaceful. And, there is just something cool about breathing underwater.
Anyway, beginning September 8 (and assuming I pass the course I'm currently in), I am going to take the Advanced Open Water diving course which is the next class in the series. Over a long weekend, I get to learn Altitude Diving, Deep Diving, Night Diving, Search and Recovery Diving, and Underwater Navigation. After I complete that course, I will then take the Rescue Diver course. After that, and after a few more dives, I'll be qualified as a Master Scuba Diver or a Divemaster (depending on the route I wish to take). Wooohooo!!! (and...uhmm...ahem...if I get to be a Master Scuba Diver or a Divemaster, I will expect everyone in all social situations to call me Master Scuba Diver Jason or Divemaster Jason).
Ok, so on to the stretching questions. Everyone you talk to seems to give you different advice on pre-run stretching. Just as I mentioned in my post on nutrition recently, this has left me confused. Usually, I stretch for about 5-10 minutes before I run. I don't walk before nor do I warm up in any other way. I simply do some calf, soleus, quad, and hamstring stretches. Then I head out. After my run, I then stretch again doing the same stretches. What is confusing is that some folks say you shouldn't do any pre-run stretching, but just walk for about 5 minutes then start your run. Soooo......what are your thoughts? Is this something that is unique to each person? Or should I stop the stretching I'm doing and just do a walk warmup? Thanks for any help.
My run went fine. It was way hot and humid, about 85 degrees. Blech!! Anyway, I have my 7 miler Saturday. I'm, again, pretty excited about my long run as it will be the longest I've ever run in my life :)
Weight: 166lbs
Exercise: Running 3 miles
Weather: 85 degrees. Hot and humid.
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Pre-Run Stretching....and a little Scuba
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4 comments:
I've seen so many different pieces of advice about stretching and none seem "right." I would suggest that you add a walk before you run, perhaps a quarter mile or so. My routine lately has been to walk about a quarter mile, jog easily for a quarter mile, then do some basic stretches, including one to stretch my IT bands. At the end of my run, I include about a quarter mile walk and a few stretches depending on how I feel. When I ran for a couple years in high school in the mid-1990s, I always thought we stretched too much and my hamstrings always hurt after stretching.
Hope this helps a bit ... every runner seems to have a different thought on this, but I hope most agree that you add some sort of walking or very easy jog before you head out.
Completely uninformed and unqualified opinion...Walk and stretch lightly (to me, the equivalent of a stretching as I get out of bed) before the run. Cool down with some walking and then more serious stretches. I do think there is a right way and I also know that varies by person. I will keep my eyes out for anything enlightening on this topic.
After I read this post this morning, I remembered reading this awhile back: http://coachdeanhebert.wordpress.com/2007/07/17/5-top-reasons-for-not-stretching-before-workouts/
Jason,
Although I was a runner in the 70's and 80's....... At the time, everything I read and then found successful, related to stretching after running. The idea was to strech out your muscles, "clean" them out.... and then it would improve your run and allow for longer runs as you built up. Using this, I would run 3 miles 3x a week and 6 miles 2x then weekends, one day of 4 or more, up to 11. I always ran better when I streached well after th eprevious run.
Mark
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