Lately I read an article from Runner’s World where William O. Roberts said, “If you can run comfortably, and without injury, there is no need to stretch.”  Whoa.  Hold the line.  What did he say?  Did I read that correctly?  The article states that there is evidence that stretching could actually hurt.  Okay, before we all get crazy about this article it says WARMING UP is better.  Hmm, I always thought they were the same thing.

You’ve probably read that I don’t do any pre-run stretching.  Instead I opt for a slow start and let the run warm me up, but I did some dynamic stretches yesterday to see if there was a difference.  I did about 10 minutes of butt-kicks, knee-lifts, and walking lunges.  It was a bit much, but I was on the phone.  🙂  I found that I was tired and I hit the wall at mile ONE.  Yeeks.  My legs felt tight after my post-run yoga, and my body overall didn’t feel right.  Honestly, my body is feeling weird this morning.  I feel stiff.  Usually immediately after a run, I feel great and I’m ready to run again the next day.  Not this time.

So dynamic stretching, will you and I ever tangle again?  I doubt it.  Warming up will never let me down and make me feel low.  You can keep your butt-kicks.  It’s a dumb move anyway.  🙂

My sister and I at my first 5K ever… Players 5K with Donna in 2012.