Toronto Women's 416 Run Challenge--Week 5, Dynamic Stretching

 

As much as I want to just head out the door on my run in the morning—especially since I have very little time to get it done—warming  up beforehand for about 5-10 minutes with dynamic stretches is the best way to prevent injury. As I’m getting older I’m finding that I’m quite a bit stiffer in the morning (likely from the arthritis) and if I run without warming up, my body feels like a tin-man in desperate need of some oil. Experts don’t recommend static stretching, but research shows dynamic stretching can benefit runners in many ways: It’s a great way to improve circulation and blood flow; improve range of motion, efficiency and coordination; lubricates the joints and; warms up the muscles.

Dynamic stretches are active movements where joints and muscles go through a full range of motion. Some great examples of dynamic stretches for runners are:

Hacky -sack –Lift your right leg up, bending the knee so it points out. Try to tap the inside of your right foot with your left hand without bending forward. Repeat 10 times with each leg.

 

Leg swings forward and back—Lift one straight leg up and swing it straight forward and then backward in a controlled pendulum-like fashion. Return to the starting position.

 Leg swings side to side—Stand and grab a sturdy object in front of you with both hands. Swing your right leg out to the right as high as you can, then swing it back down and across your left leg.

Butt kicks— Stand tall with your feet hip-width apart and your arms bent 90 degrees at your sides.

Kick your left heel up towards your left glute as you swing your right arm forward. Then, return your left foot to the ground so the weight is on the ball of your foot. Next, perform the same motion with your right heel.

 

Forward March— Begin standing tall with your shoulders back. Begin to march forward, bringing one knee in toward your chest at a time.

Calf raises—Stand on a flat surface with your toes pointed straight ahead. Lift your heels off the floor to flex your calf muscle. Pause for moment, then slowly return to the floor.

Walking lunges—Step forward using a long stride, keeping the front knee over or just behind your toes. Lower your body by dropping your back knee toward the ground. Maintain an upright posture and keep your abdominal muscles tight.

 

Weekly Run Recap

 

This week I ran 64.26 km for a total of 282.92 km. I have 133.08 km left before I’m finished the challenge.

 

Sunday’s run was 21 km and I struggled with this run. I couldn’t seem to catch my breath and my body was really tired with dreaded dead legs. The trail was really busy with Toronto being in lockdown, and with the weather so beautiful, everyone was hitting the trails. It was a little annoying since I had to spend a lot of energy trying to dodge people. The most troublesome was groups of people walking together, trying to social distance with one another so they were sprawled out all over the trail, leaving absolutely no room for others to safely pass by.

 

Shortly after I returned from the run we put up our Christmas tree and decorations. The cats, as usual were very enthusiastic and ran around jumping in boxes and attacking various decorations. They were too big to climb the tree this year, but they still liked to chew on it. Especially Flynnie. He just wouldn’t leave it alone and we spent a lot of time shooing him away from the tree. Dottie must have wondered what all the excitement was about because she started sniffing the tree. Soon we heard a ‘munch, munch’ and when we looked, Dottie had taken an ornament off the tree and was trying to eat it.  

 

The next morning it was raining and I went for a 9 kilometre run on the trail. The weather was once again mild and there were more people than usual down there. I was drenched by the time I got back, but overall it was a better run than Sunday.

 
On Wednesday it was snowing again and I did a quick shovel of the back porch and pathway before I left. It was beautiful out. The trail looked like a picture out of a fairy tale. Time went by incredibly quickly due to the beautiful change in scenery—there was always something to look at. When I got back Cilla was playing in the snow in the backyard, having a great time.

 

Later, I received the letter R charm in the mail for completing my first 150 km. I have 2 charms left to earn.

 

The rest of the week went fairly smoothly as far as the runs were concerned. Saturday was my rest day from running, so after cleaning the house, Cilla and I listened to Christmas music while we made, then decorated shortbread Christmas cookies. Afterwards we baked a batch of chocolate chip macaroons. Every year we bake Christmas cookies together, and every year there is something else that she is able to do independently.

Another week done and I’m on track to finish the challenge in the next 2 weeks, barring illness or injury.