I recently went on a beautiful run in CT!
Because the weather was so nice, I decided to go on a rather long run, about 10km (as opposed to my usual 5-6km run). However, I quickly learned about 30 minutes in that I made a horrible mistake– I didn’t warm up enough.
I’ve done 10km in past weeks with little stress on my knees and muscles, but because the weather over here suddenly became cold, my body isn’t used to adjusting to intense exercise too quickly. About halfway in, my knees and joints around my ankles began to hurt a bit, and I had to deal with mild shin splints after my run.
Reminder that if you’re also a casual runner, make sure you adjust your workout so you’re properly warming up in the cold! Our muscles take more time to stretch out and adapt to cold weather, and without a proper warm up we risk ourselves of injury. It’s important that your warm-up isn’t static, and you incorporate dynamic stretches– static stretching can actually reduce performance and will not prevent injury.
For inspiration on a dynamic warm up you could do before a run in the cold, check this link out: 5 Dynamic Stretches Before Running
Try and get outside sometime today! 🌳🌿☀️😊
