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Back pounding the pavements again
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Hi all
It's been ages (over 4 years, I think) since I've been on here. In that time I went right off running, mostly due to trying to do too much too soon. Also in that time I put weight on.
Back in December I joined Slimming World and just need to lose another 1.5lb to have got rid of 1.5 stone. 
I've also pulled on the running shoes again and am slowly getting somewhere. I'm so determined to stick to it this time as I like the clear mind it gives me - I get some serious thinking done.
What I'd like to know is what do us rank beginners do for a warm-up? I usually walk for a few minutes, increasing pace, and then break out into a jog. Is this fine enough or is there more I should be doing? I seem to have the cool down sorted.
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Comments
Good luck - you seem to have realised what the mistake was that you made before - others may come on and say different but I would say you have the warm up sorted as well - Good luck
if you want you can add a few leg stretches to relax and warm up the leg muscles but seems about right to me. You could push your toes against a curb / wall and just stretch the leg out a dozen or so times, but not even sure if that's needed seems fine what you are doing. It's not like you are going straight from the walk to sprinting 100m in record time
Anaya - I find some 'active stretches' are really beneficial before a run. My usual routine is a 5 min warm up walk, and then some leg swings / bicycle kicks - definitely gets the blood flowing around my legs before I break into a run.
Anaya - if you are warming up for a slow run, you probably have it about right. If you are warming up for something more intensive such as a speed session, then I'd advise something along the lines of -
gentle jog 8 - 10 mins. then add in a few strides - sprint at 70 - 80% of effort for 50 - 80 metres then ease off, 3 - 4 times.
gentle stretch legs / hips / any areas you know you personally need to focus on.
good to go.
I find that works pretty well
Thanks for your replies. I'm glad I'm more or less right with what I'm doing. Last time I ended up with achilles tendon problems on both sides from not warming up properly/doing enough stretches and cross training. Don't want to end up there again.
Louise - Definitely not intensive, might just be able to manage about 4 - 5 mins (quite slowly) in one go at the moment.
Once again, thank you.
After a couple of weeks of structured running 1:30 run/2:00 walk (9x) I had a 'free' run session this morning to see how far I could get. I managed 0.61 miles in 6:30 then, after a short walk to get my breath back, finished the mile in just under 12 minutes. OK, nothing stunning by most runners standards but good for me.
I've been gently strong-armed into entering the Gosport Golden Mile - I was considering it and a weight-loss friend of mine turned round and said "get in there, you're doing it, I'll be there to cheer you on". So I'm all entered and, after this morning, quietly excited that I'll finish it easily.