Quick Tip: Maintaining Flexibility

I’ve talked a lot about the need for runners to improve their flexibility.

As a whole, we are incredibly inflexible.

And as it turns out, our inflexibility often relates to more than just our hamstrings and calves.

Your Training Plan Shouldn’t Be Etched in Stone

Etched in Stone

Another area where we as runners need to work on maintaining flexibility is our training schedule.

Be honest for a minute, how many of us (myself absolutely included) are in such a routine when it comes to running that we almost don’t have to think about it anymore?

Here’s my regular routine:

• Tempo run on Tuesday
• Speed work on Thursday
• Long/easy run on Friday solo on the trails
• Long/easy run on Saturday with the Pack.

I’m trying to add an additional easy run on Monday too, but I haven’t quite made that a true part of the routine just yet.

But what happens when you can’t follow your “normal” plan? What happens when your wife asks you if she can run with her girlfriends on Saturday instead of Sunday, meaning you have to run on Sunday (solo, btw) instead of running with your friends on Saturday?

You know what happens?

You say no problem dear. You have fun, I’ll get the baby ready on Saturday morning, and I’ll be fine running solo on Sunday.

Why? Because as much as I like following my routine and my preferred training schedule, maintaining flexibility in training is vitally important.

“Life Finds a Way”

Ok, maybe not in the same way that ol’ Ian Malcolm meant in Jurassic Park, but we all know that shit happens from time to time in our lives.

As runners, a variety of things can force our hand and change our training schedule: family commitments, issues at work, weather, injury, and race to name just a few.

So we might as well accept the fact that things are going to come up on occasion and roll with the punches as the situation determines.

Remember to work on the flexibility of your training plan (and in your hamstrings, dammit!) the next time life gets in the way, and you’ll be better off because of it.

I promise.