Stretching

from personal experience i would tend to agree does more good IF DONE PROPERLY.  i used to stretch before any warm up...no no..i ended up just pulling muscles.  BUT with a light warm-up (5min slow jog, arm circles, etc) then LIGHT stretching before running, i have eliminated some very, very pesky tendinitis (along with some hill training).  i think the focus is on light stretching before the actual routine only after warmup..never stretch to your limits before the workout.  PLUS if one stretches properly and regularly, i feel you r more apt to 'handle' inconsistencies on the trail, falls from the bike, etc cuz your muscles and tendons have a better ability to act as a shock absorber by stretching longer therefore the force peak from a bad impact is more spread out instead of spiking.

hell, who know?  seems to be like what diet works for u...something can work for one person and not the other.  we r genetically different.

I agreed with certain parts of the article such as not stretching wtihout some form of warmup, but I noticed a few contradictions.  Some of the mobilization examples were reciporical inhibition as they stated which will increase flow and lengthen the opposing muscle group to an extent, but the forearm "mobilization" was nothing but a passive stretch, which is what the article said wasn't good.  At least that was what it sounded like to me.  Once I found that one contradiction I was kind of turned off on the rest of the article.  Just another 2 cents worth from me. 

Sharon

Amen to that.  I unfortunately planned on running in the Indy Mini Marathon and was well above worried about finishing.  I did everything I thought was right, not increasing more than 10% in any weeks time/distance, ran a very low heart rate, building a good base over 4 months, cross training and WHAM, one day my knee pain starts.  Now I am thinking the Mini is out of the question if I want to do tri's this summer.  My running is now up to 20 min's or about 2 miles running at 50-55% of my MHR.  I have been going to a PT for 3 weeks now and he says my problem is my glutes.  My hips, thighs, knees, over all flexibility and hamstrings are all much stronger and the muscle imbalance is probably the cause.  He has given me several stretches to do and a resistance exercise which uses a large rubber band type thing I put around my ankles and do a side to side 'defensive shuffle' 5x80 feet every other day.  Is is working?  I think the jury is still out.  I don't think it is hurting and I think the stretching is helping but I have a long way to go to get back to running 5 miles pain free. 

I will say this is the most frustrating experience I have ever had to deal with with respect to sports injuries.  Normally if I am injured I feel it through out the day.  With this pain, I feel great all day and even during the first part of the run then WHAM as if out of nowhere I start feeling it.  I would rather know I am injured than worry ever time I run WHEN it is going to start or IF it will.   I am not giving up the sport but I am getting a lot of swim practice in....which I need anyway.  I biked for the first time in a month last night and did not experience any pain but it was only 15min's at the Y.  I will slowly increase this distance but maybe I can get 2 of the 3 workouts going pretty strong.  That will help me mentally.  I am not glad to know others are suffering the same pain as me but I am also glad that I am not alone.  Hopefully you hang in there and we all get through this eventually.