Warm up before hard running

by Ruben, Answer by Marius

"On the hard sessions, is there a warm up run before starting a high effort 3 or above, or do you just jump into the session?

Also, what kind of stretching do you recommend before and after runs?"

Answer: I recommend you do a warmup of 5-10 minutes and a cooldown of 5-10 minutes as well. There is no need for longer warmups than this ! And whenever in the schedules there is a SS* marked then do the "special strides" after the sessions that you can read about in Chapter 13 of the 100 Day Plan.

When it comes to stretching I do not recommend this, supported by the latest research in this field. Point is, it does not prevent injuries - this is in fact a myth.

The ONLY exception is if you have marked differences from one leg versus the other in terms of flexibility AND you have a marked tencency to increased injuries in on that less flexible side.

Kind regards,
Marius

I'm often asked what shoes I personally recommend to help stay injury free while running (on the 100 day plan) so I'll add a little bit about it at the end of these Q and A's.

Good shoes are crucial if you want to stay injury free during your marathon journey. In general, the best is to find a shoe that fits your feet according to your foot type.

However, these three shoes will do an excellent job with their mild correction - and will work for most runners :

The most sold running shoes ever - and by every model seems to get better and better. About the same weight as the Kayano but the fit is a little bit different.

The 2150 is a great alternative for the faster work you'll be doing in the 100 day plan. It is one of the few shoes that "feels" like a lightweight one but at the same time has more than enough stabilty to prevent injuries with the marathon type length of some of the interval sessions.

A tips for international (non-US) runners : check out roadrunnerssports.com : Example : Asics Kayano (RoadRunnerssports) they ship worldwide and it can really save you some money on your shoes.