Running

Stretching is individual, so it depends on what you need in your body. Dynamic stretching should be done before exercise and static stretching afterwards. Calf stretch, kneeling hip flexor stretch, hamstring stretch and thoracic spine stretch are recommended stretches for running a 5K.
 
Transcript: "Hello, everybody. This is Kate Edwards. And today's question is, what stretches should I do for a 5K? And the thing about stretching is its individual. So it depends on what you need in your body and also when you're stretching so there's a lot of questions about should we do Dynamic stretching for static stretching? And there's a little bit of confusion and in the research people are on either side. But the basic understanding is that dynamic Retching which means moving while stretching, so that you can activate your neuromuscular system, increase blood flow, and all of that is better before you exercise, and then static stretching is something you would do after you exercise. So those are the stretches where you see, people stretching their calf against a wall or stretching their hamstring. But because you want to know what stretches to do. I will give you like three or four stretches. That every Runner should do. The first one would be A calf stretch. So make sure that you are stretching out the calf, both the gastroc and the Soleus the second one would be a kneeling hip flexor stretch so that you can stretch out the front of your hip, which will help improve your ability to hip extend and use that whole cycle or pendulum during your leg swing. Another one that I would definitely do is some kind of hamstring stretch and this is more important for the faster that you're going to go. But Akley with a hamstring stretch. I would do this lying down on your back, with your foot, up the wall, or maybe using a strap, so that would be really good. And then I like, thoracic spine, stretching something. I call a reach-in role, so make sure that you're stretching out the middle of your back. I know that's funny when you're thinking about running, but we actually have to have good mobility of the middle of our spine so that our arms can swing in our legs can move on our pelvis so those would be my top four stretches. I hope this helps"

Winning the 2004 Olympic silver medal was a dream come true for me, representing the United States and being the first American to win a medal in 28 years was an honor. It was a reminder that with hard work, anything is possible, and I feel blessed to have been able to experience it.
 
Transcript: "The 2004 Olympic silver medal, mean? A lot to me, it was a dream come true for me to begin with but it did not start that way when I was in 7th grade course. Duke, Lord told me that after running five Twenty Mile to get an A and a tissue in the class, you're going to be Nova an Olympian. But since I grew up without electricity and a third world country, I don't know what the Olympics were. So to be able to participate in, Sydney Australia as a lumpy and represent the United State and then before I left the stadium in Sydney, Australia and 2000. I said I've made My personal goal that I want to win a medal for our country. When I made that goal was more than a 10K than the marathon. But to be able to run the original course of the marathon and Athens were the Olympic were founded and in Greece. Wow, what a dream come true and you know, how I cherished it every bit of it and coming in the last two miles or so, I knew I was going to win a medal for our country and be the first American or since Frank Shores in 28 years. So, you know, is it means a lot to me and dreams. Do come true and and you are Do you want to be able to work hard? Anything is possible. I feel blessed to be able to witness of a murder. I just want to win a medal and then to be able to want to silver with the in Athens where erosion of the Olympics were. And then also in the old stadium 1896, is a great lesson for a history of sports and Olympics. And I feel honored to be able to win that medal in Athens Greece at the 2004. So it means a lot to me."

To find 5K races in your area, try Googling "5K races" with your ZIP code or city. You can also look on the website of local running clubs and on social media boards in your neighborhood.
 
Transcript: "Everyone Kate Edwards here and the question is, how do I find 5k races in my area? While the first thing is just Google 5K races and then put your ZIP code or your city in and that will be best and then you could also look at local clubs. So here in Atlanta, the Atlanta Track Club usually will list a lot of the races on their website, but then smaller clubs local clubs will do the same thing. So you can also look at social media or there are a lot of different social boards that you can look. On in your neighborhood, probably that will list them. So I would say go to the internet."

It's important for athletes to finish their workouts even if they are not always up to par in order to strengthen the neurons in the brain associated with finishing tasks. It is also important to know the difference between pain and suffering. Pain should be avoided, while suffering can help separate great from good athletes. Keeping a log of your workouts is a useful way to track progress and stay motivated.
 
Transcript: "So, it's super important to finish your workouts as an athlete, even if they're not always up to par because we want the neurons in our brain to be strengthened for finishing things. Okay? When we're quitting we're just strengthening our neurons to quit. And so you know, we're human beings and there's going to be times when different things happen but majority of the time you're better off finishing. But you got, you know, as an elite athlete or as an athlete. Lee training at a high level. You gotta know the difference between suffering. And pain. Okay, pain is damaging. If you're doing, you know, damaging to your body and injury something that doesn't feel right. Okay. You gotta know the difference. Okay. Then you need to stop. That's a sign of maturity stopping. So you're not damaging thing. Most things can be prevented. If you don't go overboard and keep going when things hurt, you have to stop. If you're damaging yourself but what you know, one of the things that separates Great and good athletes is the ability to suffer. And finishing workouts, most of the time is the most important thing to do. You know, if you're having trouble finishing workouts, you know, we're human beings and there's going to be times when you know, mentally during workouts, we rationalize to quit the mind and body wants to protect itself. And so it's going to go the easy route. That's why it's important to have a coach to get you to keep finishing. Your workouts and someone is stay on it, so keep in. In mind that during the heat of action. Most the time you're going to want to stop or protect yourself and that's why it's important to keep going during that time if it's not pain, okay? So know the difference between pain and suffering, keep a log. If you're not finishing workouts, keep a log and and you know, whether things are legit that you are quitting or keep going. So hope that helps"

Athletes need to be doing mental imagery in order to strengthen their minds just like they strengthen their bodies. This can be done by writing down ideas from coaches and trusted sources, creating videos of past performances, and then doing 10-15 minutes of mental imagery every day. It is important to visualize success and enjoy the process in order for this to work.
 
Transcript: "So athletes need to be doing mental imagery and they can really teach themselves. Obviously, you know, your coach can give you ideas and stuff but you can strengthen your mind like you strengthen your body, okay? First off the mind doesn't really know the difference between real or imaginary thoughts. So you can do things in the present that make your future better. So what I would tell you to do with this is to First put some ideas down on paper from your coats and maybe from some clothes people that you trust, maybe some things you need to work on, okay? Then next put some videos together. Okay, there about 10 to 15 minutes long on your next two races, maybe it's a Philly half, maybe it's in New York City marathon. And in these videos, you want to put your greatest performances of your past because it activates something in the brain planning action moving forward. It's important that that's activated moving forward. So we put some videos together. We watch a video for 10 to 15 minutes and then lay down or sit up and go through mental imagery in our head, okay? From a first-person point of view, if you're going to get sleepy, make sure you sit up but go through the race in your head. What's it? Look like sound like feel like smell like okay, enjoy yourself in this. Make sure you see yourself enjoying yourself being successful. Successful. Okay, you'll get a lot better to start this early pre-med of Evil's obstacles. You know, this is an ongoing process that most great athletes are doing. They're doing it in daydreaming. They're doing in their training but this is an hour and a half a week, three times a week, okay? 15 minutes for each thing. So, 15 minutes of video, 15 minutes of imagery, you can strengthen your mind like you strengthen your body."

Athletes should do most of their training on soft surfaces, such as grass and dirt, to reduce the pounding on their body. However, it is important to mix it up and make sure you are training on the surfaces you will be competing in as well. Soft surfaces can help with recovery, but be careful not to overdo it on muddy surfaces as this can aggravate certain injuries.
 
Transcript: "So I do think that athletes should be doing most of their training on soft surfaces, especially people doing high volume because it's going to add up the pounding on their body. And, you know, we want to train on a little bit more forgiving surfaces with that said, I think you have to mix it up. It shouldn't be all really super soft or all medium soft. We want to change our surfaces as much as we can in regards to that. Soft surfaces, so maybe some dirt, maybe some wood chips, you know, grass stuff like that. So I would mix it up. One of the most underrated things, I think is to make sure you're training on surfaces that you're going to encounter in the race. If you're a marathoner, you got to train on asphalt, okay? Some, some races have cement, you got to find cement to train on a times. Okay, not a lot but a little bit you want to be ready for the specificity of what Going to compete and where you're going to compete. So, you know, in marathons you're going to encounter Bridges and and cement, surfaces and asphalt. And so that should be part of your specific training to be able to deal with that, you know, to be ready for it to understand what it feels like. But in regards to training and Recovery, I do think you want to train as much as you can on softer surfaces, but keep in mind, you don't want it to be too much. Much muddy surfaces. That will aggravate, something like plantar, fasciitis, or something that, you know, mix it up a little bit, mix up your shoes little bit and should help you recover better but the Kenyans have something right with that that, you know, soft surfaces are going to allow you to not break down your body as much and not lose red blood cells through your legs."