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mistakes. He’s back on track with his running, and though he doesn’t have any half marathons in the foreseeable future, he is training for the upcoming cross-country season and thinks that one day he will again consider a half marathon.
    Warming Up
    Warming up is not just for beginners—even world-class athletes need to warm up before every workout. The purpose of a warm-up routine is to prepare your body for exercise. (Warming up itself should not be thought of as exercise, even if the routines are called warm-up “exercises.”) Cold muscles work less efficiently and are more easily injured. They lack the flow of blood necessary to do the work.
    Your warm-up should include some kind of general body movement designed to get the blood flowing. After about 10 minutes of moving your arms, legs, and trunk continuously, you can proceed to some gentle stretching, and the emphasis here is on gentle . Wendy Epp, a sport physiotherapist and competitive runner and triathlete, points out that research shows you’re more likely to pull a cold muscle by stretching too vigorously than by actually starting right into jogging. “It’s important to warm up progressively. A low-intensity, rhythmic activity like gentle jogging, which takes your muscles through a limited range of motion, will increase muscle and body temperature gradually and thus minimize the risk of injury.”
    The rule with stretching, before, during, and after exercise, is to listen to your body: if it hurts, you’ve gone too far. This is true regardless of how fit you are or how fast you run. You might find it annoying to get a running injury, but just imagine how frustrated you’d feel if the injury resulted from something you thought you were doing to avoid being injured! In general, runners and walkers should focus on their hamstring, calf, hip flexor, and lower-back muscles. Hold each stretch for about 10 seconds and repeat two to three times per muscle group.
    Cooling Down
    Just as a warm-up is the best way to prepare your body for increased levels of activity, a cooling-down procedure is the best way to ease it back down to idle speed. It’s a good idea to keep your muscles active for 10 to 15 minutes after exercising, using a similar but less intense version of exactly the same thing you did during your warm-up. It takes your body and heart time to recover.
    Eventually you’ll find that the nice warm muscles you developed during your training session are more pliable, and that makes your post-exercise period a perfect time to work on your flexibility. After your training session, when you are thoroughly warmed up, you can safely hold each stretch for anywhere from 30 seconds to 3 minutes.
    Your Training Schedule
    Keep in mind that your training schedule is flexible. It’s up to you to decide on which days of the week you will do each of your runs. However, it makes sense to space your runs through each week. If you’re not part of a running clinic, you may also want to consider meeting a friend who runs at a similar pace for the occasional run. This helps with motivation and can make training more fun. Chapter 8 has detailed information on running clinics and training partners.
    Maintenance runs/regular runs
    There needs to be room in your training program for days that are for easy jogging. You will notice that the training programs outlined in this book include two runs a week that are approximately half the distance of your long run and are done at approximately the same pace as your long run. It is especially important for beginners to schedule these runs in the middle of the week to increase your comfort level when running and to allow your body to gradually adapt to the physical and mental demands of the sport.
    The long run
    The long run is what many marathoners and distance runners refer to as the bread and butter of their training program. “Running long” helps build cardiovascular fitness, familiarizes the body with the increased stress