One of the things I’ve come to neglect in training is…drum roll please…stretching. I have never been flexible. Ever. In school, for the President’s Physical Fitness Test, the stupid straight leg stretch would consistently pull my score down. My toes and I aren’t super familiar, and my hamstrings are tighter than Guantanamo Bay.
Honestly, I thought stretching wasn’t super important. I’d rather just run, swim, and bike faster. Wrong. So so wrong. I’m (unfortunately) the type of person who has to learn things on their own. I can have the world’s experts spoon-feeding me the most accurate advice, but I still have to stubbornly hit my head against the wall until I figure it out myself. It’s a character flaw and has limited me in a lot of aspects of my life. I can’t tell if it’s cynicism, distrust, or just plain ignorance, but I’m constantly learning things the hard way.
That being said, I’m (finally) starting to realize how important stretching is! My hip flexors, oh my. They are tighter than my grandmother clutching her pearls. They’re tighter than the current Clinton-Trump polling. They’re tighter than Kim Kardashian’s dress. That. Tight. (How many similes can I use for “tight??”) And frankly, I’m realizing it’s been limiting my running capability. My stride is significantly shorter before stretching than after. It’s incredible. Now I know that’s not rocket science by any means, and that literally everyone else has figured this out by now, but let’s just put it down to being a slow learner.
I’ve recently started putting emphasis on taking time to stretch after my workouts, and it has actually been helping! I’m used to normally running off immediately after a workout to do something else, be it grocery shopping, eating, or getting to work. But, by dedicating 10-15 minutes to simple stretches, I’ve been able to open up my hip flexors more, and start elongating my hamstrings (that project is going to take a longgg time).
Honestly, so much pain.
I mean, look how tight my hip flexors are!
I look super serious here but I was just desperately trying to hold on to my toes
Anyways, this has been your friendly PSA (mainly for myself) to take time to stretch!
Just a Girl Training for a Tri 
I can so relate. I have never been able to touch my toes, even as a child when we should all be super-flexy. When I do a modified hurdler’s stretch, I still need to use a towel. Maybe one day I’ll be able to reach my foot without giving out a Wilhelm Scream.
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Haha I’m glad it’s not just me! It’s so bad, I get so embarrassed by my obvious lack of flexibility.
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Yes, those show-offs who can stand and bend and place their palms flat on the floor…. I just want to kick them in their gluteus. 😀
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I’m the same too, just started yoga to try and combat it and am by far the worst in the class!
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Ah good for you! Get it! I haven’t even built up the courage to attend a yoga class yet because I know I’ll be the worst.
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I just work on the assumption that everyone is concentrating so hard they won’t notice that I can barely touch my toes haha
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I love this post. I’m completely with you on stretching. My boyfriend has been trying to get me to do Yoga so I can stretch, but I just won’t do it. I might just give it a shot if it’ll make me run faster. Thanks for the PSA!
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Haha I’m glad we’re in the same boat! I’m trying (and failing) to incorporate more yoga into my routine
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I’m a kickboxer and trust me, I have by far the lowest height on my kicks – I suffer with tightness behind my knees and my hips. So going to try Yoga and a bit more stretching and hopefully that will help!
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Ah I can’t imagine trying to stretch it out for kickboxing! I can barely touch my toes somedays. Good luck with the yoga and stretching, I hope it helps you out!
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Thank you! Just keep pushing yourself, you will get there, it’ll just take time.
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