I’ve never liked stretching. It takes too much time, effort, and doesn’t even seem to help. Especially after spending a few hours warming up, doing a workout, and cooling down, the extra 15 minutes I’d spend sitting on the ground seem like too much of a hassle. Little did I know how wrong I was.
When I started running freshman year of high school, I was fine most days without stretching. After all, I wasn’t really running that much anyway. Occasionally, I’d stretch haphazardly with teammates, mostly using the time to procrastinate homework rather than focusing on my movements.
Over the years, the mileage increased, but the stretching did not. And I was surely going to pay for it.
First, it was back pain. Somehow, I, a runner, managed to have unbearable back pain everytime I ran because of a lack of stretching. Turns out, I held too much tension in my shoulders while running. And without stretching my arms or back, the problem compounded to the point where it hurt to run a mile.
Then, it was shin splints. Excruciating shin splints, with pain bad enough that I’d end up finishing a 5k in tears that season and would collapse after the finish line, unable to walk. After that race, I couldn’t run for a few weeks without the pain flaring up. All that because of a lack of stretching my calves.
And, to complete the trifecta, later that year, I had IT band problems, as I wasn’t stretching my quadriceps or hamstrings nearly enough to ward off excess tension in my legs and glutes.
But despite all that, I really didn’t learn anything. I still stretched carelessly, moving through the motions rather than really concentrating on injury prevention.
Flash-forward two years, and I’m training for a marathon, working up to 50 miles a week with plenty of workouts and long-runs to get ready for the big day. I ramped up running, lifting, and strength building exercises as necessary. But, I continued to neglect stretching. Everything was going surprisingly well considering that. Until a few months before race day.
This time, it was my hip. I did everything I needed to: I toned down the running, I started strengthening my glutes more, and I started stretching. But the stretching only lasted a few weeks. When the problem got better, I stopped.
The day I ran my marathon, my hip started to flare up around mile 18. Considering I was well over halfway through, I kept going. After the run, I was way too sore to stretch. I told myself I’d stretch more the next day.
Well… I definitely did not stretch at all the next day. Or nearly enough the next week. Or when I started running again.
Lo and behold, I found myself with another problem because of my ignorance of stretching. And this time, my fourth major running issue wasn’t healed in a few weeks or months. It’s been over a year, and I’m still working on getting over the pain.
Of course, over the past few months, not being able to run, I’ve had plenty of time to reflect and find other ways to stay active. I finally decided to try yoga. (If only that happened a few years ago, am I right?)
After spending a few months exploring and trying different types of online yoga classes, I started to feel myself get more and more flexible and start to be able to tolerate longer runs. I found the stretches that worked well for me and developed my yoga repertoire, complete with poses and stretches for all sorts of muscle groups. I also finally created a 15 minute yoga sequence to do each day, one that would ensure my hips, quadriceps, hamstrings, and IT band all stayed limber.
It’s been a year, and I still religiously do that yoga sequence at the end of each day, whether it’s 10 pm or 1 am.
While yoga may not necessarily feel like a workout, it builds strength in ways we don’t notice immediately--which is why it’s often easy to overlook. Our usual types of workouts build strength in the big muscle groups in ways that allow us to notice improvement immediately, whether through being able to do more pushups or being able to run faster.
But yoga acts more discreetly. It helps build strength in all of the muscles and joints we don’t typically think about, helping us improve balance while also strengthening muscles through the intricate poses we hold for extended periods of time.
Even more alluring is the fact that yoga has a dual effect on the mind and the body. Deliberate focus on one’s movements and breath while stretching introduces mindfulness into our daily routine. We often don’t take nearly enough time for ourselves, and yoga allows us to take care of both our mind and our body simultaneously. Especially since we’re endurance athletes, mental strength is as important as physical strength, and yoga helps both aspects of the sport.
With all I’ve learned these past few years about the necessity of injury prevention, I decided to bring yoga to a community important to me on campus: Triathlon Team. We’ve all grown to love and look forward to the yoga sessions, with everyone commenting on how each practice leaves them much more centered and flexible.
While it’s often difficult to find time to stretch--especially with hectic schedules and ten week terms--if there’s anything to be gained from my story, it’s that stretching and yoga has immeasurable benefits.
So yes, I’m sure even the Geico gecko would agree with the yoga yak: 15 minutes of yoga can indeed save you 15% or more of your training time.
About the Author
Vaishnavi Katragadda (‘24) is from Clemmons, North Carolina and is planning on majoring in chemistry and minoring in anthropology on the pre-med track. While she started running in high school, she only recently picked up swimming and biking in college. A lover of endurance sports, she’s excited to explore triathlons more and improve her swimming and biking skills. Vaishnavi also enjoys writing--scientific or otherwise (check her out on Medium!)--adventuring in the outdoors, dance parties, and searching for fellow soggy cereal lovers.
