I’ve been running to and from work for more than a year now, and I’m so pleased it’s become a habit. If I run into the office three days per week, I get about 22 kilometres of distance just from commuting, which gives me a great two-birds-with-one-stone feeling.
I like to be efficient, so every day I’m tempted to start my run without warming up. But I force myself to do 5 minutes of plyometric exercises before I begin. Plyometrics are exercises that “involve rapid and repeated stretching and contracting of the muscles,” and they’re great at getting your body prepared for the impact of road running.
I like to think that by keeping the routine the same, my body learns that a run is about to happen and readys itself for the physical stress to come. And although I can’t prove it, I believe that it significantly lowers the risk of injury.