Running Smarter vol. 2
Let’s Talk About Cooling Down!
By Laura Filla, RRCA L2 Run Coach, ACE CPT
coachlaura@fillaendurance.com
www.fillaendurance.com/
Let’s Talk About Cooling Down! Particularly the time we have immediately post-run.
We can use this time to habit stack key ancillary work, the “little things” that help keep us healthy and resilient for the high-impact sport of running.
For this reason, my coaching colleagues and I give our athletes a simple post-run mobility routine. It takes five minutes, but when done consistently, it adds up. Building injury resilience and supporting long-term health, mobility done consistently is a game changer for runners.
Think about it: if you train six hours a week and add a five-minute mobility sequence after each run, that’s six extra hours of mobility work over a three-month training cycle.
Here’s how we do it:
Once a run is complete, have a yoga mat or towel handy. Then, find a nearby spot and complete 10–15 reps of each movement for 1–3 sets:
- Hip Controlled Articular Rotations (CARs)
- Bodyweight Good Mornings
- Groiner with Thoracic Rotation
- Half-Kneeling Ankle Mobilizers
- Cat-Cow
At the end of the day, most of us don’t have the capacity to train like pro-runners. But if we’re smart about the habits we build around our runs, we can get a lot more out of our training than we think. Keep showing up!