Running is likely one of the most invigorating and popular sports in the world, attracting elite athletes and recreationalists alike. However, more often than not, the “runner’s high” people experience while running morphs into pain soon after the workout ends. With the degree of high-impact pounding your feet, knees and legs endure even during a simple mile long run, it is no wonder that those who are dedicated to the sport are plagued with such annoyingly chronic injuries as shin splints, runners knee, and plantar fasciitis. So what can you do to avoid spending one, two or perhaps more days sidelined with an injury? Achieve balance. The well-known adage that warns everything is better in moderation poses no exception to runners. In fact, incorporating cross-training and yoga into your weekly training routine will actually enhance your overall performance and efficiency. Over time you will see your agility, endurance, and stamina soar, while those pesky injuries become a distant memory. In particular, practicing yoga is an exceptional remedy to assuage tight muscles and sore joints.

As a victim of chronic shin splints and hip pain myself, yoga has without a doubt eased my struggle. It promotes refined attention to balance, posture, and alignment, thereby improving your form and performance and preventing injury. I find that I can endure longer distances and run at  a more consistent pace when I am not preoccupied with discomfort in my lower limbs. Moreover, I am MUCH more flexible and I no longer suffer from gut-renching muscle cramps.

Running is an extremely unidimensional activity, utilizing almost exclusively a forward motion, whereas yoga forces you to maximize total body mobility. There are a few choice poses that I have found to help my pain and which have also been supported by my yoga instructor as essential poses that cater to the runner. I have included a link that walks through poses that isolate the hamstrings, quads, knees, hips, ankles and core, all of which are areas that are engaged when you run.

http://www.iyogalife.com/runners/The_10_Best_Poses_for_Runners.shtml

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These poses are a great place to start, but it would be well worth your while to go to a few local classes and receive formal instruction to prevent strains and build your experience level. All in all, becoming a student of yoga offers so much more than improved flexibility; it offers a way to melt away everyday stresses, control your breathing and ultimately achieve a sense of balance that will enhance your life and of course, your running performance.