Tonight I went out for a 4-mile workout, at about 7 pm. Back in the summer during this time of day, there was plenty of sun left in the sky. Now, it’s dark out so it can be a bit more challenging working with the traffic.

I decided to run with an ipod and listen to a podcast along the way. Most of the time, I’ll just run without any music; just me and the solitude of the run. But every so often, the ipod provides great entertainment and is welcome on the workout. Running in the dark and with the music / podcast playing, I need to be careful not to turn the volume up too loud to the point of not being able to hear oncoming traffic. Obviously, that could be detrimental if you miss the sound of a horn or any audible sign of a car coming at you.

I tend to run in the street by choice, preferring this over the sidewalk. Technically, the street is a bit more forgiving on the legs since it tends to be more textured, and softer as a surface to run on than the sidewalk. But the tradeoff is the slant that the street has over a sidewalk with a flatter, more even surface. This slant doesn’t seem to bother my knees, at least not noticeably.

Tips for running at night:

• run in the direction of oncoming traffic
• wear a white-colored shirt, or even a vest for best visibility
• keep the volume down on your mp3 player so you can hear the traffic too
• watch out stepping on rocks or any ankle-twisting obstacles

It’s so easy to get a workout in, then move onto something else without considering the importance of stretching.

For best results, you should incorporate some stretching routine into your workouts. This adds some flexibility to the muscles and makes it easier to start out on a run. If you go into the workout cold, there will likely be some stiffness until the muscles warm up.

Imagine what a sprinter goes through before starting their race. The ultimate form of not stretching would be to get into the starting blocks without any preparation. Going from being totally motionless to top speed in a matter of seconds requires some form of stretching and warming up. Without it in this race, the speed isn’t there and the muscles can’t respond for top performance.

So, do some form of stretching before, and more importantly, after the workout for best results and to set up your body for the next day’s activity. Get into the habit early and often; then it simply becomes second nature to do it.