There was a difference in the air this morning and it was niiiiccceee! I had to coach my XC runners so I didn't get to run until 8:30 ish and damn if it wasn't still (relatively) nice. I actually had dry places on my shorts after we got through. Like Scoobie and Astro say, "ruh?" So Astro's in the future and Scoobie is 'now'; is Astro Scoobies great, great, grand puppy or something? Lot's of little injuries are cropping up on runner's now a days; it's hot, they're tired (leads to sloppy form), the runs are getting long (got to do the long runs) and just maybe inadequate recovery. First off you have GOT to re-fuel your system, period. One of the best recovery drinks out there is non-fat chocolate milk.....okay, beer,but I'm writing this for the masses. You have GOT to re-load! Non fat chocolate milk has a near perfect blend of protein to carbs as well as calcium and other essential vitamins and minerals, plus it's like a buck. If you don't like it or want to use Endurox or whatever, knock yourself out but put SOMETHING constructive back in your system before the post run cheeseburger or breakfast. Second is it just me or do I not hear of many people taking a cold soaking bath after a long run to aid in your recovery? Call me crazy, but if it's good enough for elite athlete's then it's good enough for us. I'm not even suggesting ice, just a cold bath hip bone deep and sit in it for12-15 minutes. There are physiological reasons for this but I'm too lazy to type them out. How about the hard/easy principle? Run an easy recovery run the day after a long, hard, or long and hard workout - the operative word is EASY. Psst, people here's some news - 99% of injuries are CUMULATIVE. Combine wear and tear (hard/long runs with inadequate recovery/rest/easy runs and poor refueling + lack of recovery (cold baths). Sprinkle in being too busy or whatever reason to get the occasional massage and the wear and tear will eventually bring you down. Heck, we all love to run. We love running, racing, medals, shirts, finishing, friends, post run hanging out, we love it! But love your body too, take care of it. Treat your 'chassis' with some love and kindness post run. Re-fuel, bath it (cold bath), feed it, and rub it down, then take it out for a 'stroll' the next day. It will do more than keep your body fie tuned, it'll keep you from burnout. I ran my first marathon in 1994 and I remember training for it and the '95 Vulcan running from the gas station under Vulcan across from the Walgreens, of course back then it was Aldridges. The first Sunday or 2 of training cars lined Diaper Road almost all the way to the Expressway; now 16 years later I can look around Brownell (where the runs originate) or I can look at my Running 101 groups and see dozens of fresh faces, new runners, and some only a few years old. Listen, take advantage of my wisdom - you know where wisdom comes from? Wisdom comes from experience; know where 'experience' comes from? Bad judgement! I have exercised my fair share of bad judgement, so learn from my wisdom (i.e. my mistakes). Re-fuel, recover, relax (easy runs) and the occasional off day won't hurt you either. If you think running is fun now, won't it be fun to still be running when you have grand kids? When you're the only one on race day in your age group? When instead of letting others inspire you, YOU inspire others.....now that'll be fun!