Let's talk hammys and that damn piriformis :)

Hamstring stretch using a stability ball 

Got that ???  

My hamstrings and piriformis are killin' me these days ( I must be having a growth spurt ! HA !) and this honestly helps,  and doesn't kill my back. I try to do this after anything higher than 2 miles on the treadmill (which fortunately is just about any treadmill time...I figure if I'm gonna run,  I might as well make it a freakin' 5K everytime... sheesh) 

Tuck your pelvis and lift your hips off the floor, then roll the ball away from you until your legs are straight. Bend your knees and roll the ball in to the starting position.  You can do  2 set of 10-15 reps each.  NICE !

And next... this is how I spend my time watching television most nights... 

Piriformis Stretch: The piriformis muscle is responsible for lateral rotation of the hip. It is particularly important to athletes who have to change direction, such as tennis players and running backs in football. (Yeah... that's me... a football running back ! HA !) But though runners run straight ahead, keeping the piriformis muscle loose is important for overall flexibility. Lying on your back, cross your legs just as you might while sitting in a chair. Grasping the "under" leg with both hands, pull the knee toward your chest until you feel the stretch in your buttocks and hips.

The piriformis stretch came from one of my fav fav fav running websites, www.halhigdon.com  Hal Higdon is easier to understand,  doesn't talk all technical and has ran over 111 marathons.  He's got honest to goodness been there done that advice that makes sense.

My other fav is John "The Penguin" Bingham  www.johnbingham.com.  John isn't speedy, but gets it done and knows that being out there is more important than 

a time ! Great advice from a truly motivating guy :)