By making sure you finish off today's workout with a complete cool-downroutine. It's the best way to recover while you prepare yourself, body andmind, for your next run. Here are six ways to guarantee you get a completecooldown:

0. Finish the workout with 10 to 12 minutes of easy jogging. This will decrease the stress on your cardiovascular system, relax the leg muscles and ease yourbody and mind into a postworkout state. There are times, however, when it mightbe smarter to skip your cooldown. For example, if you've been training hardevery day and aren't consuming enough carbohydrates, a cooldown can actuallydecrease your muscle glycogen stores enough to hinder subsequent workouts. Inthis case, it's smarter to just slow down during the final mile of yourtraining and not tack on additional cool-down miles.
1. Do some strides after your workout. About twice a week, it's a great idea tofinish your workout with four to six strides. To do strides, relax and run at asmooth, fast but controlled pace for about 20 to 25 seconds. After each stride,walk and jog for a minute or two before beginning the next stride. Bypracticing strides regularly, you'll help yourself feel more comfortable in 5-Kand 10-K races. Strides can also offer a pleasant alternative to 10 minutes ofmonotonous cool-down jogging.
2. Stretch. In most cases, stretching after a training session increases muscleflexibility more effectively than preworkout stretching. Also, new researchsuggests that runners who stretch prior to their workouts may actually increasethe risk of injury, while runners who stretch after training have lower injuryrates. Finally, research has shown that postworkout stretching makes it easierfor carbohydrates to enter muscle cells, helping to restore the glycogen thatis "burned up" during a training session.
3. Ice painful muscles. But only for 10 minutes at a time. Icing sore musclesdoes help control inflammation, but too much icing can actually increase bloodflow and enhance swelling. The key is to rub ice for just 10 minutes at a timeon areas where you feel pain. (Freeze water in a Dixie cup to make a convenientice pack.) Then stop the ice treatment for 10 minutes before reapplying. This"interval-icing" scheme will ensure that your anatomical hot spots chillnicely.
4. Graze on carbohydrates and protein. New studies suggest that runners whotake in about 100 calories of carbohydrates (roughly the amount in one banana)every 15 minutes or so for a couple of hours after a workout can increase theirglycogen-storage rates by up to 90 percent, compared to typical, nongrazingrunners. Other evidence indicates that ingesting around 60 calories ofhigh-quality protein (about the amount in 2 cups of skim milk or 2 cups ofnonfat yogurt) along with three to five times as much carbohydrate shortlyafter a workout can speed glycogen replenishment and muscle repair.
5. Work on your mind. The first five steps will ensure that your body andmuscles recover from each workout. But don't neglect your mind. If you'rementally pleased with the workout, you'll be ready to tackle your next one withfreshness and enthusiasm. To guarantee this, focus on a part of the workoutjust completed that you feel went well. Even if parts of the workout weredisappointing--let's be realistic here; we all know this happens--other partsmight have been successful. Congratulate yourself on this success and forpersisting through the whole workout, and create a mental image of yourselfrunning smoothly and strongly through your next workout.

If you follow these six guidelines after every training session, you'll findyourself running better on subsequent days. The consistency and quality of yourtraining will improve, and you'll run faster in upcoming races.