runners...advice please

I've always heard that stretching is best done after a workout. Your muscles aren't sufficiently warm and loose before. Warming up is best. Do a few jumping jacks, high knees, brisk walking.
I've been in training for a 10k for only a month. I hadn't heard about it in time, and I've been really pushing myself to the limit. I'm not a runner normally, so this is a challenge! I've read that in the first year of running, nobody should attempt to do a 5k of strict running. A maximum of 7 min running, three minutes walking is recommended on many sites I've been to.
Listen to your body. If something gets to be too much, stop.

I walk a few minutes and THEN stretch. It's better to stretch warmed up muscles so that you don't tear anything. I know someone who runs about a mile and then does her stretches. So everyone is different, but I definately think you should stretch.

First, make sure that you have to right running shoes.

Before your race do what you normally do! If you normally warm up with stretching and jumping jacks, do that. This is what your body is used to, Don't change anything the day of the race.

Active (dynamic) stretch before, static stretch after.

Here's an active stretch article:
http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-241-287--13442-0,00.html

I just do the leg lifts. Sometimes.

After, I stretch gastroc, soleus, hamstrings, quads, IT band.

I've always heard that stretching is best done after a workout. Your muscles aren't sufficiently warm and loose before. Warming up is best. Do a few jumping jacks, high knees, brisk walking.

This

I've read that in the first year of running, nobody should attempt to do a 5k of strict running. A maximum of 7 min running, three minutes walking is recommended on many sites I've been to.

Not so much. Going slow and following a good training plan is important, but it's possible to run a straight 5k the first year.

I normally don't stretch or warm up before my run workouts--I use the first mile to build and hit pace during the second mile. I definitely cool down and stretch afterwards.

If this is your first race and your only expectation is to finish, you can use your first mile this way.

I ran a 5K this past weekend and did some light warm ups in the pen prior to the race so I could hit the ground running at the gun.

The pain may have been from you trying to do a quick stretch before running and before your muscles being warm. Try running without stretching and see what happens...if it is just soreness you can probably run through it, but if it is sharp shooting pains you should stop and evaluate if you have injured yourself. Good luck.

(I have learned from experience, for me, that it is better not to stretch before, but never to skip stretching afterwards!)

I am doing a 5k in a little over a month. I normally do a 5 min walk before I start my jog, which i am up to jogging a mile and a half without dying lol, I am wondering if I should stretch before running or not? I have researched and see very conflicting advice. When I got on the treadmill a 2 days ago, I stretched quickly before, started jogging after my 5 min walk and started having shooting groin pain on my right side and also shooting pain in my inner shin area. I have been scared to get on the treadmill since Any suggestions would be helpful!!!

I started the C25K program on 8/2/12. I just finished week 6. I get those pains in my inner shin area also. Just below my calf muscle. This happens when i run, and it will be sore the next day. I always stretch afterward. Any tips? Shoe suggestions?
I am doing a 5K Walk/Run on Oct. 6. I know i can't run the whole thing, but i will certainly try to do as much as i can.

I stretch a little before (my calves and ankles) otherwise sometimes one of my feet will fall asleep, or my calf/shin will cramp up. I also kind of stretch out my upper body (I find this helps with side stitches and other upper body pain). Then afterwards I do a little more stretching. I think the more experienced you are, the more you can get away without stretching or without warming up because your muscles are more used to it. Probably important not to try to do too much stretching with cold muscles (I walk first then stretch, as another poster pointed out) but also important to find out what works for you and what helps for you. Good luck.

I agree bad information. Perhaps they are referring to competitive racing. If you are fit enough, you can do a 5k. I did my first 5k 6weeks into Couch to 5k training. I ran/ walked it and got it done.

I haven't experienced pain but I would suggest if you have not done so, visit a running store and get a gait/foot analysis. You may be wearing the run type of shoe. I used to have horrible shin splits until I did this and got the right shoe. I have not experienced shin splints since. Above all else, always listen to your body.

^This.

Shooting pain, in my particular body (YMMV) is indicative of something being out of whack independent of stretching. The "wrong" shoes can take a while to do damage, but once I'm there only a change in shoes fixes it. For me, my hips are the canary in the coal mine - if I have any pain at all in my hips, I take a serious look at my shoes, socks, and running surface. If you're running on suburban roads, change sides often (the camber/slope can cause leg, hip, back, and neck pain). If you're on a treadmill, make sure you're ok with the incline and it's on a flat surface (once saw a treadmill set up over a seam in concrete, kid you not it was tilted to one side ever so slightly!).

I'd definitely go to a running store and get your gait and shoe combo checked out by a runner - someone at footlocker once sold me "stability runners" for people who pronate (roll their feet) because I was running on uneven terrain - I didn't know any better, and it almost cost me my knees. A web search of "pronation" will give you pointers to look at your own shoe wear and help you try to figure it out if there's no running store nearby.

Static stretch ONLY when warmed up. I often will run a couple miles, then stop and stretch on a park bench or brick wall or something. When I finish, I always stretch.