Whats the most effective recovery strategy from after a run?

For a while there has been an assumed link between poor sleep and heart disease but it was not understood.  Now fresh evidence suggests that sleep regulates a mechanism that can help to protect arteries from hardening.  Which reinforces the notion that good quality sleep is important for cardiovascular health. Researches studied the development of atherosclerosis - the process through which plaques or fatty deposits build up inside arteries causing them to narrow and stiffen.  They discovered sleep disturbed mice:

• Developed larger plaques in their arteries than mice that slept well.
• Had higher amounts of circulating, inflammatory cells.
• Produced lower amounts of hypocretin - a brain hormone that controls wakefulness.

It is claimed that up to 50% of women of reproductive age suffer from period pain.  For many years from my mid-teens until my late twenties I suffered from dysmenorrhea (period pain).  To avoid it interfering with my O Levels I went on the pill but discovered that didn't suit me.  In my mid-twenties I tried reflexology and I felt it helped but I never knew if it was just as a I got older my periods were less painful.  Recently I came across some research that supports my experience. A clinical trial in Iran compared the effectiveness of reflexology and ibuprofen in reducing period pain intensity and duration.  68 students with period pain were randomly divided into a reflexology group, receiving 10 reflexology sessions (40 minutes each) during two consecutive menses cycles or an ibuprofen group, receiving 400mg of ibuprofen every eight hours for three days during three consecutive menses cycles. The study results indicated that reflexology was superior to ibuprofen in reducing period pain and the effects off treatment continued even after discontinuing the intervention in the third mense cycle. Reference Valiani M, Babaei E, Heshmat R and Zare Z,  Comparing the effects of reflexology methods and ibuprofen administration on dysmenorrhea in female students of Isfahan University Medical Sciences.  Iran Journal of Nursing and Midwifery Research.  December 2010; 15 (S1): 371 - 378      

Here are more tips to get a good nights sleep:

1. Read a book or a magazine - I appreicate this is very old school.  The reason is studies have shown that brain activity during sleep is better regulated after reading a physical book compared with reading a screen.
2. Have a hot shower or bath at night.  When you get in all your blood comes to the surface of your body, so when you step out, your core temperature starts to drop.  This stimulates sleep.
3. Go to bed at the same time every nights - it's possible to "programme" the body to get used to falling asleep at a certain time every night.
4. Yoga or light exercise can help relax muscles and release any tension.
5. Complementary therapies -  these promote relaxing, reduce stress and anxiety and are therefore ideal for a good night's sleep.
6. Breathing exercises or medication - taking deep breaths helps the body switch off from the flight or fight more to rest-and-digest mode.