Warm Ups Before A Race

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  • I have always gone on the rule of thumb of the warm up + race time >= hour.

    So for a 5k I would do about 40 mins warm up, 10k approx 20 mins and wouldn't bother much for halfs and full marathons. The warm ups would consist of some gentle jogging, stretching and some strides.



  • Great thread, everyone - I'm really having to cram the answers into this week's 'reader to reader' update. Should appear on the homepage very soon.

    My own experience is echoed in lots of your messages. I've only discovered the power of warming up by accident. In 10Ks and especially HMs (my favourite distance) it seems to take me, well, 10K to get into my stride. Similarly when I'm training, I always feel and run my best between about 6-9 miles, though obviously I don't do that every day. (I only wish I had the time at the moment.)

    I've also found that cooling down makes a vast difference to the way my body feels the next day. After last year's Dublin marathon, which left me with a staggeringly painful left knee and barely the will to pick up my goodie bag, then-hubby and I schlepped around the city centre for half an hour to find a pub lunch that appealed to us both. Bloody glad we did, and not just because it was a great lunch! (Steamed salmon and baked potato.... mouth-melty mmmm.) I felt fine the next day, and had a lovely walk around the park. I'm sure I could have had a gentle recovery jog if I'd put my mind to it.

    Compare and contrast with the Windsor HM, which in all other respects was my best race ever. PB, great course, great weather, legendary marshalling - and lots of loos! I belted along in bliss during my habitual "sweet spot" (this time it lasted from approx miles 7 to 11) and managed to keep up a decent pace to the finish. But then my dad, my driver for the day (I have seizures so I'm not allowed anywhere near a driving wheel), piled me straight into the car to avoid a queue, and off we went. Two hours later I jumped out of the passenger seat outside my house and almost collapsed onto the pavement. Totally unexpectedly, my legs simply gave way. What Craig L said about blood pooling in the muscles if you don't cool down really seems to make sense - it was as though my legs had solidified and gone numb during the car journey. Felt very stiff the next day, too. All hail the cool-down!

    Can't be arsed to stretch, though...
  • ... well did a 5.12 mile race today along Prestayn Prominade... very disappointed but did warm up for 2.5 mile before hand... but I think this cold has taken it's toll...

    Have to say, don't think I'm quite over this cold, legs didn't feel bouncy at all... and the wind on the front... blimey... just didn't feel



    1 Mile = 05:41
    2 Mile = 11:43 (06:02)
    3 mile = 17:40 (05:57)
    4 Mile = 23:35 (05:55)
    5 Mile = 29:26 (05:51)
    0.12 Mile = 0:35

    5.12 Mile Race= 30:04 (5:52 m/m)


    So, am I happy? nope, didn't run well at all, but that's 53 mile for the week, so feeling tired. Going to take it easy now, and taper for Telford 10k on Sunday... and hope I can knock 5 seconds per mile off that... reckon I can and the Pugometer says SUB 36 minutes in Telford 10k next Sunday ;-)

    I defo think this warming up more is perfect and next weeks 10k race which I'm actually going to taper for will consist of 2 x 2 mile warm ups... at 7:30 pace... should be perfect...


    Pug
  • Well today I did the opposite of a warm up- removed my Ron Hills too early and froze before the two who were handing over to us (Calderdale Way relay) got here- this is not to be recommended as I had a right tantrum at the top of the moor as my achilles were in danger of being twisted apart. I hate running.
  • Arrived too late for the Bedford half on Sunday to practice what I'd been preaching or read on this thread. Used the first couple of miles to warm up which was fine.

    Think I should have had an extensive cool down and stretch porst-race as I've had chronic DOMS for the last 2 days, especially in the calfs.

    Oh well, you live and learn. :o)
  • GSF, to get rid of DOMS, self massage with whatever oil you've got available (olive is fine!), on your legs, doesn't have to be deep at all, but I've found having done massage on one leg to deal with an injury issue the same day I did a hilly tough race. The next day the injured leg which had been massaged was fresh as a daisy, and the other leg was in DOMS agony! just getting the blood flowing and loosening the muscles really helps!
  • Right, decently rested this week, since Sunday's race, rested Monday, ran 10 mile at a slooowwww pace Tuesday, rested Wednesday, ran 5 mile at 7:00 m/m pace Thursday, going to run 10 mile dead slow tonight... rest tomorrow then it's the Telford 10k. I'll do my 2 x 2mile warmup's before the race and report back how I felt.


    Pug
  • Similar here - Weston Christmas Cracker on Sunday, although I'll probably only do 2 x 1 mile that's still about 1.9 miles more than I usually do for a 10k.
  • Good stuff Jeff, let us all know how you felt and whether it made any difference mate ;-)


    Pug
  • Well, did 3.5 mile warm up, but didn't feel great... then did the Telford 10k race... 36:10, so improved again... basically... I've done the last 3 races with at least 3.5 mile warm up... my 10k PB has gone from:

    38:33, to 37:32 to 36:10 in 14 days lol...

    So, to be honest, yeah, I've improved obviously but do I really think that the warm up is important?

    Yep 100%... what I'm finding is, moving in the first 1.5 mile doesn't sap my legs and kill them off... you know that lactic feeling you can get when you suddenly shoot off quick... I tyhink this is literally because they're really warmed up, I've already brought a sweat on...
  • Pug

    Just to put the other point of view. I never warmed up for more that a few hundred yards and a few stretcheds at most. In a 10K I used to find that I could run the first half mile or so at 30 seconds quicker per mile than my projected steady pace. I then used to settle back to my planned race pace with maybe a sustained increase in pace over the last 1, 2 or 3 miles.

    I virtually never had anything left for a warm down. If I did I usually concluded I hadn't been trying in the race. It then took me 6 days to get in shape for the next weekend's race.

    Horses for courses as they say,

    BO
  • Well, things didn't exactly go according to plan at Weston. I used a big chunk of my proposed warm-up time helping SWMBO round up errant children who hadn't seen a beach for several months. I'd guess I managed about a mile including a few strides split over 2 short sessions in the last 20 minutes before the start. I managed a PB by 59 secs, but how much was due to the limited warm-up, how much due to more/different training, and how much to the course is tricky to tell. I have to say, I didn't feel all that good during most of the race, so maybe I was having a bit of an off day. Looking at previous times for this race (not for me - first time yesterday) it seems to be about a minute faster than my previous PB course, so I should probably be a bit disappointed...
  • Anyone else got any input on this subject? I've got another 10k race this Sunday and will be doing between 3-4 mile plod of a warmup again, see how legs are...


    Pug
  • PhilPubPhilPub ✭✭✭
    Pug,

    Just to say thanks for posting on the subject in the first place. Still fairly new to racing at any distance, but thought of this thread before I did a 10 mile race last week. Warmed up by basically running about 2.5 miles somewhere between a jog and normal training pace, till I broke into a good sweat. Felt comfortable in the race immediately from the off, quickly into my stride and paced myself round nice and even.

    Probably even more important in the colder weather I guess.
  • Well, not a race, but went out for a 5 mile tempo at lunchtime with some of the guys from work. Did a 1.5 mile warmup - half mile easy jog/walk, half mile at 8mm with a couple of 100m strides, half mile jog/walk. Aiming for 7mm on the tempo and did 6:52's - although I suspect some of that was because I didn't like my boss breathing down my neck for the last 300m of last weeks 4T, so I destroyed him from 4 - 4.5 today. :-)

    This compares nicely with my last 10k which was at 6:51 pace, so I reckon a combination of training and the warmup is working well. 6 miles next week so I'll try a similar warmup then. Calne 10k on 18 Feb for a real test - anyone else doing it?
  • Depending on your ability 10k can be run fairly fast so it it might be worth putting a few short sprints into the warmup to get the fast twitch muscles up to speed. Or so I heard once - a 2nd opinion wouldn't go amiss!
  • How long would you warm up for an 800m ?
  • dont forget stretching and warming up is for gays :-)

    ok dont tell anyoe but I do warm up for distances less than half marathon when I occasionaly do them (deff no stretching though!) especially if it starts with a dirty great hill (quite common in fell races). 5 mins odd seems to make it easier - just make sure you do it out of sight, wouldnt want to make people think you are serious.
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