warm up before a race

[cesar]

hey guys,

can you describe the way you warm up before a race?

[Ryan]

Depends on the distance but, in the past, it has been about 5-15 minutes of easy running (longer for the shorter distances, shorter for the longer distances), some light stretching, then when racing shorter distances some strides and form drills mixed in with light jogging.

Based on a discussion here and some follow-up research I did on the topic, I'm thinking of dropping the stretching in favor of some more dynamic range of motion drills this year to see if I can find something better.

[cesar]

the strides at race pace ??

[Ryan]

Typically at or near race pace. Distance of the strides, as a result, varies. I'm not trying to get in a workout when I do them, just get a feeling of pace and finish loosening up.

[cesar]

how many strides??

[GTF]

http://runningtimes.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=15247&PageNum=3

[Ryan]

For me, the strides have always depended on how I felt. If it only took one or two strides to feel good, that's what I did. If I needed more to feel good, then I took more.

GTF, interesting idea. As long as I'm looking at experimenting with my warmup, I might have to play around with that idea.

[GTF]

Well, clearly I would disagree with the "full stretching routine" part of the italicized suggestion.  Save that for after the running is done.

[Andrew A.]

Also: The Abbreviated Warm-up

[Ryan]

Since this bounced back up, I might as well bring up the results of my no stretching pre-race experiment.

I'd consider it a success. I find that I don't lose anything by skipping the stretching and I think the range of motion exercises might be better preparation. I do still stretch any areas that may be giving me trouble or feel especially tight and problematic but, on most days, I won't do any stretching. If I do, it's usually just one or two.

At this point, I can't envision myself going back to a full stretching routine pre-race. As GTF stated last year, I'm saving that for when the running is done.

[marc]

Hi, new here.  I'll throw my 2 cents in for what it's worth.  I try to time my warm up to be as close to the start of the race as possible.  Still leave yourself enough time to get to the start so that you can put yourself in pack where you need to be.  I like to be warmed up as much as possible before a short race (5k-10K) so that I'm ready for those first fast miles.  I throw in strides as I'm doing my 10 minute warm up.

[ksrunner]

To be honest, I find that variances in warm up have very little effect on the outcome of my races. I always aim to be at the race at least an hour early. But, sometimes it doesn't work out or sometimes, my body demands extra trips to the porta-potties and my warm up time is compromised. I cannot think of any instances where lack of warm up time has led to me having a bad race.

On the other hand, I do recall two instances where I had practically no warm up and yet ran pretty well.

At one very small 5K, my wife and daughter came with me to the race and we arrived with 10 minutes or less until the start. I left them at the car and hurried to the start to get my number, go the bathroom, and line up. I won the race fairly easily with a time that was as fast or faster than what I'd predicted to my wife before the race.

At another 5K, I was having lower GI issues before the race and felt lucky that I was able to get to the starting line at all (and lucky that there were ample facilities so that I didn't have to stand in line long for my repeated trips to the bathroom). This was a slightly larger race than the one mentioned before. I had won the race two years previous, but did not run the previous year. The previous year's winner was in the race and was probably the local favorite since he was a local high school runner just back from his first year of college. We started with a pack of 4-6 runners and with a mile to go, we still had a pack of 3-4 runners. I set the pace for much of the race because I came into the race wanting to run a fast pace. With a mile to go, there were still three runners in the pack. I didn't break away until about 600m out when I surged just after we turned off of the road onto the high school property. In the end, I won though my time was probably a bit slower than I had hoped for.

So, although a good warm up is probably best, I think that the stress that comes from not being able to warm up as one would like also helps prepare one to run. For me, a lack of anxiety has been a better predictor of poor race performance than warm up. I know that too much anxiety or mishandled anxiety can be a bad thing, but if I don't feel any pre-race stress or if I am thinking about things other than the race, then I'm not prepared to race.

Steve