Marathon Warm Up?????

brazil325

Hi,

Sorry if this has been asked already but i've been thinking about it for a while now and was wondering how some of you more experienced and capable athletes approach a marathon.

I'm doing the DCM 09 and so far the training is going quite well, i'm taking it fairly seriously and am running upwards of 85km+ per week. I'm aiming for sub 3.20 with high hopes of sub 3.10.

I've done a good few tri's and i'm comfortable with my warm up in these but that usuallly involves a light jog to blow the cobwebs away, light stretch before wetsuiting up and getting a good blow out in the water approx 10mins before race start.

So never having run a marathon before what i'd like to know is, on the morning of the race you arrive at the start nice and early, what should you do to warm up??? How long, how far, how intense, how soon before the start????

Any advice would be much appreciated

Krusty_Clown

If you're going for 3:10+ you'll probably be ok warming up over the first mile of the marathon, as with early congestion your first mile will probably be sub optimal.

If you're planning on hitting full speed out of the blocks then you might consider warming up, however, by the time you hop into your starting pen, you'l probably have a 30-45 minute wait before the race starts. Maybe do some light stretching in the pen with everyone else?

*Edit*: Oh wait, I didn't realize you were only looking for opinions from experienced capable athletes. If you wait long enough, one'll be along soon.

Peckham

+1 to what KC says (however, if he's not an experienced, capable athlete than neither am I!)

TFBubendorfer

My marathons are about the same level as yours, and in my opinion warming up would merely use up energy that you're going to need in the last few miles.

Big races like DCM also have the problem that you have to be in your starting pen well before the gun goes off. Even if you do a warm-up, you will have cooled down again by the time you get going.

Use the first miles to warm up. Don't worry if your first mile is a bit slower than planned. The marathon is a very long race, and you have plenty of time to make it up.

--amadeus--

The lads are right, you'll warm up over the first mile.

That said I normally do a couple of quick drills; 200 - 300m starting slow and ending at a sprint repeated a couple of times. It's not really anything to do with a warm up because (as TFB says) by the time the gun goes you've cooled down again, it's more psychological for me. Loads of excess energy fizzing away and a couple of drills prove that the legs are working and pass the time as well as distracting me

cfitz

brazil325 wrote: »

Hi,

Sorry if this has been asked already but i've been thinking about it for a while now and was wondering how some of you more experienced and capable athletes approach a marathon.

I'm doing the DCM 09 and so far the training is going quite well, i'm taking it fairly seriously and am running upwards of 85km+ per week. I'm aiming for sub 3.20 with high hopes of sub 3.10.

I've done a good few tri's and i'm comfortable with my warm up in these but that usuallly involves a light jog to blow the cobwebs away, light stretch before wetsuiting up and getting a good blow out in the water approx 10mins before race start.

So never having run a marathon before what i'd like to know is, on the morning of the race you arrive at the start nice and early, what should you do to warm up??? How long, how far, how intense, how soon before the start????

Any advice would be much appreciated

This is something that I've wondered about before. If 26.2 miles is such a long distance that most people don't cover it in training, then is it detrimental to increase this distance by doing a warm-up? But then if you want to hit even splits, will the extra effort required on the first mile affect the rest of your race?

christeb

This is great advice, I'm training at a very similar pace / volume to you, brazil325, and had often wondered the same. Although thinking about it, I don't want to do anything to increase the pain of 26.2 by warming up, so I think some light stretching in the pen will be the plan.....

TFBubendorfer

cfitz wrote: »

This is something that I've wondered about before. If 26.2 miles is such a long distance that most people don't cover it in training, then is it detrimental to increase this distance by doing a warm-up?

That's exactly it, in my opinion.

cfitz wrote:

But then if you want to hit even splits, will the extra effort required on the first mile affect the rest of your race?

Not in my experience. The marathon is so long that a few seconds in the first mile simply don't have much of an effect. Any hills you encounter during the other 25 miles will have more impact on the time than that first mile.

Peckham

cfitz wrote: »

But then if you want to hit even splits, will the extra effort required on the first mile affect the rest of your race?

If running a marathon from middle of the pack, you want to hit even splits of (say) 7 min miles, and you reach the first mile marker in 7 minutes, you've used a considerable (and unnecessary)amount of energy as you've had to zig-zag around people, hop up on footpaths etc. You'll then find yourself doing the second mile even quicker (assuming crowd has thinned out a bit), and then you're facing the problem of having to slow yourself down.

Best to go off slow (i.e. let the crowd slow you down), and gradually get up to pace during the second or third miles. You may be 30-45 seconds off pace at end of mile 2, but you've got 24.2 miles left to make this up!

Condo131

I generally like to do a few easy strides and light stretching. Just enough to loosen up. Don't overdo either. Having said that, you probably won't have much of an opportunity to do the strides, due to the crowd, however if you do them sometime on your way to the start, you'll then be stretching warm muscles. Hard stretching cold muscles is counter-productive.

Otherwise, warming up on the run is sound advice. You need to ensure that your first mile is no faster than your average goal pace. If you do lose time in the first mile or so, aim to make it up gradually, say over the next 5 to 10 miles.

FYI: 19 Marathons, 14 sub 3, 4 sub 2:50.

KarenWatson

I've done four marathons at this stage.

I take the first few miles at a slow pace as my warm up. 26 miles is long enough without doing a half hour warm up before hand.

Rusty Cogs 08

Condo131 wrote: »

FYI: 19 Marathons, 14 sub 3, 4 sub 2:50.

giz one a dem, g'wan.

Krusty_Clown

Condo131 wrote: »

FYI: 19 Marathons, 14 sub 3, 4 sub 2:50.

Go on.. Tell us about the one that got away...

Rusty Cogs 08

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Go on.. Tell us about the one that got away...

Well I would take it that 4 of the 14 sub 3's were sub 2'50'' so there were in fact 5 > 3', in fact I'd say there were at least a couple > 5's where he wandered from chipper to chipper for snack boxes and spice burgers.

Condo131

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Go on.. Tell us about the one that got away...

1st one, Cork 1985, 4:10:03 - average weekly mileage 15 miles:eek::eek:
2nd DCM, 1985, 3:11:17 - 1000th place - 56mpw
PB DCM 1988, 2:46:03, around 100th - 85-90mpw
Best Dublin placing : 87th

...The one that got away = DCM 1990, 20 miles = 2:00:10, 20.5 miles = walking, jogged home in 2:51 - pillock! Massive PB, if I'd even jogged the last 6 miles.

I'd kill to get under 3 hours again!:(:(:(
Best recent 3:13:29 (M50)

brazil325

Cheers for all the advice guys

I never really thought of the problems associated with the warm up i.e all the hanging around and the slow pace as the crowds thin.

I guess it will make my goal of sub 3.10 that bit harder as I had worked out my times on even splits. My plan is to run 4 x 45min 10kms.

The one advantage i suppose i will have is that i will be starting at the very front of the race so I will have some clear roads ahead of me. Its part of some ceremonial deal they have going on, there are about 70 of us. I'm not 100% sure about it as I don't want to be getting in the way of all the much much faster athletes, however i'm reliably informed its all in hand and won't be a problem. Not sure the confidence would survive being passed by a few thousand runners within the first few kms either

Condo131

brazil325 wrote: »

....i will be starting at the very front of the race so I will have some clear roads ahead of me.

Starting up front, mind you aren't pulled along at too fast a pace. As I said before, try to ensure that your first mile is no faster than your average intended pace. I find that a short race, 4 or 5 miles, 2 to 3 weeks beforehand is a good way to try pacing. Try to run at your intended marathon pace and adjust your pace to get the individual splits more or less on target. NB, if you're ahead/behind for any individual mile in your 'practice race', don't try to adjust to finish in your target time, it's the pace you're interested in getting right.

brazil325 wrote: »

Not sure the confidence would survive being passed by a few thousand runners within the first few kms either

Better to think that you're running to plan and that they're going too fast - vast majority do (trying to put time in 'the bank' - doesn't work in a marathon). You'll get a big chunk of them back later.

Assuming that you've done the training and tapered properly, etc, 90% of the marathon is about pacing and mental strength. Good luck!

Krusty_Clown

brazil325 wrote: »

Its part of some ceremonial deal they have going on, there are about 70 of us. I'm not 100% sure about it as I don't want to be getting in the way of all the much much faster athletes

Like some kind of sacrifice? :eek: Trampled by 500 sweaty half-naked lunatics.
I'd imagine they'll start you just behind the elite runners. How did you get there?

Krusty_Clown

Condo131 wrote: »

PB DCM 1988, 2:46:03, around 100th - 85-90mpw

That's some impressive track record. Interestingly, that time would have netted to 67th place in DCM08. The standards are slipping!

brazil325

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Like some kind of sacrifice? :eek: Trampled by 500 sweaty half-naked lunatics.
I'd imagine they'll start you just behind the elite runners. How did you get there?

Its apparently quite a common tradition that marathons in the big cities i.e new york, london etc. allow the police force to form a line at the front and lead out the race. So they've decided to let the Gardai and related staff lead off DCM09 hence how I find myself at the front. They are organising that we all have the same gear, it'll look good for the photos i suppose.