Warming up before a race

ronanmac

I'm running an 8k in Tuam next weekend, the shortest race I have ever run (I've run one 10k, other than that, they have all been half-marathons or marathons).

Basically, I don't warm up for a half or marathon as I figure I'm (a) not going to be going very fast and (b) going to need all the energy I have without wasting it on a warmup!

For something like an 8k, however, I reckon I'd be better off opening the lungs up beforehand. Any advice on what kind of warmup I should be doing?

shels4ever

ronanmac wrote: »

I'm running an 8k in Tuam next weekend, the shortest race I have ever run (I've run one 10k, other than that, they have all been half-marathons or marathons).

Basically, I don't warm up for a half or marathon as I figure I'm (a) not going to be going very fast and (b) going to need all the energy I have without wasting it on a warmup!

For something like an 8k, however, I reckon I'd be better off opening the lungs up beforehand. Any advice on what kind of warmup I should be doing?

For an 8k i'd usually do a couple of miles warmup (3/4 miles seems to be about right for me) but some people would do more, followed by some dynamic stretches and stride outs before the race starts.

ronanmac

Actually, as an add-on to my question, how do you guys get around the LSR on the weekend of a race? Ignore the LSR completely and pick up where you left off the following week, or do the LSR earlier in the week?

For example, I'm scheduled to do an 11 miler for Saturday, but doesn't really make any sense considering I have the 8k on Sunday

Krusty_Clown

ronanmac wrote: »

Actually, as an add-on to my question, how do you guys get around the LSR on the weekend of a race? Ignore the LSR completely and pick up where you left off the following week, or do the LSR earlier in the week?

For example, I'm scheduled to do an 11 miler for Saturday, but doesn't really make any sense considering I have the 8k on Sunday

Why not do a 3k warm-up at very easy pace (with some strides), then do your 8k race, and finish up with a 6.6k warm-down after the race. That'll cover you for the warm-up, race and LSR.

shels4ever

ronanmac wrote: »

Actually, as an add-on to my question, how do you guys get around the LSR on the weekend of a race? Ignore the LSR completely and pick up where you left off the following week, or do the LSR earlier in the week?

For example, I'm scheduled to do an 11 miler for Saturday, but doesn't really make any sense considering I have the 8k on Sunday

If I was following my plan and it was a race I really wanted to run well in, Then I woud try to plan it so that the race is on one of my easier week, ( 3 hard week to 1 easy week). So my long run on the race week wouldnt be as long. This way Your fresh for the race too.

TFBubendorfer

ronanmac wrote: »

Actually, as an add-on to my question, how do you guys get around the LSR on the weekend of a race? Ignore the LSR completely and pick up where you left off the following week, or do the LSR earlier in the week?

For example, I'm scheduled to do an 11 miler for Saturday, but doesn't really make any sense considering I have the 8k on Sunday

If I don't want to give up my long run, I usually run it the day after the race. E.g. if the race is on Sunday, I'll schedule a long run for Monday,

tergat

ronanmac wrote: »

I'm running an 8k in Tuam next weekend, the shortest race I have ever run (I've run one 10k, other than that, they have all been half-marathons or marathons).

Basically, I don't warm up for a half or marathon as I figure I'm (a) not going to be going very fast and (b) going to need all the energy I have without wasting it on a warmup!

For something like an 8k, however, I reckon I'd be better off opening the lungs up beforehand. Any advice on what kind of warmup I should be doing?

ronanmac,

Re Warming Up, generally if you do not run in the morning, which serves to loosen up your body for vigorous running in the evening, I think 15 minutes of running is the minimum one needs to do before quality workouts such as repetitions, fartleks, hills, tempo runs, or races up to 10 miles. There are some days, too, when 15 minutes isn’t enough to get your body firing on all cylinders.

If you run 20 or more minutes in your warmups, then you probably won’t need much else except a couple of 10-30 second strides at 5k pace. If you do the minimum of 15 minutes of easy running as I suggest, do 3-5 times 25-30 seconds at close to 5k pace in order to get more of your capillary channels transmitting oxygenated blood to your hard-working muscle fibers. Opened capillaries also take away waste products such as carbon dioxide and lactate which cause muscular fatigue. A long progressive warmup will shunt blood from your digestive organs to your peripheral circulation, thus making more blood available for your working muscles. This is a very good thing for runners! If you choose to run just a mile for warmup, then do several 20-30 second strides before starting the main part of your workout or race.

Tergat

shels4ever

tergat wrote: »

ronanmac,

Re Warming Up, generally if you do not run in the morning, which serves to loosen up your body for vigorous running in the evening, I think 15 minutes of running is the minimum one needs to do before quality workouts such as repetitions, fartleks, hills, tempo runs, or races up to 10 miles. There are some days, too, when 15 minutes isn’t enough to get your body firing on all cylinders.

If you run 20 or more minutes in your warmups, then you probably won’t need much else except a couple of 10-30 second strides at 5k pace. If you do the minimum of 15 minutes of easy running as I suggest, do 3-5 times 25-30 seconds at close to 5k pace in order to get more of your capillary channels transmitting oxygenated blood to your hard-working muscle fibers. Opened capillaries also take away waste products such as carbon dioxide and lactate which cause muscular fatigue. A long progressive warmup will shunt blood from your digestive organs to your peripheral circulation, thus making more blood available for your working muscles. This is a very good thing for runners! If you choose to run just a mile for warmup, then do several 20-30 second strides before starting the main part of your workout or race.

Tergat

Would this just be easy running in the morning or strides etc.

tergat

shels4ever wrote: »

Would this just be easy running in the morning or strides etc.

shels4ever,

The morning run would be just a very easy jog 15-40 mins depending on the athlete. This can be donbe as easy as you want but really works in loosening out the body for the evenings run/workout/race.

Also for runners who are used to having rest (off) days in their training schedule: Try jog 15 minutes on your normal "off" days, as an introduction to regular running. If you normally "rest" 3 days per week, add 15 minutes of jogging on one of your normal rest days, and do that two or three weeks. Then, add another 15 minutes of jogging for a period of 2-3 weeks. Finally, add a third day of 15 minutes of jogging per day.

If you want to retain a single day off per week, that is fine. However, following a rest day, do not make the mistake of running long or hard, which all too often results in chronic fatigue or injury.

Once you have settled on a maximum number of "running-days" per week, add 5 minutes to each day - every 2-3 weeks (on what used to be "rest" days). Allowing your body to adjust fully to a new stress before advancing the challenge of the run/workout, is a good mantra.

Tergat

ronanmac

tergat wrote: »

ronanmac,

Re Warming Up, generally if you do not run in the morning, which serves to loosen up your body for vigorous running in the evening, I think 15 minutes of running is the minimum one needs to do before quality workouts such as repetitions, fartleks, hills, tempo runs, or races up to 10 miles. There are some days, too, when 15 minutes isn’t enough to get your body firing on all cylinders.

If you run 20 or more minutes in your warmups, then you probably won’t need much else except a couple of 10-30 second strides at 5k pace. If you do the minimum of 15 minutes of easy running as I suggest, do 3-5 times 25-30 seconds at close to 5k pace in order to get more of your capillary channels transmitting oxygenated blood to your hard-working muscle fibers. Opened capillaries also take away waste products such as carbon dioxide and lactate which cause muscular fatigue. A long progressive warmup will shunt blood from your digestive organs to your peripheral circulation, thus making more blood available for your working muscles. This is a very good thing for runners! If you choose to run just a mile for warmup, then do several 20-30 second strides before starting the main part of your workout or race.

Tergat

Thanks a million, Tergat, thorough as ever. The bit about opening up the capillary channels makes sense to me in that I know if I set out too hard on a run and take a short break, that I have no problem staying at the pace that I found tough only a few minutes earlier... So that's what it was, opening my capillary channels

ronanmac

Did the 8k yesterday, and followed Tergat's advice on doing the pacey strides beforehand. It seemed to work, ran it faster than I thought I could

Race report: http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=64060960&postcount=20

Thanks again for the advice, everyone.
ronanmac