Warmup for the big race

Race Warmup

There you are on the morning of the big race with butterflies in your stomach. This is the day you have been training for and it has finally arrived. Your excited and anxious to get going and realize that this will be a tough grueling race.

While you try to remain calm and appear relaxed, your insides are doing somersaults. You feel like someone tied a knot in your stomach. What are you to do?

Now if someone tells you to "just relax", what good is that? What you need to do is burn some of that extra energy off before you start the race.

Assuming you have have had a light breakfast (or none at all), drank water or a sports drink, checked in, picked up your race number, you'll want to go out for a little jog.

If this really is the big race, you probably won't feel like socializing with anyone. That's fine. Just get out and get the body moving with a light jog. A rule of thumb for race warmup is, the longer the race the shorter the warmup. If you are running a marathon, you have a full 26.2 miles to run and you won't be starting out at top speed. Shorter races require a longer warmup period.

After your light jog, some slow stretches that give you a chance to loosen the muscles and a chance to unwind are important. This is a good time to make sure you have everything you need for the race; double tie the shoelaces, make sure your number is on, do you know where your car keys are, etc.

Shortly before the race starts, get out there and do some sprints. A few quick strides, about a 100 meters in length, not all out but enough to get your lungs breathing hard and increase the pulse rate will do the trick.

Finally, get rid of your warmup clothes, take a small drink of water, get to the line ... and then relax.