Allow plenty of time - A 30 minute minimum before quality training Regardless of the event, a warm up should take at least 30 minutes. For adults and short sprint events, it should be longer than 30 minutes. Tune the muscles, focus the mind Time and time again I see athletes turning up 15 minutes or less before their event. Why sabotage your ability to give of your best? Crosscountry or track, run or jump, the warm up is critical. And not just for the muscles you'll soon be putting under severe stress. You certainly need time to tune up the body, but you also need time to tune in the mind, to focus the brain on the coming event, to think about tactics, technique and positive reinforcement. Program plenty of time Consider the warm up requirements: jog, stretches, drills, stride outs. Now take these tasks and give them a time frame: 10 to 15 minutes jogging 15 minutes for drills. 5 minutes for strideouts. 5 minutes to relax, put on a warm layer and mentally prepare. Already we have used up at least 35 minutes, perhaps as much as 50. And then there are the race day distractions!... "Arrive 90 minutes before your major race"! If it's a sprint race you'll need time to set up the blocks. If racing cross country you'll need to add course inspection to the list, although in many cases this can be part of the warm up jog. On top of that there's the 5 to 15 minutes spent catching up on friends you saw only yesterday at training, not to mention the last words of advice from your coach. Then there's the toilet visit. And what about those minor, but time consuming crises such as tightening loose spikes, locating a misplaced race number and, if at a strange venue, finding the toilet in the first place. All the above could take well over an hour. And that's the minimum. A decent warm up routine for a senior athlete could be an hour in itself without any other considerations. So plan to be at your next competition with plenty of time to spare. If in doubt, allow extra for travelling time. You can guarantee the day you're running late is the day they rip up the road and there's a traffic jam. All your training is aimed at getting you to the start line ready to race. Getting there late does you, your training and your coach no favours. |
