How Should I Warm up for an 800m Race?

I'm not insanely fast (1:51) but I usually start my warm up about 45 minutes before I race. I run for 15-20, take a dump, do some drills and light dynamic stretching, throw my spikes on, do some strides, and head to the line.

We do two different styles of warmup:

1) 400/800 runners do our team's sprinter warmup, which is basically a 20:00 version of the Tempo Warmup on Building a Better Runner, omitting a few drills and adding a couple when they get to the skip drills. (We add a series of clawbacks just before the A-skip, B-skip, and high knee drills.) Then they do 2x200R and a couple of very hard 40s, and they're ready to roll. They love this warmup and do it each time they run fast.

2) Distance runners (800/1600/3200) do a shortened version of their standard warmup: 1m jog, stretch, drills (clawbacks, A-Skip, B-Skip, high knees, backwards run), 2x200R, then a couple of 40s.

I watched a former runner of mine warmup for his conference meet not long ago, and he basically did a similar warmup to the 400/800 runner. He ran 1:48.

some people believe that no stretchting is good

and to just jog some

bump for a youngster

Jog SLOWLY for 20 minutes...

Do your drills.....

Spike up.....

Do some strides....

Drink water and get ready to unleash the fury!!!!

' 400/800 runners do our team's sprinter warmup, which is basically a 20:00 version of the Tempo Warmup on Building a Better Runner, omitting a few drills and adding a couple when they get to the skip drills. (We add a series of clawbacks just before the A-skip, B-skip, and high knee drills.) Then they do 2x200R and a couple of very hard 40s, and they're ready to roll. They love this warmup and do it each time they run fast.

2) Distance runners (800/1600/3200) do a shortened version of their standard warmup: 1m jog, stretch, drills (clawbacks, A-Skip, B-Skip, high knees, backwards run), 2x200R, then a couple of 40s.'

They are leaving the race in the warm up. Reps before a race! and you shouldn't be doing anything 'very hard'

Jog then make sure you do some good 15 second striders as close to race time as possible.

This is the way I look at it. Your muscles have to be ready for a fast hard race. Jogging won't do it. Think about when you run intervals. The first one is much harder than the second or third because the muscles are not ready to run at that intensity. Sure you warm up well before you start your intervals but until you actually fire all the muscles they are not ready for the hard workout.

ukathleticscoach wrote:

They are leaving the race in the warm up. Reps before a race! and you shouldn't be doing anything 'very hard'

OK. I'm interested. My experience says otherwise, and so do many others, but I'd like to see whether you can explain yourself.

By the way, I'm considering having them squat their 4RM 4x prior to their races next year.

bump

so, ukathletics, why do you disagree with johnny?

so, ukathletics, why do you disagree with johnny?

i think 15 minute warm up with 4 strides of whatever distance with strecthing will be most benefit dont make it to long.

The New York Times just published an interesting article about the wide variation in warmups among pro runners. Paula Radcliffe says, "Warmup usually takes 45 to 50 minutes". That's a little too long for my taste, but the point is that whatever works best for you personally is probably the way to go. Experiment a little bit and keep track of what you've done for a warmup on the day of a good performance.

Here's the link in case anyone is interested:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/18/health/nutrition/18best.html?scp=1&sq=warm%20up&st=cse

warm up the way you always do

anybody who gives you exact distance, times, or #s is misleading you

run as far as you need to to be loose. i assume you run every day and do no shortage of workouts on the track. if you havent figured out how long you as an individual need in different environments, make it the focus of your warmups from now until you retire. if you cant figure it out, you lack the brains to compete in the most tactical race on the track

use the same stretches that you use for your workouts

do enough striders with enough intensity to get your heart rate into the high-end. the 800 is a perpetual sprint, if your heart rate is too low to start, your muscles will be anaerobic before the rest of your cardio system can react to the strain. think about when you do a 200m repeats workout. how does that first rep feel? probably not as good as the second or third.

striders, not sprints. the time for training is over. you have a fixed amount of fuel (ATP) for your anaerobic exertion. dont blow it doing wind sprints on the infield

I'll throw in my 2 cents...

15min jog with last min close to tempo pace.

get some fluids

quick bathroom stop

heel walks, toe walks

light agilities.. some skip kicks and butt kicks

jog a a few minutes

2-3x 10sec strides

put on spikes

2-3x10 second strides

my last stride is at least 2min before the start

Eddy has it about right.

That sounds like a distance runner's warmup--the one I always did when racing.

It never worked for my 800 runners. We're considerably happier and faster with the faster warmup.

But, to each his own.