Do Professional Runners Warm Up/Cool Down for a Marathon?

Galen_Rupp_Beast wrote:

Was thinking about this during the Chi Town Marathon, even if they only did a 2 mile warm-up and 2 mile cool down you are looking at a minimum 30 mile day. I would think both a warm-up to get the body warm before jumping into a hot pace (see Women's race) and cool down to shake out some lactic acid would be important.

They definitely warm up and so do a lot of people who are running 2:50ish and below. Whether just an easy 5:00-10:00 or up to their normal 20:00 for elites. I'm not sure about the cooldown. It probably matters less since most people are taking some time off after they finish anyways.

Yes, they warm up. As NeRunner said, so do lesser runners. I normally do about two miles for my warm up, but cut it down to 1.5 for the marathon. Fueling keeps me from bonking. Even many "slow" marathoners have marathon paces that are far enough away from their easy distance paces that a warm up makes sense.

I never cooled down after any of my three marathons.

Who the F does a cooldown after a marathon?

erghwe wrote:

Who the F does a cooldown after a marathon?

Abebe Bikila did:

Please see this clip at 20 seconds in!

I do, but very little. Five minute jog, few strides, and a few dynamic stretches. I don't want to burn fuel, nor do I want to feel ready to explode off the line like I would for a 1500-5000.

race_races wrote:

erghwe wrote:

Who the F does a cooldown after a marathon?

Abebe Bikila did:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZ26RSBOhnw

Please see this clip at 20 seconds in!

That wasn't a cool down, that was end-zone comic hijinx

800 dude wrote:

I do, but very little. Five minute jog, few strides, and a few dynamic stretches. I don't want to burn fuel, nor do I want to feel ready to explode off the line like I would for a 1500-5000.

Same. I just did a marathon and i did some high knees, butt kicks and skipping. Then did some dynamic stretches. No way would i do 2 miles. Sounds like a good way to hit the wall 2 miles sooner

We covered this years ago. They get Turnt Up and Turnt Down. They do not Warm Up and Warm Down or Warm Up and Cool Down. Or anything else. OK? They get Turnt.

I'm "sub-elite", but I've been in the elite start wave at Boston a few times with the top guys and seen them warm-up:A lot of very slow jogging (maybe 10-min worth)...with full warm-up gear on (pants and jacket). After the finish...not so much (I haven't seen many cool down, but then again they are usually finishing 2-miles or about 10-min ahead of me). The top guys usually have press/media interviews right after finishing...some go straight to the massage table and then the hotel I imagine.

Jimmy21 wrote:

800 dude wrote:

I do, but very little. Five minute jog, few strides, and a few dynamic stretches. I don't want to burn fuel, nor do I want to feel ready to explode off the line like I would for a 1500-5000.

Same. I just did a marathon and i did some high knees, butt kicks and skipping. Then did some dynamic stretches. No way would i do 2 miles. Sounds like a good way to hit the wall 2 miles sooner

erghwe wrote:

Who the F does a cooldown after a marathon?

Kawauchi does 20~30 min easy an hour or so after a marathon to cool down.

there was I wrote:

erghwe wrote:

Who the F does a cooldown after a marathon?

Kawauchi does 20~30 min easy an hour or so after a marathon to cool down.

In Kawauchi's case, that's not a cooldown, it's a warm-up for the race he has coming up in a few hours.

Thanks Sage! Good to hear from you on these boards.

I was at NYC in 2015 (on an elite bib I did not deserve). We warmed up at Ocean Breeze (right before it officially opened). When the true elites warmed up, they all followed Kipsang. Everyone. He was the alpha. It made me think that even other studs like Biwott had no routine and thought whatever Wilson does, I'll do.

I was doing a few laps myself and actually passing them so I started timing their laps. They were running around 70 seconds per lap in the outside lanes, so just north of 9 minute pace. I couldn't believe how slow it was. This was probably more than an hour before the race starts and they did about a mile and a half. There was just some lazy stretching on the infield as well, nothing uniform, no drills. Some people got massages. Kipsang looked to me like he'd been awake for hours so I don't know what he did before we got on the buses in Manhattan.

We had to take the bus again to the start from the track, I can't recall how long before the start. Maybe 50 minutes. Once there, we were afforded some space to do strides but really nobody did anything of significance.

The women warmed up with more intensity for sure. They were in the 7-8 minute pace range and breaking a sweat.

I've had the elite treatment (hotel, elite start) at a couple of major city marathons over the years. Couple of observations:

Quite a few runners 'double up', setting off first thing (6am or earlier) for 10-15mins.

At the startline most people are active, some jogging 30mins plus. Often super-slow-mo jogging.

At the end, not so much. Some can barely walk, others seem fine (talking 2:05 to 2:15 finishers), but not seen any warm downs going on.

I ran in the sub-elite program in 2014, and we were in the same area as the elites (Meb was getting ART on his hip a foot away from me - it was a pretty cool thing to see). Basically we warmed up in a paddock area under the bridge. I would agree that all of the elites were taking their sweet time warming up, and that was on a cold and blustery day (25 mph winds). I cannot imagine that they took it any faster on a warm day.

At shorter distances, I've noticed the elite Kenyans always warm up super slow. Doesn't matter if it's 10k or a half (no marathons for me yet), I observe them jogging 8-9 min pace. I'll pass them on my own warm up and feel like I'm doing something wrong.

I cannot imagine that they took it any faster on a warm day.

This is interesting I remember the Athens Marathon- pre-race watching the Ethiopians in warm ups jogging and doing some strides and Deena Kaster basically standing around in her uniform.

She went out slow and passed a lot of them. It was a very hot day.

I ran about 20 miles with Deena Kastor when she set the American masters record at Chicago. She was an absolute metronome, running almost perfectly evenly the whole way through. She was not in the American Development pen, so I didn't see her warm up at all.

Running with her was one of my favorite parts of that race. The best part is that I jokingly started talking smack to her about how it was going to come down to me and her kicking for the overall masters title. That was not long before she put 3 minutes on me over the last 5 miles of the race.

Glad you post here. I appreciate your insight and comments.

S. Canaday wrote:

I'm "sub-elite", but I've been in the elite start wave at Boston a few times with the top guys and seen them warm-up:

A lot of very slow jogging (maybe 10-min worth)...with full warm-up gear on (pants and jacket).

After the finish...not so much (I haven't seen many cool down, but then again they are usually finishing 2-miles or about 10-min ahead of me). The top guys usually have press/media interviews right after finishing...some go straight to the massage table and then the hotel I imagine.