Better to jog the day before a race or not to run ?

lkj wrote:

What is better- jog 30 min. or not to run at all the day before a mile or 2 mile race? What are the benefits. If it is to loosen up, wouldn't a days rest loosen up as well?

better to run

You won't see any benefit. But your body should be on a cycle of running at certain times, as well as meals and sleep. Tossing your body a curveball the day before a race is risky. Maybe there won't be an affect, maybe there will. But it's always better to just stay on your normal patterns.

Also I find it better to not go into a race cold, as in not having run in 48-72 hours, but that's just how I feel.

I usually do an easy 30 minutes with some strides the day before an important race. Before an early season or indoor race, I'll just do a normal distance run of 50 to 60 minutes with some strides. If you take the day off completely, you'll probably feel sluggish for the race.

Grad Student wrote:

Maybe there won't be an affect, maybe there will.

"effect"

definitly run the day before your race...Not good at all to take a day completely off...an easy jog should make you feel recovered...If I am racing at night I will even do a shake out in the morning before the race to get things going...

I usually take two easy days before a race. Day 1 is completely off. Day 2 is a 30 minute jog then light strides.

Works for me.

Try both and see which one is best for you

Taking days off always causes my legs to tighten up and I generally just feel crappy the day after a day off. Definitely run the day before a race.

Definitely run. If it is a marathon take a day of 2 days before, but loosen with an easy jog the day before regardless of the distance.

I personally find a 30 min jog and a light stretch after works best. I dont do striders because sprinting tightens up my legs. I do drills though. I wouldnt suggest a day off, even if it is just 10-15 mins, do something.

Striders aren't sprinting, they are striding. If you've been sprinting, then you're doing it wrong. Just run relaxed but fast, focusing on form.

Maximum 30 minutes slow works for me. A few times I have experimented with not running before, but I find that my body sort of shuts down the days I don't run at all and then I feel a bit sluggish on the race day.

My team and I experimented with a little this year with pre-meet stuff. My better guys liked taking off on Thursday (Sat. race) and then doing something like this on Friday:

20 min run with some tempo surges. 30-45-60-45-30 at tempo type effort, with 2 min. easy between. If we wanted to make it longer, we dragged the 2 min out longer. They feel like it warms them up well without over-working. We have run better on Sat. races after a light session like that the day before.

The extra "like" in the last sentence was not intentional; I sound like a 15 year girl.