Well whats the best way to do it?
Short sharp stuff and drills or longer medium paced running?
Well whats the best way to do it?
Short sharp stuff and drills or longer medium paced running?
I think it's going to differ for different people, but I'm from the camp of a longer warm up so I'll usually do 20 minutes (a little less if it's warmer out, but to be honest, during late spring/early summer I was up to 22-25 minutes and getting a nice sweat going). I like to feel really loose before I do any of the next things for the warm up.
After the run (and it usually start at 7:30ish pace and I try to finish it quicker like 6:45 to 6:30 but again none of these numbers are exact; it's just a feeling) I'll bathroom, whatever I need, hydrate, etc. Then go into a fair amount of static stretches to target things that don't feel very open and then transition into dynamic stretches which usually get some great mobility going for the legs. Then I'll use the stick if anything else needs work and go into strides until race time, maybe doing a stride every 5-10 minutes or so.
The strides I will alternate running the straight and the turn and running at what I perceive as 800 pace and what I perceive as 400 pace, just to make sure there's a difference in my mind between cruising and getting out/kicking it in.
Pretty extensive, but I always get to the line feeling ready and none of it is so taxing that I feel like I'm done before the race starts. On occasion I've done less before a race if pressed for time but have not seen good results.