It has been a while since I put on my spikes and stepped on the track. Racing track used to be a massive part of my life, but these days my focus is more on fun than fitness. For me that means I spend a lot more time riding my bicycle around than racing. I still have a lot of stuff from my running years which I'd like to share with you though...
My warm up routine before a race:
I would always start with an easy run, 15-20min long. This was followed by a few form drills. There would be two I always do, namely butt kicks and high knees. I'll do three reps of each, with each rep being 20m in length. After a rep I'd walk back to the start very slowly before doing the next one.
When I'm done with this I check my watch, to make sure how much time I have till the start of the race. I like to finish my warm up around 10min or so before the race starts. Obviously this is not always possible but close enough is good enough. Don't stress if you finish your warm up early, as the stress will have a far more negative effect on your race than the extra waiting time. A big mistake I see runners make is they wait near the start of their race and for 10 minutes or so jump up and down, while shaking their arms. Staying warm is good but you really are wasting a lot of energy doing it in this way. Warm up properly and unless the race is more than a half hour away you should be just fine.
The last thing I do as part of my routine is 4-6 strides, around 50m in length. The first two I do are short strides, meaning I don't stretch my legs too far out in front. The last few are longer strides as my legs are starting to get warmer. Strides should be done at a pace similar to what the race will be like. They are a good way to get your legs used to that race pace.
We have all made that rookie era of starting the race with legs that feel like "jelly" because they did not know what to expect.
Just to go over everything in short:
Start with an easy jog (15-20min long)
Do some form drills (high knees and butt kicks are a must)
Complete the warm up with 4-6 strides
Like I said, finishing a warm up 10 minutes or so before a race is ideal but not a necessity. Staying relaxed before the race starts is much more important. It is when we are stressed out and on edge that we start the race too fast and waste a lot of energy. Do your warm up and RELAX.
I hope this helps. If you have any running race day tips, leave them down below. My only goal here is to share my thoughts and experiences so it would be cool if you did the same!