Warming Up

[L.F.F.]

When I go for a run, I seem to be as out of breath and tired after one mile as I am after 10, for example. I find myself panting away, especially if there's an uphill involved.

I've put it down to the body's initial shock at going from doing not much to suddenly running.

Does anyone else experience this? Is the answer to warm up? If so, has anyone got any tried and tested ways of warming up before a 10 or so mile run?

Thanks.

[Mike T]

It takes the body a while for it to wake up to the fact that you are making considerable demands on it - your muscles will at first be using pathways that do not need oxygen - this will generate lactic acid which together with the turning on of the pathways that do use oxygen will make you breathless - the muscles will be cold and relatively stiff and therefore need more energy to move than they will when warm - and running up hill will exaggerate these problems. The solution is to start slowly - a minute or more per mile slower than your target pace. Our usual park run has an uphill start - only a few % - if I run to the park - just over a mile, it is nothing, but if I drive to the park and start up that hill it is quite unpleasant for a few minutes.

[Woodzy]

i to have the same problem takes me about a mile for my boby to settle into my "running rhytham" problem is my training run starts with a mile of climb straight off! i could warm up with a harf mile run down hill but dont fancy that as ive got to come back up again to start my run!
as you guessed i live harf way up a steep hill, makes it hardwork when going for a p.b on my training runs o well no pain no gain!

[Rob Furness]

* takes a seat and waits for CL to pop in and have the usual argument, anybody tried barefoot running whilst I'm at it? *

[sore legs]

I must admit that for a training run I do not bother warming up other than have a mug of coffee, it does not help with the breathless state that happens when I set off on my first mile, also up hill, but it is only a training run so I could not really care about being out of breath or feel heavy legged. This winter though I approached races in the same fashion as training - no warm up then straight to full tilt for the next 50 minutes or so, but I have found that when doing races, a quick stretch and gentle jog before hand does help me feel better. As for the training though - I wont change my approach to that as like I have said it is only training.

[L.F.F.]

Thanks for the interesting comments. What Mike T says pretty much confirms what I'd thought it must be.

Yes, should've said, Sore Legs, I'm experiencing it on my training runs, but it's a race I'm mainly thinking about. Don't want to experience that breathlessness when it comes to that really!

Interested to hear what people do to combat it. A half or mile run seems to be the answer so far.

[Rob Furness]

When I warm up for races I always include short fast bursts to open things up a bit. I usually warm up for maybe 10-20mins in total, usually jogging around with some fast bursts and some drills before a bit of dynamic stretching. That works well for me. I have Asthma so I see a definite improvement with a proper warm up.

*edit - for longer distance stuff or training I don't really bother warming up, I might stretch any tight spots but generally I just go steady for the first mile or two.

[Mike T]

Thanks for the interesting comments. What Mike T says pretty much confirms what I'd thought it must be.

Yes, should've said, Sore Legs, I'm experiencing it on my training runs, but it's a race I'm mainly thinking about. Don't want to experience that breathlessness when it comes to that really!

Interested to hear what people do to combat it. A half or mile run seems to be the answer so far.

That breathlessness is only experienced if you start off fairly fast and/or uphill. Marathon pace, for example, won't bring it on. The best way to reduce it before a race is to do a decent warm up - the shorter/sharper the race, the more you need to warm up. I used to do just half a mile or so before our local XC events, thinking I needed to "save energy", but I now know that was ignorance on my part - a 2-3 mile warm up, some of it fast enough to make me a bit breathless, has not only improved my results, it also means that that initial discomfort is less pronounced and doesn't last as long. So, to reduce it during the event, you need to experience it a bit in the warm up.

[L.F.F.]

When I warm up for races I always include short fast bursts to open things up a bit. I usually warm up for maybe 10-20mins in total, usually jogging around with some fast bursts and some drills before a bit of dynamic stretching. That works well for me. I have Asthma so I see a definite improvement with a proper warm up.

*edit - for longer distance stuff or training I don't really bother warming up, I might stretch any tight spots but generally I just go steady for the first mile or two.

Interesting. Thanks for that. I've never really warmed up at all, apart from maybe bouncing on the spot, which is probably as useless as it looks! Will certainly try something along those lines next time.

[Eleanor]

LFF you sound just like me, I'm useless at warming up too, not wanting to spend my energy before the race. I love the bouncing on the spot thing, made me laugh!