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Do You Warm Up Before a Tri?
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I never have. Mainly because I am always running on the late side. Also, I tend to do pre-season tri's and often times the water is not available for w/u. But, as I mentioned in my 'wetsuit' post, I am always cold, and entering the cold water is very hard for me. It is almost unbearable to think about getting in, swimming a bit and then milling around Transition waiting for the start.

However....I believe that many athletes do just that. Also, I am just getting to my December issue of USMS Swimmer magazine, (p23), they recommend that swimmers warm up from 20 - 60 minutes for a swim meet. this got me thinking about the blaring absence of any w/u in any triathlon I have ever done.

What does everyeone else do? If you warm up in the water ,how do you stay warm til the start?
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Re: Do You Warm Up Before a Tri? [WeRide] [ In reply to ]
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For me, the shorter the race, the more I warm up. For an ironman, I figure I'll have plenty of time to get warmed up while I'm out there. Half IM, I'll warm up with a little running and swimming. Olympic and shorter, I'll bike a little, run a little more, and swim. The faster I plan on going dictates how much I warm up my muscles. It's a lot easier for me to go hard if I've gotten my heart rate up a little before the start.

And yes, I've had a number of races when I had to come out of the water and shiver for a while before my wave began... Don't care for that part much at all!

Jodi
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Re: Do You Warm Up Before a Tri? [WeRide] [ In reply to ]
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I'm with you I'm always cold. There is no way I can get in the water even in summer. Then to get in and have to get out and wait for the race to start no way I'd be blue!! I wish I could. I do a short run with strides. Maybe a spin but not usually b/c I like to get all my "stuff" the way I like it in transition and leave it alone after that.
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Re: Do You Warm Up Before a Tri? [WeRide] [ In reply to ]
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It depends - if it's cold, nope, no warm up. I can't get wet and then get back out, I turn blue and am miserable. If it's a small enough race or a mass start where I can get in, swim a warm up and then loll around in the water waiting for the start, I do.

I don't bike or run w/u though, I figure that happens on it's own in the tri..
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Re: Do You Warm Up Before a Tri? [WeRide] [ In reply to ]
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I love to warm up when I can.

Like Jodi said, it's especially useful at a short race. At sprint tris, you can often take your bike out onto the course for a little spin, in addition to running a bit. The swim warmup might have to be just short and symbolic, depending on the circumstances of how long they even let you warm up in the water.

I do much better when I'm warmed up. I believe I race faster.

I recently biked one hour to a trail running race, and ran very well. My friend, who usually runs my pace (and who did *not* warm up), could not keep up, and her pace for the first 15 minutes was very slow. She said that next time, she's definitely going to do a warm-up!
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Re: Do You Warm Up Before a Tri? [WeRide] [ In reply to ]
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Except for when I did Ironman - always!

If possible I try to get in a ride, although that's not always feasible/possible. After that I'll run slow and easy for 10-15 minutes then get in some strides to get my legs ready for faster stuff. If at all possible I like to get in the water, if not to warm up at least to get a feel for the water, especially in open water so I can get over the scary-monsters-lurking-below-heebie-jeebies.

I find when it's a wetsuit swim in cold water it's more important for me to get in the water before the start, the worst part of those swims is the cold water entering my suit. Once the water in the wetsuit warms up I'm usually okay, even if I get out of the water and then go in again. I hate trying to swim with the gasp reflex you get when you enter cold water, my HR is high enough at the start of a race anyway! Last year I did an open water swim race in May (in the Vancouver area that isn't so smart) and I think I was one of about five people who warmed up in the water ahead of the race. The gun went off and about half the people freaked out as soon as they hit the water, I'd seeded myself mid-pack so it was seriously annoying trying to get through the breast-strokers and back-strokers and gasping head up front crawl folk who couldn't deal with the cold.
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Re: Do You Warm Up Before a Tri? [WeRide] [ In reply to ]
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I get in the water and then stay there, if possible, until it's time to start. Would swim for 15-20 min or so before a tri, and just try to keep moving to stay warm.

since you mentioned swim meets, I like about a million yards of warmup for those too.

maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD
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Re: Do You Warm Up Before a Tri? [WeRide] [ In reply to ]
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I never run or ride before a race. I'll swim a little depending on how cold it is. The colder it is the less I warm up. I figure the first bit of each of the three legs I'll warm up for as I get going on each of them. I never understood how running a little before a race would help. Because after you do your run warm up, you stand around, swim and ride your bike. Does that run warm up actually help, other than maybe burning off some nervous energy? Oddly though, as you pointed out, I'll go to a masters swim meet and warm up 2k or more for races than take 2 minutes or less. Maybe that's just years of doing that as a young swimmer, or maybe its different when you can warm up specifically for the events you are directly swimming. I guess we all just have our own oddities that we like to follow before races.
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Re: Do You Warm Up Before a Tri? [WeRide] [ In reply to ]
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I second/third the posted opinions so far. For all races except IM, I like to at least jog from the swim exit to T1 to the bike exit and from the bike entry to T2 to run exit--just so I remember where I need to go and where I put my bike in the heat of the race. For sprint/oly's, it's nice to warm up with the swim. For HIM, I also like to jog the last 1/4 mile of the run so I recognize it and can say to myself during the race,"The finish line is just around this corner!". For IM, the swim is the warm-up!
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Re: Do You Warm Up Before a Tri? [kitboo] [ In reply to ]
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Thanks for all the input! Good to know I'm not the only one freezing out there pre-race.
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Re: Do You Warm Up Before a Tri? [WeRide] [ In reply to ]
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This question should, in part, be answered by your fitness level. If you are very strong at swimming (for warm-ups before tris) or running (for warm-ups before duathlons) then you are probably going to go to the front agressively and thus will want more warm-up. Plus, if you are strong then the extra energy expended won't be a big deal. Tigerchik wants a long warm-up because swimming 1-2K to her is like walking to the mailbox for the normal person. I'll warm up 20-30 minutes running before a duathlon because that is not a big deal to me.
If you are worried about getting to the finish line then you will probably want to expend all your energy on the race course.
And for me, warming up on the bike is useless. I hate the "butt-lock" you get early in the bike as you are riding hard and your legs are not really warm (more a problem in tri than duathlon) so I tried a long bike warm-up before one race. It didn't help. To much time goes by between your warm-up and finally getting back on the bike.
Once I get in the water than I don't want to get out. Smaller races will tend to be easier to find some space on the side for a warm-up and then you can just run to your wave start. Sometimes larger races in crowded venues means no warm-up. I think you already noted that if you are shivering after warming up then it was not productive.
Chad

P.S. First post on The Womens. :)
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