Pre-Race Warmup

I always try to give myself an hour for warm-up but depending on when transition opens, how long line ups are and how long the race briefing is it may not work out exactly.

What I aim for:

• Run - 10-20'; 5' easy and then a few 30" pickups to race pace with 1:30 to 2' between pickups.  I may do some drills following the pickups
• Bike - 15-30'; 10' easy and then a few 30"-1' pickups to race pace; I also run through all my gears and double check my brakes at this time
• Swim - 10-20'; 5' easy and then several pickups (100m) to race pace with 100m easy between.  This is a priority to ensure my wetsuit is adjusted properly and it usually takes me 500-1000m before I feel good in the water.  During this time I will also swim the start of the swim and end of the swim at least (if it is two loop for OD I will swim the whole course) to check landmarks, currents, sighting, etc.

Shane

Double post

Obviously setting up my transition comes first.  Making sure I didn't forget anything, check bike over, etc...  I always try to get in the water.  Make sure goggles won't for up, check temp and warm up arms a little.  If there is time, I'll run for 10 minutes to shake down anything and hit the porta potty.

I have found all races are different in the morning and sometimes there is a lot of time and sometimes there is no time so it is hard to establish a routine to follow through at each race.  Arrive early and be prepared for anything if you have never done the race before.

If the purpose of a warm-up is only to get my HR elevated pre-race, got that covered...nervous energy and all....

That said, I've found that a good swim warm-up is sufficient - gets the blood flowing, heart pumping, muscles firing, and obviates a trip to the porta-potty.