How long does a warm up last?

[lawnchick22]

So, I'm doing the cycling (15mile) leg of a relay triathlon. I'll be in between the 750yrd swim and the 5k run.

It takes me several miles to really get warmed up...somewhere in the 7 to 8 mile range.

The race is close enough to my house that I plan to ride to it (about 8 to 10 miles).

My question is how long does a warm up last?

[Eden]

In general the shorter the race, the longer/harder the warm up.

For a 15 mile TT, you'd probably find most bike racers doing a 1-1.5 hour warm up. Now not all of this is hard, but you do want to throw in a few hard efforts into that mix - hard enough to make your legs burn and get your heart rate nice and high.

[lawnchick22]

okay, that's good info..so the distance from my house isn't quite enough and I'll do more once I get closer to the start line...but you know how tri's are...have to pack my bike in it's rack way before the start of the swim....

so how long does the warm up last (in my body??)

[Eden]

You don't keep the benefits for a super long time - it does depend somewhat on the conditions of the day - colder the day, the less time your warm up lasts. I've read you have 15 min or so of keeping your optimal warmed up condition. I'm guessing your bike probably has to be racked some hours before your race? Do you have a second bike you can warm up with? or perhaps you could warm up by running? Tri's don't really accommodate warming up for the bike much, as most people are warmed up from the swim, I guess.

(btw - that 1-1.5 hours usually includes some futzing around when it comes to bike racers.... getting your bike out of the trainer, changing wheels, changing clothes.... so you aren't really on the bike that whole time)

[lawnchick22]

Eden -
You've been a big help, thank you.

[lawnchick22]

The warm up from home to the race start helped. Even though it was a good hour before my actual bike start time, I could tell with my breathing that it helped to ride there.

Our all female relay team placed 2nd, so I was pretty happy with that result. I felt I was faster than my time on the bike, but oh well, next year is another chance.

[chosen1]

Congrats to you and your team!