How to warm-up before your charity run

Warm-up effectively before every charity run and maximise your performance.

Living in a time-poor society, many of us are guilty of arriving at a charity running training session or charity running race, jumping straight in and wondering why we don’t automatically feel energized and zippy. This is because we need to warm-up!

A warm-up is essential for gently opening up your capillaries and allowing more oxygenated blood to get to your muscles. Warming up also increases the production of synovial fluid, which reduces friction in the joints, as well as preparing your mind to perform.

Easy charity running warm-up

For easy runs keep it simple and start with a really slow jog or even brisk walk easing into your pace through the first 5-10 minutes.

5K/10K charity run warm-up

Shorter charity running races and training sessions can still be intense. If you’re aiming for a PB or top training performance for your charity running event, your warm-up needs to be progressive. Without a full warm-up you will likely find it hard to hit those limits and even risk picking up an injury.Begin with a 10-minute warm-up jog that gradually builds intensity. Start slowly and run five minutes easy, five minutes steady and then a few minutes close to your race pace. You can’t afford to feel rusty at the start of your charity running event or training sessions - you need to be ready to roll straight away.

You should now be ready to complete some drills and strides. Aim to complete these over a 10-20 metre area and jog lightly back after each effort.Strides are the final step and really help to hit your pace in the first charity running mile. Find a 60-70 metre area where you run several sets, focusing on good technique. Start at 60 per cent max speed, run the second lap at 70 per cent, the third at 80 per cent and the fourth lap quicker than race pace.

Half marathon for charity warm-up

Those familiar to this charity running distance will know that it can be at an intensity faster than your steady runs but never as hard from the offset as a 5K or 10K. Your warm-up doesn’t need to be as long but a jog that builds to your planned half marathon intensity is ideal.

10 minutes of running is enough, preserving energy and fuel for the charity running race ahead. Look to complete just one set of each of the drills below and 3-4 controlled strides if you’re looking for a fast time. Consider putting on an old tracksuit or bin bag while you wait in the pen for the race to start.

Marathon for charity warm-up

Your marathon for charity is all about you against the distance and you need to protect your carbohydrate stores. We recommend no warm-up at all as you should use the first two to three miles to find your race pace and negotiate the early traffic if there are large numbers of runners. You have bags of time to gradually build to your race pace and then maintain it. Instead stay warm using old clothes and at most some light active stretching.?

Run for charity is the largest resource for all things Charity running in the world. The company have produced a membership program for charities.