Two very important parts of your workouts and races are the warm up and cool down. Yet most of us tend to rush, or outright neglect, these two components. Being rushed for time, wanting to get in more miles, not enjoying going easy, not understanding why are all reasons we'd cite for neglecting the warm up and cool down. Doing a warm up and cool down is like eating your vegetables. We don't really enjoy doing them, but we all know they're good for you!

A proper warm up and cool down will help you perform better. Both in workouts and in races. Ease into your workout with 5 to 10 minutes of easy aerobic activity. If you plan to run 10k at an average of a 5 minute kilometer pace... start the run by running the first kilometer at about a 5:30 pace. Then a 5:15. Then settle into your goal pace. Similar for the bike and the swim. In a race, a warm up is even more crucial to success.

The shorter the race, the longer a warm up required. A try a tri requires a very long warm up, in each of the run, bike, and swim. A 5k road race requires a lot of warming up. . Cooling down serves the purpose of aiding recovery. A proper cool down will have you in better form for your very next workout. You'll be less likely to be stiff and sore if you cool down properly. As with warming up, cooling down should be done after a race, too. The shorter the race, the longer the cool down. Thanks to Adam Johnston of the Endurance Lab for this article. Read more and sign up for his training programs at www.endurancelab.ca