When Kids Are Running Two Races Have Them Do This Warm-up

Published April 2, 2025

One of the biggest questions coaches and athletes have during the track season is how to properly warm-up when the athlete is running two races (aka "doubling").

Great question! Here's my concise warm-up for running track races on the track.

Quick Mobility Routine

After finishing the first race of the day, the athlete should take 10-15 minutes until they feel mostly back to normal. They can choose to jog for 2-3 minutes, though this isn’t necessary. What is necessary is mobility work to ensure their body is ready for the next race.

The Warm-up For The Second Race

Here’s my warm-up that kids do prior to their second race of the day.

First two parts of Jeff’s Boelé's warm-up (click here to get it on your phone)
5-minute jog, if they want it, but they might not want it.
Spike up.
2 x 150m In-n-out with middle 50m at 92 percent, 94 percent (I'll explain what an In-n-out is in one moment).
Reps at goal pace. If they’re running 1600m, they do those strides. If they’re running 400m, they do those strides, etc.
- 1600m: 2 x 100m with a run-in at goal pace.
- 3200m: 2-3 x 100m with a run-in at goal pace.
- 800m: One more 150m In-n-out at 96 percent. You could possibly do 80m from a standing start in lane 6, 7, or 8 to replicate the start of the race, but that’s not necessary.
- 400m: 1 x 150m In-n-out at 96 percent, for an older athlete. Make sure there are several minutes between the end of this rep and the race

Key Point: Older kids are fit and they can handle a full warm-up again. If you cut something, cut the jog.

In-n-Outs

An In-n-out is simply a stride where athletes build up to a certain pace/effort/rhythm and maintain it for 30m-50m, then "run out of it" by gently decelerating.

You could do 30m to build up, then run 40m at a certain effort, then run out 30m for a 100m In-n-out.

For this warm-up, let's have them build up for 30m-40m and then run at 92 percent of max effort for the middle 50m, then run out of it, which, given how fast they ran, will take them about 40m.

You might be thinking, "Jay - what pace is 92 percent?"

It's a fair question, but just explain to them that 100 percent would be a flying 40m sprint, so this is much slower than that. Perhaps it's 400m rhythm, or even a touch faster.

Just trust them on this and let them run by feel. We do not want them timing these.

The Crux of the Warm-up

There are two. Jeff's abbreviated warm-up and the faster strides.

Warm-Up: Jeff’s warm-up has helped hundreds of kids stay injury-free this spring. Simply put, it works.

It may be too late in the season to have your kids learn it, but make sure you have them doing this during the summer and fall, as it’s the best warm-up for cross country as well. The video is on YouTube or your can get it on an app on your phone.

Strides: The strides must be run at the right intensities/paces. The 150’s are fast, then the race-pace strides get them to groove the pace they’ll be racing at.

The point of the 150s being fast and then running strides at race pace is for the athlete to feel comfortable at race pace.

After the second race, athletes do a combination of exercises from Jeff’s warm-up, Leg Swings, and a few elements from SAM. If you want a short cool-down jog, feel free to add that, yet know that it’s not necessary.

“I want This Document.”

Just click here. You can share this with your athletes as well.

Share This With Your Athletes

With just a few meets behind us and most of the outdoor season still ahead, now's the perfect time to give your distance runners these performance-boosting strategies.

This article offers 12 specific tips for athletes running the 800m, 1600m, or 3200m who feel they've hit an early plateau or want to prevent one.

What makes this especially valuable in April:

Helps runners identify their "next logical step" in PRs while there's time to achieve them
Addresses the mental hurdles that often appear early in the season
Provides race-specific techniques they can implement immediately

After 25 years of coaching, I've found these early-season interventions often lead to the biggest breakthroughs by championship time.

Consider sharing this with your team this week—it complements the warm-up protocol above and sets your athletes up for success in the coming weeks.

Running A PR In Track: 12 Tips for a Breakthrough Performance

Are You Second-Guessing Yourself?

I think that’s why so many athletes coached by coaches in the Track Training System are running PRs – their coaches haven’t been second guessing any elements of training. They system works and all the coach has to do is implement the system. 😀

While it’s probably too late to join the Track Training System for this season - though you do get lifetime access when you join - the XC Training System can help you later this spring and summer when you’re ready to invest in it.

“Jay Johnson’s XC Training was a game changer for me.

I have been coaching for a while and always struggled with injuries and the Post-Season workouts (too much, too little etc.). Post-Season Workouts and emails were the best parts of the program for me.

The value of Jay Johnson’s XC Training was completely worth the money.” - Linda McAllister

You can make this fall’s cross country season your program’s best ever if you’re willing to take a new approach to training.

Learn more about the system here and read what other coaches have to say about the system here.

I wish you and your athletes the best this week!

Jay

PS – Here’s two must watch videos for your XC kids who are struggling to run well in the 800m and the 1600m.

Niwot's Kelly Christensen explains how the 1600m is different than XC in this video.

Sandburg's John O'Malley explains how the 800m is different than XC in this video.

PPS - Here's the transcript from Coach O'Malley's video....

Jay: I want to start this off with a very simple question: How does the mentality change from somebody who's successful in 5k cross country who's also going to be on a state qualifying or even a state champion 4x800m relay?

John: Well, I think there's two significant things. There's probably many things, but the first thing I think of when I hear that question is the obvious one, which is the 800m is incredibly more intense. When you think about your tactics... A lot of the way you mentally digest the 5K cross-country race is about pacing and tactics are much less significant in a cross country race or even a 3,200m race than there are in an 800m race. There's just way less time to make up ground. There's mistakes that you can make in the first 10 seconds of the 800m that will impact the next 700 meters.

And while that's true of every race I just think it's amplified when it's shrunk down to two minutes vs. 15 minutes. And in some ways, your tactics in a 3,200m are kind of boring. When I think about kids, I have taken to state in a 3,200m it's kind of like, “Well, here's the time we're shooting for – this is the pace.”

Jay: You just got to lock in and grind it out.

John: I'm going to be calling out splits...

Jay: and we're just getting on the train and going.

John: Exactly. And that's definitely not how the 800m is.

We’re getting rid of the “comfortably hard" thought process. You've got to be ready to be a hundred times more intense.

If you think about the duration of it, the 800m is 12% of the duration of a 5k. It's the difference between like a 200m and a 1600m, that's a huge proportionate difference.

Jay: Wow. I've never thought of that. That proportion's so interesting when you put it in that context.

John: Yeah. We tend to lump distance runners into that, but that's a huge range. You would never lump a 200m runner with a 1600m runner.

So just wrapping your brain around the intensity of it. You’re not wading into the water. You are diving in and embracing that intensity. And that it's going to start hurting quickly in that race. And, you know, you got to be a little crazy mentality with that, kind of like a pole vaulter mentality...just embracing the craziness of it.

So those are the two things.

Your mental approach to how it's going to feel, how you're going to get off the line and then the tactics of it. I think those are the two things you got to kind of translate and kind of change and adapt from the cross country or a longer race to the 800m.

Jay: Are you somebody who believes we're probably running a negative split race or at the most an even split race in the 800m? You just described it well, how they're different. But for somebody who's been successful in cross country running a negative split race, they’re probably going to run a positive split 800m, meaning our first 400mm is faster than our second 400m.

John: Yeah, absolutely. And that's something you’ve got to know. It is a very unique race in the idea that it is one of the few races that running a little bit slower in the second lap is actually optimal. It's the best way to do it.

And as you point out in the longer races, that's certainly not true. You don't want to be dying and dying and dying as the race goes on.

The thing is, it doesn't feel that way.

You're slowing down (in an 800m), but it doesn't feel like you're slowing down. You think you're kicking - and you are kicking - but you're really not speeding up. So, when you get the feedback, if you're looking at splits for your race, you may initially look at that and say, “Oh man, I got to go out slower next time. I've got to really focus on that second lap.”

The reality is you need to have a balance there. You need to get out fast. But you're not going to be able to run as fast in the second lap, because there's something more efficient. The positioning - and there is some free energy early on that you take advantage of - that you don’t need to in the 5k. It's not really going to show up in the 5k, but in such short races, it does show up.

To give you an example, I have done ridiculous amounts of research on 4x800m relays at the Illinois State Championships for 12 years. I went back and looked at all the videos and I had a stopwatch for every single team. And to be clear, you're talking about other teams. You're not just talking to your team, you're trying to figure out what is this event in our state. Basically, doing research.

Jay: John, this sounds like a football coach or a basketball coach looking at film.

John: Exactly. And I want to talk about that later too.

One of the most valuable things you could do is watch. And you think something is going on in the race, and oftentimes you look for information that confirms what you think is going on in the race, but to sit down and objectively look at it with a stopwatch is totally different.

In any event, I broke down the top five teams in Illinois. These are all teams running 7:40s in the 4x800m every year for 12 years. Other than the anchor leg, which will have a stud on it, the first three legs, there were a total of three athletes who broke 60 seconds on the second lap, over 12 years. In the first three legs.

Now the anchor legs, those guys are studs, and you'll have some guys closing still under 60, but you're talking about kids running 1:56, 1:55, 1:57, and none of them are breaking 60 the second lap.

All of that is to say is if you're slowing down a little bit, that's normal and that split is not something to freak out about or say, “I got to overcorrect that.” Because you need position in the 800m, you need to embrace getting out in an intense way.

Now, if your split difference between the first lap and the second lap is five seconds, that's too much. Then you went out too fast.

But if it's two seconds, if it's three seconds, you're right on. You want to run about two or three seconds slower the second lap than the first lap, and if you're near there, you're good.

The other way I'd evaluate that is the way I evaluate it when I'm looking at splits early on in the season. That gap is going to be much larger early on because the amount of work you've done - specific work - is less than what you're doing later on. You haven't raced as much

Jay: So what you're saying is, in an early season race, this idea of we are aggressive in the first "X” number of meters...it almost sounds like at the beginning of the season, your first 200m is still pretty good, maybe more similar to the first 100m, 200m, 300m, is actually pretty similar to what you're aiming for in May.

John: Bingo.

So, a sub 2:00 runner - obviously easy to do the math - you're talking 30-second 200s. I'll have guys who run sub 2:00 every year, and the first couple invitationals, they may lay down a 34 on their last 200m, and I'm thinking, “Yep. We're good. Don't change the first lap.” That's going to come down because that intensity and that anaerobic quality is just going to improve, and improve, and improve.

And then that's the part of the race that shrinks. I'm fine with that. What I don't want you to do is hit the brakes on the first lap. This will come around in May.

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Click here to share this and the 9-min video with your kids.

This excerpt is from the Mental Skills for High School Runners course.