Slow.  And build into the pace of your workout.  Or perform some drills, as appropriate.

 

Aside from that, don't worry about your watch and your pace for a warm up.  When you start trying to nail the pace of a warm up, you are perhaps trying too hard.

My 5k was at a 7:27 pace according to my Garmin - my warmup for it was around 12mpm. I hadn't run at all the day before, if I had I probably would have been closer to my regular easy pace of 10mpm.

 

I think ideally it starts off slow just to get the muscles moving, then hits your easy pace, and then you throw in a few easy strides just to remind your legs how to move fast.

I build on all of my runs.  My first mile is typically around 8:30 and sometimes a bit slower than that but my easy run pace will end up around 7:40 after three miles or so.  However, that's just my normal easy start to easy runs.  My warm ups for workouts and races is very different.  

 

For workouts, I'll start slowly, maybe 9:00 or so, and build to around a 7:30 pace over 1.5 miles.  Then, I'll slow to an extremely slow jog just enough to catch my breath and I'll do 4 strides over the next half mile.  I'll wait a couple of minutes and then start my workout.

 

For a 5K or 10K, I'll run a mile about a 9:00 pace.  Then, over the next mile, I"ll go up through the gears.  Easy pace followed by marathon pace followed by tempo pace followed by race pace.  Then I'll rest a couple of minutes.  Then, 2 minutes at race pace + 2 minutes jog + 2 minutes at race pace + 2 minutes jog.  Then rest a couple  of minutes.  Then, 4 strides.  If I time it right, I'll finish all of that 5-7 minutes before the gun.

 

For a half marathon, I'll cut out the middle mile but I'll run that first mile a tad bit harder - maybe like my normal recovery jog building to easy pace over that mile.  Then I'll do the 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 and the strided.

 

For a marathon, I suck.  Both of my marathons have seen me go out 30 seconds slower than race pace in the first mile so I obviously don't know what I'm doing there in terms of warm up.

 

Cool downs are just jogs if you want but there is no physiological need for them other than they may keep you from fainting after a very hard workout.  There is no good evidence that a cool down has any impact on injury or recovery.

Thanks all. I figured I'd get some good input on the why's and how's of warm ups. I think easy warm up plus some strides would be good for shorter races. I usually don't feel 'good' until 3-5 miles anyway (hence why I prefer long distance). I think I'll try slowly increasing from recovery pace on tomorrow's long run and see how that feels. The cool down is more of a way for me to build some extra mileage onto hard workouts than a necessary part of it. Thanks again!