Originally Posted by merlinextraligh
For most short crits, the risk of exhausting yourself is very low, and the risk of being underpreapred for early hard efforts is high.
+1.
If you're doing 40, 50, 60+ mile training rides, then a 15 or 20 mile training crit won't tax you from an endurance standpoint, and so you needn't worry that your warm-up will use up all your matches. (Unless you do something like a 90-minute 10-rep max sprint effort, or some such thing).
The general rule of thumb is, "The shorter the race, the longer and harder the warmup should be".
Each of us is different and you need to experiment a little to see what works best for you. But, personally, I need to include 3 "jumps" in my warmup so that those first couple of accelerations in the race aren't such a shock to my system.
My first jump is about 30 seconds at about 85% max heart rate. Then, full recovery.
Second jump is about 45 seconds at 90% max heart rate. Then, full recovery.
Third jump is about 60 seconds at 95% max heart rate. Then, full recovery.
After that, I'm ready to race.
YRMV.
BTW, in my opinion your finish is nothing to complain about. Any finish in the top ten is damn good. There are 3 elements that all have to come together to win a race. Fitness, experience/tactics, luck. You've achieved the first two. You can't control the last one. A bump, a mechanical, a bonehead racer ahead of you....whatever. You can't just "plan" a win. All the planets have to line up just right.
Just keep on keepin'-on.
Bob