Charlie and others have written about using liniments and heat rubs as part of a warm-up before races and some speed workouts. I am curious the timing of this in the warm-up and the purpose. Anecdotally, it seems to kind of freshen up and excite athletes during the warm-up, but I was curious if there were any other reasons.
I imagine that applying it after the first part of the warm-up would probably be optimal, leaving enough opportunity for the liniment to heat up and absorb, but I could be wrong.