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4 Replies Last post: Sep 27, 2007 2:56 PM by MichiganFlyer  
Click to view Tpaine's profile Rookie 3 posts since
Sep 27, 2007
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Sep 27, 2007 12:23 AM

Cross Country Race Tips

I am a junior in high school and run the same times in cross country as I did last year. I was told by nine hundred trillion runners that this year is the start of my growth. I don't see it happening yet. My training is even more rigorous than last year's program. Help me?
Click to view crunningman's profile Community Moderator 950 posts since
Jun 7, 2002
1. Sep 27, 2007 10:39 AM in response to: Tpaine
Re: Cross Country Race Tips
I'll move this to the "Mainstream Racing" section. You should get some feedback there. Wish I could help, but other than trail running (ultras) I have no experience with cross country. Good luck! cr
Click to view mutthound's profile Legend 306 posts since
Apr 28, 2006
2. Sep 27, 2007 11:00 AM in response to: Tpaine
Re: Cross Country Race Tips
A few thoughts:

Are your times now the same as they were at the end of last season or at the same time last season.

If you ran a hilly race in 85 degrees this year as you did a flat race in 60 degrees last year you are improving.

Perhaps your body is worn down and towards the end of the season, when the races matter (League, regionals, State) your times will drop considerably.

Maybe you are just listening to the split times too much. My best race in high school was when I decided to just keep up with the other team's #3 runner regardless of how fast or slow he went. I felt like I was jogging the whole time, then at the end, I passed the guy and beat him by 20 yards and had my best time of the year. This happen to be a duel meet so if I had a disaster and lost 45 seconds in the last mile, it was no big deal.

take a risk and try running with the person on your team who is usually the runner 2 spots in front of you. (and see how long you can last)
Click to view MichiganFlyer's profile Legend 348 posts since
Dec 9, 2005
4. Sep 27, 2007 2:56 PM in response to: Tpaine
Re: Cross Country Race Tips
I would guess that you are running your training too fast.

Ease off on the paces in training and save the fast stuff for racing.

I run training around 8:30 per mile and race at about 6:40 per mile. A couple times a week you can go faster than that (but if you are racing once a week that takes care of one of the fast days)....never run fast for more than a mile at a time unless you are racing.