cross-country

[babi_lee]

i just started cross-country at my high school and its really hard. today was my first day and im NOT a runner. im doing it mostly bc i need to do an extra-curricular activity and bc i think i need to lose weight. so i thought i could kill two birds with one stone. but its very hard and i wanted to know about any secrets to running that can help me since i am a beginner. energy drinks? pills? whatever i need, i want.....help.

[Jake15]

Im a cross-country runner too.

First off ,yo ucant run for those reasons. They train us to go to failure every other day, and push yourself so hard there are times your running only on adrenaline, and collapse and throw up after finishing. I ran a 6:15 mile today, but i was soar as hell from doing a 5 mile biatholan. It take so much commitment and discipline to do cross country. You need to sleep 8/9 hours, eat right, and drink assloads of water. I drink about 6 34 Ounce gatorade jugs a day. I go the bathroom literally every passing period.

If your still interested, than gatorade is gonna help after work outs. Eat raisens after each workout. My diet consited of turkey, water, and peanutbutter and crackers before my practice. Eat healthy, and dont buy food from your cafeteria, its fatty.

[Insex]

Originally Posted by babi_lee

but its very hard and i wanted to know about any secrets to running that can help me since i am a beginner. energy drinks? pills? whatever i need, i want.....help.

No energy drinks. No pills.

Energy drinks are "fake" energy. They are loaded with sugar and caffeine and will make you crash. The best way to supply your body with the energy it needs is with a clean, healthy diet. You need all of the macronutrients (proteins, carbs, and fats) and the micronutrients (vitamins and minerals). You runners especially need the carbohydrates, particularly complex carbohydrates. These are abundant in foods like:

- Whole grains and wheat.

- Oatmeal.

- Rice (brown rice is best, stay away from fried rice and bleached steamed rice).

- Pasta (without all the fatty cheese).

- Vegetables (the greener the better).

Pills are also a no-no. Unless they are a multivitamin/multimineral, fish oil, or other source of an all-natural healthy supplement. But you definitely need to stay away from fat burners, energy boosters, and those other hardcore supplements.

Tips on running:

- Run on the balls of your feet (run on your toes, not on your heels).

- Breathe in through your nose and breathe out through your mouth. Make sure to breathe normally too, try not to think about it while you run. What helps me before I do cardio is to go to the bathroom before I run and blow my nose. I am able to breathe in more air through my nose if I blow and pick all the little boogers out before I run.

- Don't forget about water. Always keep your body hydrated throughout the day. Drink a lot of water, espeically one hour before your runs.

Hope this helps, and have fun with your runs!

[Mr.Noodle]

Ugh,
Cross Country running is like death for me.
Try having a Red Bull before you run and if you run with friends, it should help a bit because it will keep your mind occupied...it seemed to work for me a bit.
You can also train by yourself to help increase your stamina.

-Noodle

[g_samsa]

Insex has good advise. Gatorade sucks as it has almost as much simple sugars in it as soda. Water is way better. I do have additional advise though.

One aspect of running and racing that people seem to miss, and which is just as important as any other part, is recovery. Recovery includes sleep, which was already mentioned, and also post exercise nutrition. Some energy drinks are good AFTER a long practice or race. The only gatorade worth drinking in their Endurance formula which was actually designed for athletes (go figure). It has the proper proportions of electolytes and much less sugar that the regular gatorade. Your muslces need plenty of antioxidants to eliminate the bulidup of free-radicals in your blood. This means lots of Blueberriers, cranberriers, pomegranit and other things like that.

So, recap. Insex is right about the carbs and everything else. Plenty of whole wheats and fruit (grapes have lots of carbs). Green vegitables and water will do your body good.

Conclusion. Artificial things bad, natural foods, good. Gatorade bad (unless it's the endurance formula after or durring an extended workout).

I don't suggest any suppliments like the gels and stuff unless you are running in excess of an hour or 10 miles whichever comes first. High school is a 5k so they probably won't have you running that much except maybe once a week.

Biggest thing about running is to just try to relax and enjoy it. Don't overtrain yourself or fret about how hard you are training. If it feels like it's costing you too much effort then just slow down untill you feel relaxed. The only times you should feel stressed are durring a threshold or vo2max workout, and the race it'sself. Every day other than those should be simple and no stress at all. Have fun and good luck.

[stephenlavin]

Originally Posted by Mr.Noodle

Ugh,
Cross Country running is like death for me.
Try having a Red Bull before you run and if you run with friends, it should help a bit because it will keep your mind occupied...it seemed to work for me a bit.
You can also train by yourself to help increase your stamina.

-Noodle

Sry Noodle but i would tell him to stay well away from the likes of redbull.
Water like Insex said is the the best form of hydration ....However u are wasting your time if you are only drinking it whilst running . I would recommend at least 2 litres a day while not running and easily as much as 3 to 4 litres on training days.
Also your breathing technique is vital while running ..if you let your breathing go ragged then you are actually wasting more energy. Try slow controlled breaths. Best way like insex said is in through nose and out through mouth but if u cant manage that go for controlled breathing with you mouth. Also try to keep your body movements to a minimum as again this wastes energy ...If you are mentally wrecked while running try counting in your head ....might take your mind off how you are feeling ..best o luck with it.

[gonzoguri]

ok, it´s true you need 2 to 4 litres of water daily, but water is not the best form of hidratation during your exercise, and isotonic drinks (like gatorade) have nothing to do with energetics (like red bull) or soda

energetic drinks are heavily sugar loaded, but isotonic have just a maximum of 8% of sugar, which is much less than a soda.

You need Na, Ca and K during the exercise, and there aren't in the water or the energetic ones but in the isotonic.

theres nothing wrong in a small amount of sugar while trainning, but there are isotonic drinks without sugar (aquactive, santiveri....) if you prefer

anyway, there´s no tricks, just training. But it may help if you choose the right shoes for racing, lihgter than the training ones so you reduce your VO2 Max %while running. But don´t use them for trainning everyday, or your joints will suffer.

Also adapting your soles to the terrain (mud, grass, dry...) will help to improve your performance.

[Benno_11]

Another thing you have to remember to do is stretch. Before your main session get your blood moving by jogging or skipping for a few minuets. Then stretch all the muscles you are going to use which will mainly be your legs. After your training do the same and this should help you stop getting injuries and will remove lactic acid. It will also increase your performance.

[flooman281]

i've been doing xc for three years so hopefully i can tell you something useful :P

1. shoes
shoes are vital to your performance. don't use your cheapass nikes that you got two years ago. go to a specialty running store. the people there will fit a shoe to your foot that best compensates and cushions for your stride. if you decide to keep your old shoes (which i'm assuming you are using) and weird aches and pains come up (shins, knees, feet etc), get new shoes!

2. nutrition
as everyone else said, don't eat trash during the xc season. while you don't need to go hardcore organic and eat only carbs and stuff. just don't eat greasey foods all the time. if your school offers deli sandwiches, buy those or bring your own lunches.

3. hydration
hydration is a big big part of xc. i try to drink at least 1 liter of water per day, everyday, regardless of whether it's xc season. i should probably drink more but, oh well :P.

4. goals
give yourself a goal. while it may be too late since the xc season is winding down, goals are a very helpful factor in running. it can range from dropping your 5k time to stepping up to varsity, even a day by day goal like finishing a run without stopping or running with a group that goes at a faster pace than what you usually do. give yourself a goal, and running will be a lot easier.

5. training
there really is no better way to improve in running than to just run. my coaches emphasize a good base mileage before getting into the season. that means our "season" actually starts in the summer. this is when the team individually or at captains practices gets in long slow miles to help build a good base to go on in the middle of the season. the top guys on our team probably get around 500-1000 miles during summer vacation. while this is definitely not what you should be getting in the summer (unless you run between now and the summer), you can still get a good base in by running everyday.
during the actual season, we do more speed work vs distance training.

6. have fun
you will never enjoy running unless you have fun. it is a huge help to run with people you can joke around with. when the team has psyche parties before meets, go to them, have fun, make friends with your teammates. having someone to run with is the best motivator.

hopefully that helped you out
you probably received that advice by now since the xc season is about (at least for me) a week from ending. :P

[cheezewhiz]

That last post summs it up good.

Having fun is one of he best motivators, everything else comes much easier with a pleasant state of mind.
Happy trails.

[g_samsa]

Originally Posted by gonzoguri

ok, it´s true you need 2 to 4 litres of water daily, but water is not the best form of hidratation during your exercise, and isotonic drinks (like gatorade) have nothing to do with energetics (like red bull) or soda

energetic drinks are heavily sugar loaded, but isotonic have just a maximum of 8% of sugar, which is much less than a soda.

I've heard that one should drink one half oz of water for each lb of body weight durring the day for active people. I don't remember where I read that, but it seems like sound advice.

Has anybody read the study by indiana university on Milk post exercise. Apparantly they compared, gatorade, endurox, and milk in a three way test, and they found that milk and gatorade (endurace formula) both kicked the crap out of endurox for post exercise recovery. Milk beat out Gatorade by a hair if you can believe it. Let it be noted that the study was funded by the Milk producers of America (cough). None the less, I wonder if there is any truth to it. IT makes sense. Carbs, protein, vitamins. Milk has it all.

[Dr.Feelgood]

Taking a couple scoops of creatine might help to improve your enduarnce during running.

[pliny_2001]

Creatine: no way, no how. Creatine ONLY works in high-intensity/short duration activities. It's worthless for running, swimming, etc.

Milk: I haven't seen the study, but I always have skim chocolate milk (more carbs than plain) after a weight workout. Don't know if I'd want it after a run, though.

[Dr.Feelgood]

Sorry Im going to have to disagree, creatine WILL help a bit. At least for the first part of the run.
Creatine gives the user a slight energy boost, whether that is used in weight training or running doesn't change the fact that there is extra energy to be used.

[pliny_2001]

In contrast to studies reporting positive results for some athletic groups, research on swimmers indicates that creatine supplementation may decrease or not affect performance, presumably by increasing body mass [70-77]. Creatine supplementation was also shown to decrease 6 km run times, presumably by increasing body mass [31].


31) Balsom, P.D., et al., Creatine supplementation per se does not enhance endurance exercise performance. Acta Physiol Scand, 1993. 149(4): p. 521-523.

70) Theodorou, A.S., et al., The effect of longer-term creatine supplementation on elite swimming performance after an acute creatine loading. J Sports Sci, 1999. 17(11): p. 853-859.
71) Peyrebrune, M.C., et al., The effects of oral creatine supplementation on performance in single and repeated sprint swimming. J Sports Sci, 1998. 16(3): p. 271-279.
72) Grindstaff, P.D., et al., Effects of creatine supplementation on repetitive sprint performance and body composition in competitive swimmers. Int J Sport Nutr, 1997. 7(4): p. 330-346.
73) Mujika, I., et al., Creatine supplementation does not improve sprint performance in competitive swimmers. Med Sci Sports Exerc, 1996. 28(11): p. 1435-1441.
74) Thompson, C.H., et al., Effect of creatine on aerobic and anaerobic metabolism in skeletal muscle in swimmers. Br J Sports Med, 1996. 30(3): p. 222-225.
75) Burke, L.M., D.B. Pyne, and R.D. Telford, Effect of oral creatine supplementation on single-effort sprint performance in elite swimmers. Int J Sport Nutr, 1996. 6(3): p. 222-233.
76) Oopik, V., et al., Effect of creatine administration on blood urea level and postexercise glycogen repletion in liver and skeletal muscle in rats. Ann Nutr Metab, 1996. 40(6): p. 359-363.
77) Leenders, N.M., D.R. Lamb, and T.E. Nelson, Creatine supplementation and swimming performance. Int J Sport Nutr, 1999. 9(3): p. 251-262.

I particularly appreciate how creatine supplementation went from "might help" your endurance to "WILL help" your initial sprint. Giving advice on topics that you don't understand is dangerous. Creatine is one of the few effective supplements, but I've yet to see an application for it in cardio sports like running and swimming aside from cross-training.

For the purposes of this thread, I'm a miserable cross-country runner - but I'm miserable because I don't train for it. I'm sure that after a month or so of training - and a proper diet - babi lee will have made great improvements. Good luck.

[g_samsa]

I've been a runner for 20 years. I am friends with several professional middle distance runners, and I've had dealings with many many coaches. I've never heard anybody suggest creatine as a suppliment for middle distance and distance runners. I'm not an expert myself so maybe this is something new. If it's new advise that coaches these days are talking about then I'm not sure I'd recomend it to someone who's just starting. Maybe I'd stick to more traditional advise so he doesn't go try something that could be potentially dangerous.

[tellico]

I ran XC in high school to prepare for basketball season. I hated running then, hate it still, but some things made it easier for me:

-Trails are more fun than tracks or roads. Find a park, the view keeps your mind off your legs and lungs.

-If you're just starting out, try some of these games to ease into more and more running:

-run down a street with mailboxes. from the first mailbox to the next, walk briskly. From box #2 to box #3, jog at a moderate pace. From box#3 to box #4, sprint balls to the wall. From #4 to #5, back to a brisk walk. Repeat this pattern several times (start with maybe 7 reps and add more as you are able). The walk breaks make it feel easy, but you're really doing a great workout

-set your stopwatch for 20-30 minutes (however long you think you can last). run at an easy to moderate pace in random places until the timer goes off- no cheating- run as slow as you need to to keep going, but keep running the whole time! This is most fun if you do it in an unsual place for running. For example, one day we weren't allowed to leave campus, so we wandered through the halls, through the gym, across the tennis courts, around the playground, up the stands, etc etc etc.

-when you run with someone, use their pace. Stay on their shoulder, slightly behind them. They will serve as a motivator for you to keep with them, but all the pressure is on them for maintaining a steady pace, so take advantage of them. This can be someone from the other team, doesn't have to be a teammate. This can be the best way to deal with mental battles when you are feeling tired- you put all the burden of it on someone else, because now your only responsibility is keeping in that person's back pocket- you don't have to think about how your thighs burn or how your lungs are scratchy or how maybe you started out a little too fast.

-Get a group of friends (5-10) and jog in a line. Everyone jogs at a rather easy pace. The person at the back must pass everyone and take the lead, then slow to the regular pace. Soon as that person is there, the back person sprints up to be the new leader. Do this hop-scotch for 1 mi, then work up from there.

-best trick for getting started running when you're out of shape: Wear a watch. Run 30 seconds. walk 30. run 45. walk 30. run 60 seconds. walk 30. Run 90 seconds. walk 30. run 2 minutes. walk 1 minute. run 2 minutes. walk 1 minute. repeat for a total of 10-15 minutes.

-Find a hilly trail. Run all the uphills. walk the rest at a brisk pace. The steeper the hill, the faster you run. Long slopes you can jog, but no stopping till you're at the tope. Short steep hills you sprint like your life depends on it. NO STOPPING till you're at the TOP. then walk all the level and downhills. as you build up, you'll find it easier to drop to a jog at the top and maintain that rather than walking.

-listen to music while you run

-run with your dog (or borrow a dog). they make everything much more interesting! You could even get paid to exercise someone else's dog- just make sure the dog is fit enough to keep up with you- they have to build up to it just like people!

-If you spend any time on a treadmill, memorizing things makes the time pass quickly and definitely keeps your mind off your body. i.e., study material, quotations, verses, etc. also, reading magazines and books work ok, but are harder to focus on.

-Pretend you carry baby chicks in your hands- don't squeeze when you run

-the less motion your upper body makes, the better. Practice running with your hands dropped to your sides, then with your hands on your hips/lower back, to get the feeling of relaxing your upper body while your lower body is still working hard.

From one person who hates running to another, I hope these things help some!