Joining cross country...for the first time any tips?

[LovelyScars]

I was going to join my freshmen year but decided not to due to my grades now as a sophomore I actually want to be involved in a sport. Starting of freshman year I did cheer but it wasn't for me so now I hope to join cross country. Any tips?

Also is it weird to join a year later?

Best way to improve my stamina?

Thank you.

[Star Gazer]

The only way to become a better runner is to run more, so start logging those miles!

[Col1]

As far as stamina: your coach will have plenty of tips on this -- specific to your ability.

 

Not strange at all to join a sport in your second year of high school. Sure, you will be among sophomore veterans, but you probably won't be the only newbie. Sometimes seniors join for their first time too. Maybe you could recruit another of your friends to join with you?

 

My advice is Have Fun With It. Running can be a solitary sport - don't let it! On weekends, try to connect with teammates to do training runs together. Sure it's easy to do your weekend training runs on your own, but the inconvenience of waiting for a fellow runner is worth it. You'll have memories with people long after the season is over: being chased by a dog, the cars that honk hi at you and to motivate y'all (especially if you wear your school t-shirts/gear), dress-up in funny running clothing (super heroes, etc). Take pics along the way and share them.

 

You will experience some trying times, personal bests, horrible days, and lots of average runs. You will run in many weather conditions, some very awful. But it's a good time. Finally, you will learn so much about yourself in cross country. That will benefit you in other areas of your life too in academic & social, and develop healthy physical activity habits that could last a lifetime (as it has with me). Best wishes to you!

[New User]

I was going to join my freshmen year but decided not to due to my grades now as a sophomore I actually want to be involved in a sport. Starting of freshman year I did cheer but it wasn't for me so now I hope to join cross country. Any tips?

Also is it weird to join a year later?

Best way to improve my stamina?

Thank you.

 

 

I don't know if this will work as well for a 15 y/o girl as it did for a 40 y/o man, but a really huge improvement in my stamina came when I started doing interval training. Either running the bleachers twice a week or doing 60/120s (sprint as hard as you can for 60, then walk for 120 seconds- repeat at least six times). IME, mixing in the high intensity intervals made a huge difference in a relatively short time (six weeks and I had dropped a full minute off of my mile time). This is just personal experience though- it may not have as positive of an effect on you as it did on me and I have no idea whatsoever what an actual expert would suggest. Given the difference in our ages...... I simply don't know how much of what worked for me would be equally applicable to your situation. There are huge variations between people in these things.

 

One thing though- if you are new to the sport, as long as you're running you're going to have huge improvements in a relatively short time. Oh, here's something that hopefully makes you smile:

 

 

The terrible and wonderful reasons why I run long distances - The Oatmeal

[zoobadger]

Talk to your coach. He or she will assess your current state of fitness and suggest a regimen to get ready for joining the team. If you're already running and in pretty good shape, then intervals, hills, and tempo runs would be typical cross country training. You're also going to need to do some speed work.

 

Also, the coach can tell you what kind of pace you'll need to run to make varsity. I'm guessing 20 - 21 minute 5K would be competitive for average girls high school. As a sophomore you'll probably be JV unless you're a really talented runner.\

 

Also, cross-country is more of a team sport than track. There's more camaraderie and more focus on team placement than individual placement. When I'm out for a run on a crisp October afternoon I still have vivid recollections of slogging up and down the murderous hills at the Ohio Caverns invitational, lol....

Edited August 14, 2013 by zoobadger

[farva2]

Don't be afraid to join late. Just make it practice everyday, if your coach is good then you guys' will have a good training regimen all set out for you that involves easy days, speed workouts, interval training, cross-training, and long runs. It's not going to be easy and you're in for arguably the most physically exhausting times of your life but you'll reap the rewards.

My best friends and memories in life all come from running cross-country in high school. The shenanigans we would pull on runs like jumping into random peoples swimming pools and jumping in shopping carts are memories I wouldn't trade for the world. Get to know your teammates on these runs, organize weekend runs and hangouts etc and enjoy it; the camaraderie of a close-knit running team is unlike that of many sports.