Cross Country Newbie Tips?

[Miss Roo]

I'm a senior in high school and I am joining cross country for the first time ever. In fact, I usually don't run at all during any time of the year. This summer, I've been running outside and on the treadmill three-four days a week. Going from my usual summer veggie state of being, I'm now up to running 2.6 miles at a time.

I'm honestly a little nervous about doing cross country because I feel I am so inexperienced. Are there any tips for running better? Is there anything I should work on/expect before my first day of practice: August 6? I know I'm not a fast runner at all, but will this affect my team in anyway? I heard that there are sometimes people who simply walk all the miles, but I don't want to be like them.

Help? Thank you in advance!

 

[Deondre's Mama ツ]

DON"T GIVE UP! Cross country is all mental. Hope you have a cool cross country team and stick with it! It gives you sweet azz muscles!

 

[Thi]

don't sweat you'll make the team if you believe. I'm going to tryout for the freshmen team.

 

[Joana]

nervousness is common, especially before such a physically demanding sport as cross country. what i can reccommend before your regular season starts (and keep this up all season!) is nourishment. eat lots of carbs (pasta, breads, etc...) because you will be burning a bunch. energy foods and drinks (STAY HYDRATED). also the scoring goes that the first 5 (or 7, depending how big the meet is) finishers on your team give points to the team (first place is 0 points, second 1, third 2, etc...) and the team with the LOWEST score wins the meet. do a bunch of core excersies, not just running, you need to be strong and have endurance. don't walk the races, that'll just make it go more slowly and it'll be embarrassing. if you're scared you won't be able to finish, then at least jog, and if you feel better than you expected, pick up the pace. just never go your fastest mile time the first milee because you will burn out! good luck!!

 

[embracexthexpale]

Very interesting. I'm a junior and I started cross-country this year. We have summer conditioning with our team. We were told to run 6 days a week if possible and stretch your long run at least once a week. There are plenty of sites like coolrunning.com and runnersworld.com that have plenty of info about running form and other techniques.

In cross-country there is usually a varsity team(ours has 7 members) and an open team, junior varsity or whatever you want to call it. The varsity team is the most important for winning meets. The first 3 to finish add up there places in the race and the team with the lowest score wins.

IE-Tom is 3rd Steve is 9th and Drew is 15th the score would be 27
Anyone who finishes after that does not affect the score.
In an open race the same rules apply but, it is a little less competitive. A LITTLE.

Yes you can walk. There are even people on the Varsity team that will walk. If you need to stop and walk for a bit its okay, but really it is a race. Try to go for a longer time without walking.

EDIT: I have a slow mile too. I'm not consistent yet either. It's between 8-10 minutes.