Beginner at Cross Country. HELP????

Question

Okay so my parents are making me go out for cross country this fall because they thought that it would be a good way for me to make new friends at my new school b4 school started.

The only sports that i do right now is dance so i am a little out of shape and i have only ever run sprints except on the treadmill where i only run like 5 miles. The coach is really intense and i so dont want to make myself look like an idiot so what do i need to do to start training???

Tryouts are on Aug. 18th and i really need to get in shape.

Any advice???

Also how far do you run when you do practice??

Thanks

Answer 1

I would suggest running outside if possible.  depending on how long the distances you are running, that is how much you should reach for.  Say if it was a 15 mile run.  I would run 20 miles each day.  I would start  off slow.  Start with lik 3 miles and work your way up.   Good Luck!

Answer 2

Okay, so I'm in cc myself and love it. you so won't regret going out for the team.

if you say you can run 5 miles now, you're off to an ok start. Try running outside along the side of the road (thats what I do) but see if you can get to some trails at least like once a week.

a normal high school xc race is a 5K, or 3.1 miles. At practices my team runs about 15 miles a day during pre-season to get into shape, but during the actual season we do less mileage (like 8-10) because of meets and stuff.

I would suggest that you start out with the 5 miles you say you can do, and gradually build up, week by week. Like for one week you run five miles, then 6 the next week and so on. Be sure to STRETCH or you will be so sore it will be impossible to run. I also do pilates and lift light arm weights to keep my core and arms in good shape. good luck! hope you make the team.

Answer 3

Find a friend to run w/

Answer 4

Ohhhhhhhhhh gosh...

im a beginner too. im a sophomore tryout for xc and today was my first day. each coach is different so these may vary: okay so i ran 5 miles today, including stairs and hills, and between each mile you have 1:30-2:00 min recover. but then you start running again. its alot to have on your plate for a beginner-no doubt- but i am sure if you practice every day and are willing to run, then you should be able have better stamina and get shorter times on miles.

+ the girls on your team will cheer u on. they will push you, for you to succeed. you should definitely try it out

but while you are running you're gonna think "MAN! I'm not coming back tomorrow! Im done"

but if you have patience you should do splendid

goodluck

and uh..... wish me luck too!

Answer 5

well it's going to be hard if you cant really run outside.

the treadmill could help but there's alot of terrain in cc...

try to find a place.

umm before you start to run like the other person said you need to drink water. it helps alot and you could eat like a bannana or something healthy before.

when your first starting out to run start off kinda of quick soo you wont fall behind in the meets but not to quick to conserve your energy if you get what i'm saying...

and what i tend to do while i'm running is have a song in my mind and just not concentrate on the heat.

hope it helps...

Answer 6

thats good that if you've ran 5 miles already, there was this one girl on our team a few years ago that had never even ran a mile. start running maybe like 15 miles a week and the add like 3 or more miles to that everyweek.

start out by going on easy runs, maybe get a friend to join with you or you can run on the treadmill but trails are alot better and more like cross country races.  

dont eat chocolate before practice or pretend to fall like that other guy said. that would  make yourself look like an idiot.

usually for practice we run at least 3miles a day sometimes more or less depending on the day.

good luck!

Answer 7

Start out slow then work your way up. What you need is a training schedule where you achieve a certain amount of millage per week every week your millage should go up by a mile or so. Cross country races are mainly 6Ks my guess is that if you can maintain a pace of 6 minutes per mile for a 6K you'll make the cross country team. Start by trying to run 2 miles in 12:00 minutes. Then three miles in 18:00. Be sure to run in some road races around town before you tryout.

Answer 8

wen u practice do the same amount of running that u wud do in cross country that way if u run less you mite not finish, if you run more then you might get used to going slower just to keep a pace

wat u shud do is use a treadmill, if u dont have 1 ask a trusted neighbor or family member, or try a gym member ship

i would start eating healthy drink a lot of cold water as often as u can, this help cleans out your body and the colder water the more full u get

b4 u run eat a lot of chocolate to give you fast energy this will show your coach that u can start off strong, but if u loose energy later on then i wud pretend to fall and pretend that you cant run that fast anymore bcuz it hurts, and this buys you more time to exercise and get ready

Answer 9

gurl, u got ur self alot of problems just run 5 miles everyday for a week, then the next week run 6 then the next run 7 then the next run 8 or whenever u feel like uping it up a bit. have fun running!