Cross Country help??

Question

So I am about to start cross country, in 2 months to be exact. And I would like to be on varsity. Now I know that may sound crazy considering this is my first year doing high school cross country, and we have an amazing team. But, my sister has been in cross country forever (about 4 years) and we ran 4 miles today and I beat her by about 3 mintues. So my question is what should I do to ensure that I will do good in cross country? How much should I run a day? How to practice hills? Is jump roping with weights on my ankle a good idea? How often a day should I run, like is it bad to run a long distance in the morning and then work on hills and sprints at night? I really just don't know a lot about cross country so any advice is great! thanks everyone!

Answer 1

First you want to see where you are in running. if 4 miles is easy for you to run in practice, start doing 3/4 miles or 4/5 miles every other day. You can do hills two times a week if you want instead of a light day. Maybe run over to a location, do some hills , how many depending on how long and steep the hill is and run back. You can do intervals as well. Run at a fast pace down a street vertically. when you hit the next street that runs horizontal, stop and walk down the horizontal street until you hit the next vertical street and sprint again, etc. don't overwork yourself though b/c you don't want to get injured or exhaust your body. I would typically just run one day, and run to the hills, do hills and run back the other. I wouldn't run twice a day. it's summer and this is just pre training. Your coach will will start your season training w/ you so there's no need to over work yourself. If your young, just start easy and keep pushing yourself and you'll find your limit. Most importnatly though, speak to your coach, they will give you a team training regiment.

Answer 2

Don't listen to the every other day c**p, especially if you want to be on varsity. Running is different form working out. You need to run every day, taking Sunday off if you really feel that you need to. Now, that said, don't go crazy. Build up your mileage every week or 2, don't go out there and run 8 miles one day and not be able to run the next day. Also, summer mileage before xc season is just that, summer mileage. The pace doesn't matter as much as the amount of miles does so if whatever your plan for each day ends up being too difficult, instead of backing off the mileage, slow up a little bit, but DO NOT walk. Trust me you will get plenty of the faster running and interval workouts during the xc season. I can't give you an exact number to start out with, it is different for everyone. I gave you the outline, you fill in the details.