High school cross country questions!?

Question

Hi,

next year I am thinking about joining the high school cross country team and I have never done cross country before. I have a few questions:

1) During practice how many miles do you run on average

2) How long are the events and are there shorter ones for beginners

3) What do you suggest I do to train this summer

4) How many minutes is a good mile

5) Is it fun?

I know I have a lot of questions but even if you can answer just one that would be great! Anything else you want to tell me is good too.

Btw I'm a girl if that changes anything...

Thanks!

Answer 1

1. 5 miles

2. 5k (3.1 miles) same for everyone.

3. http://www.runnersworld.com/

4. In a race, about 6 (since your a girl)

5. You better believe it!

Answer 2

1) My old xc coach made the team run about 7 miles average.  (11 miles including warmup and cooldown)

2)Races are usually 5k (3.1 miles) some are 3 miles.

In my league, specifically freshman races are 2 miles.

3)  I suggest building up mileage.  Do a mile warmup, stretch and run for about 2 miles, stretch and cool down a bit.  After you get used to it, add more miles to your run.  Currently in captain's practice we do short, sprints uphills.

4)  I think 7 minutes is pretty average for a mile.  It won't get you very far though.  But 6 minute mile would be decent.  Anything in the 5 min range is great for a girl.

5)  It is amazing!  I mean, sure it is painful.  But once you get into it, the pain means nothing.  Because fighting the pain and getting a new PR (personal record) or finishing another mile in your long runs is the best feeling you'll ever have.  Trust me, it's hard in the beginning but so worth it.  In your runs the first 1 or 2 miles will be hard (just don't give up!) and soon the endorphins will kick in and the pain will start to subside and it will feel great.  Oh yeah, xc teams tend to be really close.  It's wonderful!

Answer 3

in practice, normally it's betw 3-7 miles

1) because sometimes you have speed days and sometimes you have distance days ..both to build up your strength and endurance.

2) it varies, but mostly 2-3 miles

3) you HAVE to run at least 2-3 miles w/o stopping, so i'd suggest running 4-5 average daily to really get in shape

4) a good mile for a girl would be 5:00-6:00 min/mile (acceptable varsity time.)

5) believe it or not,,,you actually get addicted to running, when i started running,,, i didn't really like it, i just wanted to challenge myself, but there's this feeling after you ran and it makes you sooo happy (maybe it's the endorphin) and every time you break your goal, you just feel sooo proud of yourself..

it makes you have high endurance, it keeps you positive and optimistic ^_______^

and beside that, you get to know a lot of new people and encourage each other and improve together

Answer 4

Thats great that u decided to do cross country... It can be really fun..

1) It really depends on the coach and how hard they push you

2) Events are normally a 5k which is 3.1 miles... however my best friend who lived in texas said that they had different size events for boys and girls...

3) My suggestion to you would to be run at least a mile eveyday until u canrun it without stoping and u have the speed u want then just increase ur milage every time

4) For a girl 4-5 minutes

5) During my cross country season last year i had a blast...it just depends on what ur idea of fun is

How u have fun during xc and i hope this helped...

Answer 5

1) well, my team runs 6-18 miles (of speed, hills, fartleks, distance) at the most at one time. then we have practices 2 times a day. & the other practice is 4-5 miles easy jog. but then again, my school's known for having crazy high mileage. im quite sure that other normal schools run 6-10 miles tops.

2) high school cross country races are 3 miles in California, but i've heard that at almost everywhere else, it's 3.1 miles (5k) but it's only a 200 meter difference, and no there aren't any shorter ones for beginners. =/

3) the BEST way to train over summer is to run with the team you'll be joining next year. that way, you'd have a more challenging workout & develop friendships =) but you can also run on your own starting with maybe 2 miles a day, then increase by a mile each week, or maybe in 4 days if you feel like it. i'd add a bit of speed into it, as in go at a faster tempo then you'd normally jog, and go to some nearby hills, and run some hill repeats (as fast as you can with a bit of rest)

4) a cross country varsity runner at TRACK runs around 4:50 to 5:40 depending how good your team & competition is. but as a beginner, i'd say that 5:50-6:30 is pretty good. BUT anyways. we dont run that fast in a cross country race because you're running 3 times that amount, so we go at a bit slower pace. SO an average top 7 varsity cross country girl would run around 17:40-18:45. but as a beginner runner would probably run around 20:00 - 23:00

5) is it fun?! DEFINITELY! i fell in love with cross country. sometimes, the workouts can be difficult, but it's worth it when you run well in your races. just don't give up, and keep challening yourself. you'll be so proud when you finish a race =) so that besides, your teammates are like your 2nd family. they'll become your best friends bascially and the races are SO fun. you can yell and cheer your other levels on (varsity, junior varsity, and frosh/soph) i hope you'll love your team =)

hahah yes being a girl changes answers =P

Answer 6

1. for our varsity team we usually run at least 4 miles a day and up to 8 on our long runs. but it depends on the workout and if its an easy day and such.

2. most races are 5ks-3.1miles, they usually dont have shorter ones but there are varsity and jv and sometimes freshman/sophmore races

3. see if your hs team is having practice and start going to that, otherwise start running maybe like 2-3 miles a day. start out maybe with 15 miles this week and then next week about 17, just keep adding a few miles everyweek until practice. make sure to go on  a long run, maybe like 4 or 5 miles for you one day of the week.

4. a good mile is under 6min but if you really wanna compete probably anything under 5.15 is great. but you dont usually run mile races in xc.

5. yes its tons of fun! i love our team because it just feels like a family. plus, its a great way to make friends and meet new people before school starts.

good luck!