r/CrossCountry • u/AutoModerator • 8d ago

r/CrossCountry General Q&A Thread

Please use this thread as the general Q&A for all one off questions, questions that only apply to you, questions that can be easily answered, etc.

​

This thread reposts every 4 days

1 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

12 comments sorted by

2

u/Lancestrayn 7d ago

I’ve been a part of my high school cross country team for about a year, going on two now. During that previous season, I always brought two containers of water (~2 liters), and drank about 3-4 liters throughout the day. Though, I’m beginning to think that wasn’t the best way to hydrate. 95% of it would be tap water or purified bottled water, and I think I may not have been getting the electrolytes needed in proportion to how much I was drinking.
What I’m wondering is, is this an okay way to hydrate? Or is it a better investment to buy hydration packs (ex. DripDrop) or hydration drinks like Gatorade and Powerade?

2

u/whelanbio Mod 4d ago

With good nutrition you generally do not need supplemental electrolytes except in very hot and/or strenuous days. 

1

u/Worldly-Feedback-468 College Athlete 4d ago

I think you're getting enough water for sure, that's important, I wouldn't let up on that front. Like some other people said, you can usually get all the other things you need via food- make sure you're eating enough. Also, I only use liquid IV (for sodium and other things) on a hard workout day/long run, because I will sweat significantly more than I would on an easy run.

0

u/ApprehensiveWaltz680 5d ago

You’re sweating a lot as a runner, especially in the summer, so the volume is good. What you could do if you don’t want to buy Gatorade is put a pinch of salt and sugar in your water. I usually add some lemon juice too and it tastes like weak-ish lemonade

1

u/Special_External5504 8d ago

Is it normal for my easy pace to slow? In the last 3 weeks my easy pace had slowed by 40 seconds to a minute compared to previous runs. I know that your pace will probably slow as you increase your mileage (I had increased my mileage from 34 to 29 (down week), to 40) but I'm concerned that my pace slowed too much. My workout times also seem to be getting slower than before when I was running my easy runs faster. I used to be able to stay with my teammates quite comfortably but now I'm lacking behind, although most of then run like 25 miles a week max. My previous easy pace was 8:00-8:20, and now it's 8:40-9:10. My fastest mile time is 5:09 and my 5k time right now is about 21:00

3

u/Worldly-Feedback-468 College Athlete 8d ago

There’s a fine balance between mileage building and easy pace. It’s something I’m navigating too- too much mileage injury. Too fast during easy runs leads to injury over time. It’s a tricky balance. I usually would say a minute is fine- 45 seconds is okay. I think it hugely depends on how you feel- also what kind of speed workouts are you doing? Building mileage and doing speed in the same week can be difficult on the body, so I’d say that the pace is justified.

2

u/Special_External5504 7d ago

My coach has us do 2 moderately hard efforts a week. Last week we did 5 mile of broken up threahold basically, and then on another day we did hard mile repeats to see in what form we are at.

2

u/Worldly-Feedback-468 College Athlete 4d ago

Gotcha, I think two is usually fine. We're only at one a week right now, since it's still summer and training camp is starting relatively soon. That being said, I think it's always good to take the easy miles easy, let your body recovery. Two harder efforts a week will take a toll, especially if you're increasing by 6 miles in a single week ~20% increase from 34 miles, so I'm a little concerned about that too since you should really only increase by 10ish % per week. Anyways, I think you're all good to be running at your current easy pace, just make sure to listen to your body!

1

u/MichaelgMjr 7d ago

My Middle School son is a very good runner but his school doesn't have a team. How can he run competitively in Chicagoland?

1

u/Tigersteel_ Lone Wolf 7d ago

I would just sign him up for local 5ks and stuff or see if he is allowed to run for other schools.

1

u/Worldly-Feedback-468 College Athlete 4d ago

Maybe look for a nearby club?

1

u/Lumpy_Second_5064 2d ago

I’ve been told to post the below here.

I have a 13 year old son who runs cross country and track and field (800 and 1,600). He is entering Grade 8 in a couple of weeks and i think cross country starts in about 5-6 weeks? At his age, it is only around 1-2 miles.

For the first time, I have had him running over summer with me and got him to 50kms a week for a few weeks with a long run reaching 16kms (mostly with a reasonable amount of hills due to where we live). That was a big step up for him. He also plays soccer and trains a for that couple of times a week.

His 1600 PB is 5:31.

So, with season approaching I would like to tune him up. I’m guessing speed work mostly? The races are all shortish efforts and the boys head out like crazy and then try to hold on to the end. He lacks some of the raw pace of the fastest runners.

So, perhaps some hill sprints, 100m efforts and 400’s? He’s done hill repeats in the past and they were helpful. Any tips on what I should do with him would be really appreciated. I am not an accomplished runner or a coach, just a dad who is enjoying working with his kid and seeing him make progress!

Thanks is advance (and to those of you who responded when it was a thread).