Cross Country

Athlete Development
1

I’m a pretty fast runner but I lack major endurance. My 300 times are around 35-36. My coaches want me to run the 400 meter dash and the 4*4. So should I run CC and also do sprint workouts also and if I do how much time should I lose on my 400 right now I am at a 52. My 300 time says that I should be able to break 50 but I just lack the endurance

2

Your 400m abilities will be improved by an expansion of your special endurance capacity and, possibly by an expansion of your tempo volume, not through cross country work.

3

Agreed with Rupert. Also i agree you should easily be able to break 50. I run the same times in the 300 as you as i run 49. However i do not do specific 400 meter training and the longest interval i have ran at practice is the occasional 300.

4

Umm 200 time. Well I ran a relay for my school teamand they said my split was 21.7( I don’t believe that though) So I am guessing maybe 22-23 range. I would have a concrete answer but NO hablo espanol:mad:

5

22-23 seconds is great time for a sub-50 400 runner. You just have to work on SPECIFIC ENDURANCE which can be achieved through special endurance runs, not aerobic cross-country work.

6

uh oh. I can’t play football this year due to surgery and was invited to join cross country and I did. How detrimental to sprint performance can it be? Will continuing to lift weights and doing sprint work hinder slow-twitch recruitment? I am extremely concered about this now.

7

It can be pretty detrimental, but since you will be lifting (sprint specifically I hope) and doing speed workouts you should be fine. I think you can do “modified” cross country work by doing some of their tempo workouts, but not their mileage. If they are doing too much volume of tempo then cut it short. Just make sure to avoid going purely aerobic during the “GPP” or for you Cross Country season.

8

Depends on your coach. I have several track athletes involved with cross country simply because they have no other fall sport. I realize they are not cc runners nor is that the plan for them. All workouts are tailored to their needs. Races vary significantly for them. Some run part of the race. Some use the beginning as a warm-up then run the last 400-600 “all-out”. Some don’t race at all.

Bottom line: If you are disciplined to run by yourself, you don’t need cc. If you know you are lazy and won’t do the training by yourself, talk to the coach about your needs.

Sometimes having a place to be with a group of people waiting for you is not a bad idea.

9

I don’t know a lot of people, besides myself, that are truly willing to train alone for sprints considering they won’t compete until as early as Dec./Jan. I actually gave up football for track, so I have nothing else to do :smiley: .

I do agree with modifying cross country if you decide to run it. Just be careful if you do join the team that the coach doesn’t try to make you run miles because that is going to be detrimental. Run some of the tempo workouts and add in your own stuff.

A recipe for success will be made when you determine your needs and modify things to your advantage. Don’t run XC because you are made to, do it because you know it might help you and if you do run, use it to your advantage.

10

Thanks guys. I’m going to print this out for my cross country coach. He is also the 4x100 coach and the head men’s coach, so he will understand. and yes 400 Stud, I will be doing sprint specific lifts. I could train by myself, as I did for sprints all summer, but I really enjoy the company of the cross country team, so I think I will practice with them when I can.