r/CrossCountry

I am a female and currently run like 11:45 pace for 20-25 mpw with a hr ranging anywhere from 148-159 and my coach is telling me thats too high (my max is 199) and I need to slow down until I reach the 130s.

This would mean I would likely be at a 12-13 min mile, maybe even 14 mins which would make running my mileage take even longer when I was already feeling disappointed with my easy pace.

Is this normal? Why is my heart rate so high even at what is hardly considered a jog/walk for some people and is it even considered running if I have to drop that slow on my runs

For reference I am just a slower runner in general. I started at a 30+ min 5k and am now around 25 mins.

I know it’s my coach but is this good advice and should I just not stress about needing to slow down? Or is there an issue with my heart rate

Thank you in advance

I’m about 10 months into running. During my first XC season, I never really went to team practices, and my PR ended up being 20:50 for the 5K.

My track season was pretty similar, although I became a lot more consistent after getting a Garmin. Throughout track, I averaged about 12 miles per week each month from December - may probably simmilar throughout xc . By the end of the season, I ran 4:57 for the 1600m (coming off being sick) and 2:09 for the 800m.

This summer, I increased my mileage to about 25 mpw in June, and my plan is to gradually build up to around 40 mpw during XC season.

I’m wondering what a realistic range for my 5K could be with the higher mileage. If anyone has been in a similar situation, what do you think I should aim for? My ultimate goal is to break 17:00 eventually, but I’d like to know what would be a realistic expectation for this upcoming XC season. I wanna make varsity this year at the least which is a sub 19 5k

i have no basis for my fitness my Garmin predictor says I’m around 18:20 shape but I don’t trust it gets a good read on my hr cus it says my max is 220 and ion believe that

Context: I’m going to be a junior in HS in the fall and want to take XC seriously. I just hit 32 miles this week after slowly building. Any advice would be nice.

I ran varsity all 4 years in high school — 18:22 as a freshman, PR’d at 17:29, qualified for regionals every year, 2nd Team All-Conference junior year. Working on a simple summer training guide aimed at kids about to run their first cross country season, especially the ones with no prior training background who are nervous about not being ready for day one of practice.

Before I finish it, I wanted to ask people here: what do you wish someone had told you before your first XC summer? Specific worries, mistakes you made, injuries, stuff nobody warned you about — anything helps. Trying to make sure this covers real problems instead of just what I assume matters.

Hi all, I’m a high school cross-country runner going into my senior year. I ran an 18:14 5K during my junior year, and my goal is to break 17 minutes this season.

Training has gone well this summer. I’ve been running in the 40-mile range for the past two weeks and plan to build up to around 50 miles per week. Despite all of that, I still carry considerably more stomach fat than most distance runners. I’m 5’6” and weigh around 150 pounds.

That said, I ran a 22:27 5K as a sophomore and improved to 18:14 as a junior despite my weight. Last summer, I was about the same height and weighed around 140 pounds during the summer, then about 150 pounds during the season. This summer, though, I haven’t seen my weight drop at all.

I know I probably eat more than most people, but I also know plenty of distance runners who seem to eat just as much—or more—and whatever they want, yet they stay skinny.

Is my weight something I should be worried about?
Should I start trying to cut weight now so I’m lighter during the season, or would that be a mistake? I’d appreciate any advice or experiences you can share.

Anyone have tips, going into college and want to impress my coach with a solid 5k before I walk on. I ran 9:17 3200m early may.

My daughter’s (private all girls) high school team has had a lot of coach and athletic turnover in the two years she has been in high school. Most recently, her main coach quit after the first outdoor track meet and the varsity girls finished their season training with the local boys school coach, who is very experienced and extremely successful (coached Ivy League for over two decades). My daughter thrived with him, running a 4:55 1600m and 2:15 800m after running 18:33 for 5K, all her sophomore year. We decided to hire him privately so her training can remain consistent and because she wants to continue progressing and run in college.

Fast forward to this week and the school hired the new distance coach. Before meeting the girls and asking them what training they’ve done, what their goals are, injury history… he told all the varsity girls they’d be running 52 miles a week and he had already planned every single workout and pace until the state meet in November. My daughter has never run more than 31 miles a week to achieve her current times, and while she expects an increase, jumping rapidly to 52 seems dangerous and unnecessary. I politely asked if he would grant us permission for the private coach to continue planning her training and he was very offended, showing me the 200 cells of data in his spreadsheet that he planned for her for the season. Am I wrong for being nervous about such a drastic training change as my daughter heads into her junior year? My daughter really just wants to continue the training she knows, but we don’t want the new coach to dislike her. She is the only one on her team at this level with the goal (most of her varsity team from last year just graduated).

This is the location for all questions, discussions related to cross country training.

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.

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Hey everyone, I don't mean to discourage fellow members of the running community with this post but I am really in a dilemma right now and don't know if I'm in the right mental state to make a rational decision so some outside perspective from people with far more experience than me would be really appreciated right now.

I'm in high school and I had a generally successful (but injury-ridden) freshman year running varsity and having the opportunity to race at some of the championship meets. I'm nowhere near elite or top of my team but I have been recognised with all-conference and the like.

I had an ankle issue (likely a sprain) at the beginning of cross country season but I recovered and salvaged the season, motivating me to do indoor track. That was the first time I started to consistently experience feelings of dread related to running, and seriously contemplated quitting. I decided to push through because my times weren't good enough to make me a scorer for indoor anyway and so I had a pretty short season as a result.

I planned to start a Summer of Malmö-inspired summer training plan based on my coach's recommendations but I've been struggling to get outside going, and so far easy runs at a much slower pace than what I was hitting during track season have felt mentally and physically horrible and I'm struggling to run over a mile without stopping.

• I had a tibial stress fracture at the beginning of outdoor season. The recovery process was slow and frustrating, but I was determined not to lose fitness and cross-trained fairly aggressively. When I came back, I started to hit PR's after a few weeks of regaining race sharpness and that was probably the peak of my season.
• I haven't felt the joy of running consistently in a while, even during successful periods of each season. The end of outdoor track was pretty bittersweet: both sad and grateful that structured training had ended and I was on my own. Easy runs have felt draining, physically and mentally, with added pressure from my coach not helping things.
• Since outdoor track ended I haven't really felt like myself. I've been sleeping way too much and my appetite has been up and down. The very idea of going outside for an easy shakeout feels horrible. Running is a huge part of my identity though and I would probably have regrets if I quit eventually, but feel good initially.

Any suggestions would be very helpful. Thank you in advance.

Edit: removed the part about recruiting as I think some people misunderstood what I meant, I'm not saying I have a guaranteed/likely shot at D3, I was just trying to give some perspective on where I am in my development

I am a freshman male (this year, next is sophomore) and I am wondering about a few things. Mostly, 1. What is a reasonable goal for a 4-mile race, 2. Can I get sub-20 next season, and 3. Is it better to set goals as sub-21 -> sub-19 -> sub-17 or sub-20 ​ -> sub-18 -> sub-17?

Here's some of my data:

5'8.5", 135-140lbs.

5K: 23:22, 338ft elevation gain/loss (combined), mix of road and trails.

Mile: 6:30, first of 4x1mi w/ 3 min rest (others were 6:58, 7:00, and 6:58, all on sidewalk).

400m: 1:19, part of 11x400m, towards the end. All were sub-1:35, except for maybe two. On sidewalk.

5 miles: 40:14, in a tempo run that I admittedly went a bit hard on, and the heat was a (small) factor.​ On sidewalks, fairly flat.

The 4-mile race is this Saturday, and the elevation look like this: ~ It is net downhill, and on the road.

Also, is there anything that I can add to my training? I do easy, one long run a week, 1 hard day a week, 1 rest day a week, 1-2 cross training days a week, and 1 strength session a week. I generally try to avoid dairy, but I have some cheese now and then. I aim for 8.5+ hours of sleep, and I warm-up for every run and stretch after. My hard runs are usually intervals or tempo runs. For intervals, should I focus more on speed or lactic acid, or even cruise intervals?

I know this is a lot, but I appreciate the help.​

I’m mainly a Sprints, Mid Distance & Jumps Coach taking over HS XC Team. I have a pretty good grasp on training and planning. I just have two main questions; what’s common race strategy for the 5k? Running by mile splits or kilometer splits? Even splits? It is similar to the mile how the first and last parts are faster than the middle? Also what are reasonable PB goals? Like 20 to 30s?

For reference the boys returning team is averaging 18:30 and girls 22:45. Over the last few years there have Boys run 40mpw and Girls run 25mpw. Majority of is aerobic conditioning. They’ve never really worked lactate threshold or VO2 max. I plan to keep the mileage the same or a bit lower to add in threshold and V02 work responsibly.

Anything helps. Thanks in advance.

Hi, I'm a mid-distance runner who ran a 2:29 800m as a sophomore, and I am coming into my junior year, and I am going to do XC in the fall. This summer I am running a peak of 50mpw, and I'm doing core, strides, and weight room during it.

I did XC and track my freshman year, but did sprints in track (which i regret), and had a PR of 26:12 because I didn't really try. This year, I don't expect myself to be running crazy 5k times, but what are some good goals for me to reach while in XC this year?

Any specific times, training goals, or just anything in general? LMK

I've been running my whole life. I started running cross country when I was in second grade, and I've ran track and cross country ever since then. My sophomore year, I had an SI joint injury that took me out of my last race of cross country season, and an Achilles tendon injury took me out of indoor track and the first half of track season. My SI joint pain came back about a week ago, and I've been in pain while running and doing daily activities. Also, I've had a lot of issues with my teammates, resulting in half the team hating me and the other half not giving much support. My coach has been no help, and I've been really frustrated. I could barely get myself up yesterday morning to go to practice, and it feels like a crazy chore to get my runs in. I've been completely dreading summer practice and cross country season. My parents are both runners, and they've never let me quit in the past, but this situation is getting out of hand. I don't want to face my coach, and I don't want to quit, but I don't think I can handle this anymore. What do I do?

EDIT: I don't want to go into too much detail about the team environment, but I've been excluded from a lot of team bonding opportunities. There were people that came up with crazy accusations about me, and the coach didn't do much to stop it once people told him. Honestly, I've loved cross country and being active, but the environment isn't what it was when I joined two years ago.

I decided to do cross country this fall for the first time and im kind of scared. Im not really a runner and I joined to have more endurance and be more fit. But I’m scared that I will fall behind because I’m slow and not that fit. Any Tips on how to get better this summer?

This is the location for all questions, discussions related to cross country training.

Hello all, so I’ve been a cross country coach for a few years now but just as an assistant and started my first year as head coach this year and need some help figuring out a good workout plan for the summer. Any ideas or tips would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!!