Cross Training Questions - whats the best way to start training for cross country??

whats the best way to start training for cross country??

cross country starts early next school year and i wanna run over the summer to get in shape for it.. what are some good training techniques for 5 and 10 k's

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Run, go long one day, shorter the next, then long again, let your body have softer run after a hard one to relaz the muscles a bit, but RUN, RUN, RUN, main thing
warm up really good 1st then run some hills close by to were you live. don't do it a lot or as often at first but gradually increase the amounts. It should help get you really in shape and build up some of the major muscles that you use in xc!!!! GOOD LUCK!!!<3
As he said, you need to run. For the first week do a series of EASY paced but longer runs, speed is not what you need at all, so a shorter run is pretty useless if your JUST starting running. I dont know what kind of shape your in but a 30 minute easy run should be good.... if its easy go 40 the next day, but if that 40 feels good dont go to 50 stay at 40 but maybe a LITTLE faster. The next week maybe do even 25 minute tempo runs where u increase your speed throughout the workout. But if your really out of shape... just run easy for a week or two. I can tell you much more if you let me know what shape your in and how your run goes tomorow. But TOMOROW go for a 30 minute jog, if you jog twice a week and your in somewhat shape but not long distance. Go 40 mins easy. speed is not what you want, its time and distance. (I can give a whole workout once you get out of the out of shape phase after about 2 weeks) And what i suggest is what you should do, ive been running for 4 years my sister for 7 years and she was the top runner in san diego. (im not a stupid fat guy haha) well cya! have fun running!
Firstly, dont worry about speed, that comes in the late season when your "playoff" comes around...Work on 1 thing, distance...a high school xc (cross country) race is 5k or 3.1 miles. So never run shorter than 3.1 miles...all summer your miles should accumulate to between 300-500 total miles. I reccomend something like this for your first week: Monday- warm up, stretch, jog 5-6 miles, cool down Tuesday- warm up, stretch, jog 4 miles, cool down *note you will probably be sore from the first day...so take it easy. Wednesday-warm up, stretch, jog 6-8 miles, cool down Thursday- warm up, stretch, jog 7 miles, cool down Friday- warm up, stretch, jog 4 miles, cool down Saturday warm up, stretch, jog 10+ miles, cool down the first 10 days are always the hardest, keep hydrated and keep running...if you feel light headed or abnormal pain in your body, stop your body is probably trying to tell you something....granted jogging 10 miles will hurt, but it shouldn't be anything like sharp pain or anything like that.... Good luck
Try build up stamina by running on the beach sand first and then gradually go out and away from the city limits to pick up speed levels
running milage is the key factor in summer training for xc. that is basically the only thing you need to do to get ready. if you already are a somewhat experienced runner then you should be able to run 6 days a week at an easy pace for 45-60 minutes each day. that is all it takes, but if you slack off and stop running or cut back a lot especially near the end of summer you will regret it when the season rolls around because you will have lost all your previous hard work, i have personal experience with this so keep mentally strong to get physically strong.
My high school had a summer program that required returning runners to run at least 250 miles in the summer. The newcomers had run with us, and they were soon top runners of the frosh/soph races. However, if you want to run, I'd suggest you run at least 500 miles in the summer. That's roughly 8 miles a day (without sunday)--3 miles in the morning and 5 miles in the afternoon. If you want to exceed yourself to the max and get a possible spot in for Varsity, I'd highly recommend you to run 1000 miles in the summer. Sounds crazy! Very time-consuming, yet very worthy. Without no doubt, you'd already have decreased your time by at least TWO minutes than just running 500 miles. So if you ran 500 miles, and you got 20 minutes for your first 5k, but if you ran 1000 miles, then you would've gotten sub-18 minutes. 1000 miles = without sunday, roughly 16 miles a day. 5 miles in the morning, 11 miles in the day. Or try evening it out, whatever it comforts you. It's very difficult, but by the start of the season, you'd be praised. Literally. Since cross country involves on terrain surfaces, don't spend too much time running on the track. Instead, find somewhere to run with hills, grass, sand, etc. to give yourself the feeling of the sport. Also, don't drink soda and any other form of carbonated water. Takes away your oxygen. And don't be blood donor, also. Have at least 7.5 hrs. of sleep each night. More sleep=more energy. Have a great season!
You have to run, basically. But, a good thing to do is draw out a workout plan. Run 6 miles this day, run for 50 minutes this day, run a faster but shorter distance of 3 or 4 miles this day. Things like that. And, if you keep doing that and if you do other things like stretching and drinking a lot of water, you'll start improving very fast. That's what happened to me earlier this year. I was running 21:15 in the beginning of the season, which is terrible. Then I started training a lot and I got a personal record of 19:21. So, you really can improve. Also, during those running workouts, try to work on your form. Don't run too stiffely or it will tire you out. Make sure to run loose and have your arms in the right place, things like that. Work on pushing harder when you're running up hills as well. Those things should really help.
There are stages in running.. all summer you should be working on your base, base milage is the key. All summer run run run ... do not kick when u finish save all sprinting and hard running for the season.. in the off season work on your base miles.. every 3 weeks boost the miles up by a few a weeks... tell yourself you want run a certain time by the end of the season and make that your goal... run smart and the chips fall into place