How can I get in shape for Cross Country?

How do i get in good shape for cross country?

• im a girl going into high school next year and i want to do cross country. I run 3.25 miles in 50 minutes which is terrible. I'm so out of shape, I mean i'm skinny but have no ...show more

• Answer:

  You need to slow down. If you can run a mile in 10 minutes, you should be running 3.25 miles in 32.5 minutes. Slow your pace down to 11 or 12 or even 13 minutes per mile. Going slower will allow you to go farther. The first stage of training is increasing endurance and mileage, and improving heart and lung function (which all go together). By running farther, slowly, your body begins to adapt to use oxygen and energy more efficiently. Your muscles will store more energy to deal with the longer mileage. Your heart gets stronger and moves more blood per beat. All of this translates to improved endurance. I suggest you work on this phase of training for your summer running. Build yourself slowly up to 4-5 miles per run, 5-6 runs per week. Go to Google or to www.runnersworld.com (the training section) and find a good warm up/cool down routine, and do it with every workout. Also, you might want to talk to the coach and ask if he/she would mind watching you jog for a few minutes one day (after school, during gym, etc.) and look at your form to see if you're doing something which could cause injury. Also, ask the coach if he/she has a summer mileage program which he/she gives the cross country team to run on their own. If not, start preparing 6-8 weeks before the first official team practice. The key here is time. It's going to take a while to get in shape, it's going to be a slow buildup. This means don't go out and kill yourself trying to run super hard now thinking you'll make bigger gains, because you won't, you'll just make yourself miserable.