cross-country-suggestions’ official guide to running
1. Don’t listen to sad music the last 2-3 hours before you have a hard run, like a race or speed workout. It’ll mess with your head and your performance, even if you don’t realize. Have music that pumps you up. My personal favorites are Undyne’s theme from Undertale and “My Shot” from Hamilton. 2. You can eat snacks, spaced out enough and small enough to not get full, up to 20 minutes before running and be okay. If you’re going to fill up, it needs to be 2 hours before you run AT LEAST. 3. Carry a water bottle, at least 16 oz, with you throughout the day. Fill it up at every possible opportunity and drink, drink, drink. Your pee should be clear or almost clear. Drink from the moment you wake up to right before lights-out. 4. Run short distances barefoot (like strides, preferably on grass) pretty often. Practice your form and land on the balls of your feet. This will strengthen your ankles and foot arches, help you learn to land lightly, and reduce your overall chance of injury. 5. Don’t get shoes with soles more than ¾ inch thick. It may hurt less to land, but you’re actually landing harder and putting more stress on your whole body from the waste down and it will screw up your knees and ankles. If it hurts to footstrike, chances are that you’re striking wrong - your shoes being too thin is not the problem. Shoes’ only function is to protect you from the ground being hot or sharp objects like rocks or glass on the trail. Adjust your form. 6. Two different pairs of shoes: trainers, your regular tennis shoes; and racers, also called “flats,” also called “waffles.” My personal favorite is Saucony. You practice in your trainers and race in your racers since they are much lighter, and LOOK faster and will boost your confidence. Some people I knew did speed workouts in their racers. I wouldn’t, but it’s up to you. 7. SPANDEX. Chafing isn’t fun. I have scars on the insides of my upper thighs from so many years of chafing that the scars are layered. I have bled and people thought I was on my period. Apparently putting deodorant there works for some people to keep the ol legs smoothly gliding, but it didn’t for me. The only thing that saved me was Spandex. 8. Please please please for the love of God do not consume energy drinks, coffee, or soda. Especially on race day. It dehydrates you and may cause a heart attack. 9. Nobody, on your team or another team, is your enemy. They are competitors. Treat them nicely and with consideration. If you want to beat someone faster than you, their times are a goal. If you want to establish yourself as faster than someone you’re neck-and-neck with, they are a worthy opponent who is helping you be your best. Nobody is your enemy. Hard stop. 10. Do laundry often. On that topic, wash your uniform the day you use it or the day after. This will prevent you from having to stay up late to wash it the night before or get up early the day of the race to do it. Keep your uniform clean, yall. 11. If you have t-shirts or sweatshirts from previous teams or other sports, feel free to wear them to school or practice - but NEVER to a team potluck or awards ceremony. 12. Sunscreen. I can’t stress this enough. Broad Spectrum and at least 30 SPF. Here in Arizona I use 100 SPF and I still burn a little because I’m white as heck. Lather that stuff on all exposed skin that habitually burns - for me it’s arms above the elbow, shoulders, neck, and face, but it may be different for others. Ideally you’d put sunscreen on your entire body to prevent skin cancer, but I don’t because that would take too much sunscreen and I’d go broke buying the stuff. 13. If you have to choose between eating nothing and eating junk food, eat the junk food. I promise, it is better to give your body crap fuel than to give it none. 14. Swing your arms from the shoulders, not from the elbows. Your elbows should stay bent the same way the entire time, and your arms should move back and forth steadily. Your arms should swing low on long runs. Imagine that there are two pomegranates, each attached to one of your hips - your hands should hit the pomegranates with every swing. 15. If you want your legs to go faster, move your arms faster. Frickin PUMP the arms. Running happens with the entire body, not just the legs - don’t expect your legs to go if you’re not supporting them with the rest of you. 16. Looking down at the ground or up at the sky hurts posture and form. Look straight ahead (or bi ahead, or gay ahead, or ace ahead, whatever you are…) and focus on a point in the distance, or on the back of another runner’s head. 17. Go hard down hills - but not so hard that you fall forward - and pace yourself up them. Swing your arms HARD. 18. Find a regular breathing pattern. Irregular breathing stresses your diaphragm, makes your running weird, and can cause side stitches. 19. “In through the nose, out through the mouth” is, in my experience, utter bull. You get more air into your lungs more quickly by breathing in AND out through your mouth. (Keep in mind that I lived for the first 15 years of my life in a place with lots of air pollution and I might have below-average lungs as a result. Maybe in-nose-out-mouth works for you. It doesn’t for me. I can’t get enough oxygen.) 20. Take a crash course on nutrition from an accredited source, like a school health class or the USDA. You won’t regret it. 21. Don’t feel bad about gaining weight. Muscle weighs more than fat, you’ll want a lot of water in you which will make you heavier, AND you need fat in your body to be healthy. Never starve yourself and never feel guilty about eating when you’re hungry. No counting calories. You eat until you’re full, if you have enough food, and don’t purge it. Body Mass Index is an outdated and inaccurate way to determine health. I’d even say it’s better to be a little overweight than a little under, because an underweight person tires and passes out more easily. 22. Take tons of pictures! Your teammates, landscapes at races and practices, the starting line, friends on other teams, cool rocks you find near the course - take every picture you want to, even ugly or goofy selfies. You’ll be glad you did. 23. On hills, make sure your center of gravity is aligned correctly. Leaning too far in either direction can cause you to fall, waste energy, and/or hurt your back. 24. If your laces are long enough, always double or triple knot because i’ve seen people lose their shoes during their races and it ain’t fun 25. Bring toilet paper, porta-potties will run out. 26. Get in the bathroom line at least 20 minutes before your race to make sure you’re able to go before the gun. 27. When you’re getting in shape and/or coming back from illness or injury, you’ll want to practice less often, with less duration, and with less intensity. Never push yourself through really bad pain - you’ll hurt yourself more that way. 28. Do not run at all while sick. You will - not “might,” but WILL - infect other runners, put yourself in serious danger of overexhaustion or overheating, and majorly slow down the time it takes you to recover from that illness. It is better to miss one or two races than an entire season or an entire life. Anyone who tries to force you to run while sick - be it a coach, a teammate, or a parent - is absolute garbage. 29. Do not “push through” symptoms of heat sickness. If you start filling dizzy, getting chills, or experiencing other signs of heat sickness, get off the course, even if it’s the championship race; your time or place or possible college scholarship is not worth your life. Get in some shade and get water poured on you. Run with a partner so someone can help you if you experience heat sickness. Give yourself the proper recovery time to avoid relapse and further injury. 30. Stay in shape all summer to be ready for cross country season. Practice at least 4 times a week.
