Official Cross Country/ Distance Running Thread

[LRXC]

Gotchya, thats cool, I am not really an indoor track person, as I like to take it a bit easier over the winter "Even though I overtrain all the time lol" And I am also injured... I have some shin issues and some knee issues because of growth problems and muscle stability issues "Little skinny aha" =) But yeah thats cool, I am not really a 800m or 1600m guy, I guess I dont have the "leg speed" to have the crucial finishing kick and to keep that high speed, I usually underpace those events a lot. Which is why I am a 3200m runner, I actually like that event, really fun and challenging. The only thing that stinks about running the 3200m is that you have to wait until the end of the meet to run it, at least in Wisconsin haha.

What time did you run in the 800m and 1600m your sophomore year?, which was last year I am guessing aha. =)

Ununhexium

 

[JTD783]

I cheered on my team's Varsity races this morning at CIF Finals (South Section, Division 2). Our boys got 2nd and our girls got 7th in their respective races and have both qualified to run at the California state meet next Saturday. Super excited for all of them :)

Edit: I didn't race, I'm not fast enough to be in CIF :p

http://cif_southern_section_cross_country_finals.runnerspace.com/

 

[LRXC]

I cheered on my team's Varsity races this morning at CIF Finals (South Section, Division 2). Our boys got 2nd and our girls got 7th in their respective races and have both qualified to run at the California state meet next Saturday. Super excited for all of them :)

http://cif_southern_section_cross_country_finals.runnerspace.com/

Hey that is awesome man! and Wow you guys have state much later then we do in Wisconsin, our state meet was on Halloween! Haha JTD783

 

[JTD783]

You guys run 3200m track in America? Damn im glad im European

From having ran the 3200 multiple times, I can say with absolute conviction that it's much harder mentally than running a 3-mile (or about 4.9 kilometer) course in a park. Maybe it's the lack of scenery, or perhaps it's the rich taste of rubber filling your mouth from the field if the wind starts blowing. Good times...

LittleRunnerXC My current PRs in the 800 and 1600 are 2:21 and 5:10, respectively. I ran them in my league meets last spring.

With this talk of track season, I will probably request this thread to be closed sometime around the end of the year and make a new one for the 2016 track season in a few months. For the time being, I'll keep this open.

 

[DaAwesomeDude1]

Well since it's winter track season for me I guess I should do a small little update haha. We had a team time trial the other day for the 800 M, which is my main race, and I ran a 2:11. There were 25 MPH winds that day so it wasn't my best race unfortunately. I wanted to at least hit my PR from last year but guess it just wasn't the day haha. Super excited for indoor season to start though and we got a small glimpse at what our freshmen can do which is always exciting.

 

[JTD783]

I ran a local 5K Turkey Trot yesterday and got 17:53, average mile pace was about 5:45. It was fun getting to race more casually now that my season is over.

 

[JTD783]

*Update on thread*

Seeing as how everyone's season is over and Track will be starting up in a few months, I figure it's about time I ask for this thread to close. Big thanks to everyone who's posted here; I never imagined to get such a turnout.

I also thought I'd wait a while to share developments with my team and myself as there have been many in the past few weeks. On Nov. 21 our boys team placed 2nd in California's CIF South Section D2 championships; our girls placed 7th. Both qualified for the CA state meet on Nov. 28, where our boys got 2nd and our girls got 10th. It's the best we've ever done iirc. After that most of my team took time off, whereas I've kept training to make sure I didn't get out of shape. My teammates Nikki and Dylan (3rd in CIF, 6th in state, and 1st in CIF, 3rd in state respectively) qualified for the Foot Locker National Championships and raced this morning in San Diego. Dylan placed 12th in America for boys, Nikki got 25th for girls. It's been a very successful season for everyone, and I'm excited to see what we can accomplish in years to come.

 

[Stratos]

cross country season never ends, bitch. 9 months of practice and 3 months of races

 

[Ununhexium]

So I had my first winter track meet today and I ran the 1500. Err, the 1340 because the officials couldn't fucking count and cut the race a lap short (UNH has a 160 meter track [and they don't let you use spikes or even shoes that can hold spikes for whatever fucking reason]) and I ran 4:35 which I prorated to about 5:04 give or take a second or two. Not great, but it was good for me.

Also in case any of y'all ever go there it's dry as shit lol it's like you've been eating cotton

Edit: my season end goal is to get sub 4:55 or 4:50

 

[LRXC]

Yeah I have been injured for the past 4-5 months with knee issues and have been going to PT and doing exercises and stuff. I went to the Sports Medicine Doctor last Tuesday and found out I have Patellofemoral Knee Pain Syndrome. I will be better in apporximately 7-8 weeks supposedly so hopefully I can be at my full potential in Track! ALso, nice job Ununhexium! =)

 

[cuzzie]

Oh LittleRunnerXC I got something called Patellar Tendonitis... It hurts bad, but it comes and goes in waves. I should be good for this track season though, as rest has helped a lot. This is a nice thread :) 1st day of official track practice starts tomorrow!

 

[Ununhexium]

I'm so happy winter track is over lol can we have XC back now

 

[Stratos]

I'm so happy winter track is over lol can we have XC back now

Your winter track season is already over? Where I live, "Outdoor" (not that winter track was indoors in anything but name, or that i'd want it to be, cuz that'd be boring as fuck) doesn't start until March 1. I mean sure, unless you make the championship races you're done with races, but I hope you're not just taking a month off between seasons!

 

[Ununhexium]

Your winter track season is already over? Where I live, "Outdoor" (not that winter track was indoors in anything but name, or that i'd want it to be, cuz that'd be boring as fuck) doesn't start until March 1. I mean sure, unless you make the championship races you're done with races, but I hope you're not just taking a month off between seasons!

I'm not I still go to practices but I just really hate running in 20 degree weather, especially when you have NH weather and it's in the 50s on Thursday then like 4 inches of snow the next

Spring track is much more fun and warm

 

[LRXC]

Yeah, I just got to start walk-running... gosh I hate saying that, but I am recovering! Turns out I have PatelloFemoral Pain Syndrome... but its a little different for me haha.

 

[Lee]

Oversimplifying but have found, through over a decade as a competitive runner, that the majority of overuse injuries can be treated with a handful of simple exercises.

For knee pain, stretch your quadriceps religiously and begin a protocol of back squats. If squats are too painful, do eccentric squats initially. If you're a heel-striker, consider a form-change.

For shin/foot pain, stretch your calves out constantly. A few calf stretches can be done in day-to-day situations without attracting attention so master them. Do toe-curls (grip a sock with your toes, release, repeat) and do proprioception balance work (stand on one forefoot for 60 second reps on a variety of inclines).

For ITB pain, see knee pain but also do single-legged deadlifts - should be a mandatory exercise for all runners; do them for a week and you'll see why. Also, ITB pain is one of the few instances where I find foam-rolling genuinely effective.

 

[LRXC]

Oversimplifying but have found, through over a decade as a competitive runner, that the majority of overuse injuries can be treated with a handful of simple exercises.

For knee pain, stretch your quadriceps religiously and begin a protocol of back squats. If squats are too painful, do eccentric squats initially. If you're a heel-striker, consider a form-change.

For shin/foot pain, stretch your calves out constantly. A few calf stretches can be done in day-to-day situations without attracting attention so master them. Do toe-curls (grip a sock with your toes, release, repeat) and do proprioception balance work (stand on one forefoot for 60 second reps on a variety of inclines).

For ITB pain, see knee pain but also do single-legged deadlifts - should be a mandatory exercise for all runners; do them for a week and you'll see why. Also, ITB pain is one of the few instances where I find foam-rolling genuinely effective.

Yes I have learned all of this over time, except sing legged deadlifts. However, yes I am a midfoot striker and am slowly working my way towards Forefoot striking, but yeah thanks for the tips :) I am actually starting to gain ground with my ~~walk-running~~ (lol) ;) Great insight Lee

 

[JTD783]

Hey guys, sorry I've been MIA for a while, been busy with school.

I ran in my first 8K yesterday morning (Brea 8K), which is about a 5-mile race btw. I finished with a 28:54 and 7th on my team. It was a lot of fun to do, since I've never raced longer than a 5K.

 

[JTD783]

I ran a couple pr's this week in the 1600 and 3200.

I got sick after the 8K I mentioned earlier so my mile felt kinda off but I came through with a 5:09.

Last night I ran in my first varsity race in the 2 mile at Irvine Invitational (thankfully there were 2 heats and I was put in the slower one so I didn't get dropped on my neck). I wasn't sick by that point and ran a 10:37, a huge pr from my old one of 11:16.

Excited to see what I can do in the next few weeks.

 

[LRXC]

Alright, Hey everyone, Track season started for us about 2 weeks ago, and we are having our first meet over Spring Break, pretty excited to watch my friends race. My injuries are slowly getting better, so thats good, still sucks not to run though.

But anyhow! This is now the permanent Running room on PS http://psim.us/groupchat-thebagman-running So this will be the actual room. It isnt up all the time, but is up at least once a day, like I say in my signature, so go check it out guys! Its not just XC and Distance running btw, it is also welcome to Track Runners as well :)

 

[DaAwesomeDude1]

Hey so I know this is kinda dead but since it's April, that means most of us should be well into our track season haha, so what better time to revive this thread. Today was an amazing day. 75 degree weather with 7 mph winds, so a perfect day to PR. I ran the 4x800 and mile, PRed in the 4x800 with a time of 2:05. In the mile, I was pretty off on my PR since I tried a new strategy lol. Me and 3 other guys from our team are all trying to shoot for under 5 minutes (well technically 2 are trying to go under 5 while me and the other guy were aiming for under 4:50 so might as well pace them for under 5 haha). Initially we were planning to go 75, 75, 70, 69 for a 4:49, which sounds so much easier on paper. First lap we hit 75, 2nd we came through at 78. On the 3rd lap, I forgot to check my watch so when I looked, which is when we hit bell lap, we were at 3:53 so our group hauled on the last lap. Unfortunately my teammate and I hit 5:00 and 5:01 respectively while the other two got 5:02, which is a PR for them so yay, but I can't complain too much. All in all, pretty good day.

 

[LRXC]

Nice job! DaAwesomeDude1 ! Really nice to hear from you again. I wanted to announce something to you guys however. So as you all may know, I have bene working on the Running Project for PS, however, me and thebagman have been really busy lately, and with track season, finals, and other stuff coming up, I think I am going to postpone the project til the summer, just letting you guys know :).

 

[JTD783]

^That's totally fine; it's a tough job and I'm happy that it's come so far :)

I'll start by saying that I feel bad for not posting much lately, school's been crazy.

Anyways, I ran at the Irvine Distance Carnival meet today (just a basic distance-based allcomers, no you don't get a stuffed animal if you win). I finally broke 5 in the mile and ran a 4:54, which is a big PR for me. I was kinda surprised since I got sick two weeks ago and haven't been feeling well, and a lot of other stuff has happened that have been pretty hard for me, long story but not important. I also ran in my trainers (Brooks Ravenna 7's), so I will probably need to start wearing flats/spikes for races, as long as they don't get me injured (it's happened before :/ ).

Also congrats DaAwesomeDude1 those times are really good.

 

[LRXC]

^That's totally fine; it's a tough job and I'm happy that it's come so far :)

I'll start by saying that I feel bad for not posting much lately, school's been crazy.

Anyways, I ran at the Irvine Distance Carnival meet today (just a basic distance-based allcomers, no you don't get a stuffed animal if you win). I finally broke 5 in the mile and ran a 4:54, which is a big PR for me. I was kinda surprised since I got sick two weeks ago and haven't been feeling well, and a lot of other stuff has happened that have been pretty hard for me, long story but not important. I also ran in my trainers (Brooks Ravenna 7's), so I will probably need to start wearing flats/spikes for races, as long as they don't get me injured (it's happened before :/ ).

Also congrats DaAwesomeDude1 those times are really good.

Sick man! 4:54 is really good for the mile. You know whats crazy, we had a freshman last year, who ran 4:57 in the mile. Its just so funny how crazy talented some people are, and this kid does absolutely nothing in the offseason.

Speakin of this, does anyone else have that grudge like you are the one who is training and dedicating time towards the sport, and your the one getting injured, while the rest are running fast PR's from doing almost nothing? Haha.

 

[JTD783]

Sick man! 4:54 is really good for the mile. You know whats crazy, we had a freshman last year, who ran 4:57 in the mile. Its just so funny how crazy talented some people are, and this kid does absolutely nothing in the offseason.

Speakin of this, does anyone else have that grudge like you are the one who is training and dedicating time towards the sport, and your the one getting injured, while the rest are running fast PR's from doing almost nothing? Haha.

I'm fortunate to be one of those people who almost never gets injured (happened one time two years ago) and can consistently get good workouts and mileage in. I've seen what it's like for people who are injury-prone, and I know it can be tough. I've made things work by wearing shoes with good support and not doing insane mileage. My team also trains in cycles (more or less) to keep us feeling fresh instead of burning out after a few hard weeks. My setbacks usually come when I get sick, which normally is a rare occurrence, but then again I've gotten sick twice in the past month and a half. On the bright side, I'm back to normal now.