<p>um..is cross country hard, cause i may wana take it, after all you dont need to try out, im not such a good athlete though-_-, so can i have some oppinions, its much appreciated, Thank you everyone.</p>
<p>How do you feel about running a 5k race on an open field? That's what you do in a CC meet. It's very different from a 5k race on a track because every course is different, the same course can run differently on different days, and everyone runs at once.
One reason you usually don't have to "try out" for cross country is that only the top 5 finishers on your team count toward the results. That's why one school can enter 7 runners while another has 10. There are tactics for the other team members -- you can learn more by looking up "cross country running" on wikipedia.
You run for your team and you run to improve yourself -- unlike other team sports, you don't get to warm the bench while others play.
As a novice, you don't have to invest in cross country shoes if it turns out you don't like it. You can run in your running shoe. But invest in a good shoe -- go to a place where they know about running shoes -- practice is running evey day. Go to a place where someone can look at an old shoe and see your running style by the wear pattern on the bottom. The right shoe will keep your feet happy -- the wrong shoe will make your feet, knees, legs, back, and whole bunch of other places unhappy.
If you like to run, but don't like running on a track, cross country might be just what you are looking for.</p>
<p>its kind of hard in the beginning , but its a lot of fun, because runners are for the most part happy people...its all those endorphins :) ....but you should definitely try it even if you arent "such a good athlete" as you put it,....however, before it starts, you might want to start running a bit on your own....just a couple miles every other day or something like that.....and make sure you get good running shoes of you do decide to do it....they dont neccesarily need to be cross shoes , but make sure you have decent ones, and that you talk to someone in the store to make sure you get the right kind for the kind of running you will be doing or you will get injured really fast....and that will definitely put you off running...good luck!</p>
<p>Sports are overrated, but you should get into fencing.</p>
<p>sean, cross country is a great sport because it's not like team sports--you're running by your own standards.
if you're not that great an athlete, Cross Country will really help you get in shape. if i were you i would start running now every day or every other day to prepare. good luck. i personally am too weak to join the cross country team, so i run by myself every day and spare myself the embarrassment. but im sure you can go get em</p>
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Sports are overrated, but you should get into fencing.
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<p>Fencing is incredibly fun. I did it for a year, skipping cross country every Friday to go to practice. I quit during my senior year to take running more seriously.</p>
<p>Anyway, I joined cross country during my junior year because I was insane. What kind of person joins a sport that is most other sports form of punishment? Haha. It was tough in the beginning--hell it was tough the entire season, but if you put effort, you cant get a lot better really quickly. I went from a 16:30 minute two mile time trial on a track in August to a 21:15 5K on my school's hilly-ass course in October.</p>
<p>The thing with cross country is that people from all levels of shape are on it--we had our elite runners (one guy ran a 14:30 5K at a William and Mary race), and we had our "Bomb Squad," guys who were toying with the 30 minute mark in races. Nobody cared--we still always waited and yelled our asses off at the finish line to beat the other slow people. The cross country team was very supportive of everyone.</p>
<p>Then senior year rolled around, and somehow, after not training all summer--I started the season with a 12:40 2-mile time trial. After that, I really got into it. I quit fencing so I wouldn't skip practice anymore...I ran a 19:01 at William and Mary. It all paid off when my coach put me in the Varsity race at conference championships (meets around here go you put your top 7 guys in the varsity A race, and everyone else in varsity B). Sure, I came in 6th to last with a 19:15, but it was an amazing experience.</p>
<p>So in the course of two seasons, I went from an 8:15 mile pace to running a 5:30 first mile. (And consequently dying on the last mile every time--never was good at pacing myself.)</p>
<p>Join! Running is a sport where anyone can get competitive. Even if you're way in the back--you will still be racing somebody, and he'll be racing you.</p>
<p>If you are seriously considering it get out and start running now. When practice starts they expect you to have a certain level of conditioning already. Be careful to build up gradually so you don't start the season injured. I will echo the above posts with this - cross country runners are amazingly supportive of their teammates. It can be a lot of fun and a great way to stay in shape. I know other kids who never felt particularly athletic that thrived in the cross country environment. It's worth a shot anyway - you may end up loving it!</p>
<p>This is my problem everyone i am kind of overweight i think...and i never run...and i dont think i can even run half a mile and ,i dont work out and i wana know if i am going to have to run alot.
I m not that strong either either JIMbob, considering i cant even pick up a 30 pound weight with both of my hands and i remember when we were doing the circuit unit in gym this year i could only bench 20 </p>
<p>I seriously dont know if thats good and i am willing to try my best to get into shape</p>
<p>In that case I would say this year is out - it would be pretty hard at this late date without risking injury. However maybe you could volunteer as a manager. You could help the coach with times and stuff, see if the sport really interests you, and then start preparing for next year. At our high school the only events they compete in are 5K's so you would have to be able to do that. After school practices could be as long as 8 miles so you do a lot of running. It is not for everybody - you definitely have to work hard, but the rewards are great.</p>
<p>yeah, you definitely dont want to start out too fast because it might end up being a bad experience for you and it may put you off of running....you should still start running though, so that you can get in shape for track or something...you can do distance track in the spring and then if you run over next summer, you should be ready for XC.</p>
<p>Well, I don't know how other teams operate, but on my old team, the coach would assign workouts based on the shape that people were in (the varsity and wannabe varsity, the top of the JV guys, the not so fast guys, and the "bomb squad."). The slowest of the slow would never really run more than 30-45 minutes at practice (and slowly at that). But by the end of the season, anyone who kept at it improved, even just a little bit.</p>
<p>If you're in really really bad shape--you would start out with slow, easy workouts just to get some mileage. When you start out, that's what you need the most, getting the miles in. Talk to the coach--you may not compete in meets but you can still work out with the team.</p>
<p>My advice is that if you don't join the team--start running on your own.</p>
<p>I would say that it's not too late to join--there's still amost a month before the season and school would start. However, it will be really rough in the beginning. I'll admit, I wasn't the best...before I joined the team I hadn't run a mile without stopping since 8th grade. I got the coach's letter saying that we needed to do summer training and threw it away. So I ended up walking on the first day after like a mile and a half of slow running. It was hard to show up the next day, but I didn't want to be a quitter. Running takes a lot of heart because it's so easy to just quit.</p>
<p>Well it starts august 28th and i just think i go, theres no tryouts? which is good,,,i mean even if im a bad athlete does it still count as a EC towards college i just want to do a couple of ec and get good grades, resulting in me getting in a good college and i did try the running this year in 8th grade in pe when we did the running unit and i came in second to last place, and by accident i didnt know it but i have soccer shoes, but my parents got me these running shoes and they were a good price only 50 bucks for nike running shoes, i got them at finish line....its the store name.</p>
<p>Who here is a varsity runner runner and knows some tips, not intense tips like going to a gym or working out but just a every day thing you can do inside to get in shape for running, i try doing a push up but i cant even do those so any suggestions is much appreciated</p>
<p>Hmm sean, I would not recommend joining any sport just for an EC for college. Not that I'm an "ethical" freak, it's just that most sports (in my school at least) have practices everyday during season and a few months before. This means you're going to have to really dedicate a lot of time to it...which means if you really don't want to do it, it's going to be difficult to stay.</p>
<p>Let's see... if you want to join cross-country, I would recommend running! :D</p>
<p>Okay, well first off I agree with surge, if basically the only reason you're joining XC is for college, I would pick a different activity. I started XC my freshman year and I'm going to be a senior (& captain) this year and I really enjoy it, but it's HARD. It's definitely not something I would have stuck with for this long if I was only doing it to put on college apps. People at my school have made this mistake and quit after like 1/2 a season because they realized it actually involved a lot of work and dedication.</p>
<p>But if you seriously want to do it, I'd start ASAP with a running/walking workout 5-6 days a week like 2 min of running/2 min of walking for like 30 min or so and then gradually just lower the amount of time you spend walking. </p>
<p>You might not be ready to run XC this fall but you def should talk to the coach and see how it works at your school and if you aren't able to compete, maybe you could practice with the team and then join winter and spring track and do long distance running, then next year you'll really be ready.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>The best way to get in shape for running is, well, running. Start as soon as possible (don't make my mistake). Like, right now. As in, once it's nice enough that you won't get heatstroke (8-9 pm), go outside. For this week, take it easy. Go out for an extended jog every day. Don't worry about speed this week or how slow you are--just get outside or on a treadmill and run for like 30 minutes. If you have to walk (which is likely), walk quickly. But don't stop. Drink plenty of water and Gatorade. Do this until you can go the full 30 without walking, and then up it to 40.</p>
<p>When you can manage to make it the whole 40 minutes without stopping at that pace, try to run the same distance in 35 minutes. It's not a big jump, but it'll make you pick up the pace a little bit. By then, it'll probably be the start of the season and your coach will assign you workouts.</p>
<p>As for your motivations, I wouldn't do XC just for college, it's not really worth the pain if you're only looking to mark it down on a piece of paper. I joined junior year because I just wanted to do something worthwhile with my time, and I had friends on the team.</p>
<p>well i definately have to agree with you all. can i guess i can run around my house a little if i can, but cross country isnt as hard as track.. isnt it at a easy pace i can keep up with, i mean if im not fast will i get kicked off the team,like lets say that i try my best but im not good enough is that ok?</p>
<p>On my old school's team, the only way to get kicked off was to skip practices and meets that you were entered in for no good reason and/or excessively.</p>
<p>Any races you'll be put in will be JV races, and in those...there will always be people to run with. If you're near the back, there may be less people, but there will always be someone to race.</p>
<p>Near the front though, the pace is anything but easy.</p>
<p>whats the difference between track and cross country?</p>
<p>in track you don't run on trails--you actually run on those oval track things. cross country > track. i love cross country! and track is generally in the spring, whereas cross country is in the fall</p>
<p>Yeah... I don't know where you're getting the idea that cross country is easier than track, at my school it's the exact opposite. </p>
<p>Cross country and track don't have cuts at my school because, especially for track, not everyone will go to all the meets.<br>
Workouts are hard though and it's not like we could just stop in the middle of a run whenever we felt like it and say we're tired or something... our coach and our teammates would get pretty p*ssed and you wouldn't exactly be the most popular person on the team to say the least. But that's only my team, I don't know how yours is
I remember one time when I was a freshman me and like 3 seniors were running and we got tired and decided to walk for like 30 secs and our coach rode her bike and saw us and she got really mad and made us do sprints in this muddy area for like 10 min, after we had already done our hour of running. not fun. lol</p>