Cross Country Season 2023/2024 Training

[xsquared]

Anybody else running XC for their club this season?

Just ran the first fixture yesterday, but I'm feeling a little deflated by my performance, as I ran 12 seconds slower than last year. I really thought that I would have improved after 12 months!

I confess I haven't really done much XC specific training, as most of it is road based and focus on pace. My club does run XC training sessions but sadly on times that I can't make!

I have started going to the gym to do my strength training there in the hope of getting faster and stronger.

What other things help?

TIA

If you have some rolling hills or trails around you could switch out some of the road sessions.

Or, do some hill repeats e.g. 6% gradient, run up for 45 seconds and jog back down. Repeat 10 times.

Or, add in some muscular endurance work at the gym (assuming you've been doing general strength work for a while): box step-ups, lunges, split jump squats, squat jumps.

Thanks for your reply. It's true, I don't so so many traily runs and try to avoid inclines!

It's been a while since I've done a hills session, which will help I suppose, as I struggled most on the penultimate incline on the second lap!

For me one of the joys of xc is ignoring the watch, PBs and distances don't really mean anything. Did you run well and battle well against the people around you? 12s is nothing and could easily be accounted for by conditions on the day.

How does your placing compare to last year? As previous poster said, one of the joys of xc is the lack of emphasis on distance/time. The exact course alignment and underfoot conditions may also differ from last year , which might effect your time but not be a reflection of your fitness.

Hi @meanderingthrough and @EachPeachPearGlum ,

Thank you for your encouraging comments. I do enjoy xc for the change in scenery from road running, and I know it's meant to be fun, but couldn't help being very competitive and down about it after the event.

On that same course, I started in the slow pack last year and came 48th out of 441 runners, then got promoted after the second fixture so this time I ran in the medium pack and came 200th out of 465 runners.

However, after copying and pasting the results into a spreadsheet to sort them in actual time order, I was 119th last year and 124th this year. So I guess I'm fairly consistent.

there is a real knack to running on grass. Do you have spikes? I think they really help,
I’d not worry about being slower/quicker or whatever, ground conditions can make up a lot of the difference!

Yes, I have spikes and I did a recce with them on another course last year, but my calves were in pain the following day! I ended up wearing the Inov8 fell shoes instead.

Me!

And from the dates and info you gave, I think we were in the same race 😀. In the interest of full disclosure, I was 251/441 and can only dream of medium pack!!

I was also deflated, as my running is also getting slower despite negligible changes to my exercise routine. I actually missed the first fixture last season, so I can't directly compare to last year, but I think I was lower down than usual.

We had a mile TT on the track tonight and I was absolutely gutted to record the worst time I've ever done. My theory is that I've put on a bit of weight (3kg), and I wasn't light before (BMI 25). I also swim with our tri club and my times there are getting faster, which for me confirms that it's the weight, as I think a heavier weight is less of a hindrance to speed in the pool.

I've tried to do a bit of strength training but haven't managed to get into a routine with it. I've tried Caroline Girvan videos, but I'm not a fan so far as she doesn't talk and I find it hard to follow by looking at the screen all the time.

I've also tried the zone 2 running thing on one run so far, and want to add a long, slow run into my routine. I currently do 3 runs a week (2 speed work on track min 5k per session, 1 social 10k with hills), and three club swims.

So to summarise my answer to your question, I don't know the answer but am trying losing weight and zone 2 running as well as strength training.

Happy to share a "get-faster" journey with you!

Just noticed that maybe it wasn't the same race: 454 runners in the one I did.