The five biggest things I learned that can help high school cross country runners
It’s getting close to one of the best times of the year, cross country season. Some of you, hopefully most of you, are deep into you summer conditioning; waking up early to beat the heat, building the foundation of miles that will set you up for a successful season. My best advice training-wise is to listen to your coach and keep showing up wanting to get better. Don’t become too focused on results or some “get fit quick” idea. Control the controllables; here are some of those controllables that I recommend you pay attention to this cross country season.
Replacing the Right Shoes
Take a look at your shoes right now. How do they look? Is the tread wearing away? Does the foam have creases on the sides? Do your feet and shins and knees have some new aches and soreness that wasn’t there last month? These can be a sign you need to replace your shoes. Yes parents like the idea of getting a pair of shoes for their kid and it will last them the whole season, some even hope that it will last through track. The truth of the matter is; that is unlikely. Most shoes have a lifespan of 400-500 miles. Even if the athlete is only running 3-4 miles a day, which is on the low end. That would be 15-20 miles a week, at the minimum. This would allow for 20 weeks of this bear minimum running. 4-5 months would mean if you got your shoes in June, you would need to replace them by October. I believe the average athlete is probably closer to 30 miles on the low end, but as the season progresses I’d imagine a decent amount of athletes work their way up to 40 miles a week, running on weekends too. I have organized the expected replacement time base on miles/week below.
|
Miles/week |
Low cushioned shoe (350-400 mi) |
Max Cushioned Shoe (400-500 mi) |
||||||
|
15 |
23 |
weeks |
5 |
months |
30 |
weeks |
7 |
Months |
|
20 |
18 |
weeks |
4 |
months |
23 |
weeks |
5 |
Months |
|
25 |
14 |
weeks |
3 |
months |
18 |
weeks |
4 |
Months |
|
30 |
12 |
weeks |
2.6 |
months |
15 |
weeks |
3.3 |
Months |
|
35 |
10 |
weeks |
2.2 |
months |
13 |
weeks |
2.9 |
Months |
|
40 |
9 |
weeks |
1.9 |
months |
11 |
weeks |
2.5 |
Months |
|
45 |
8 |
weeks |
1.7 |
months |
10 |
weeks |
2.2 |
Months |
|
50 |
7 |
weeks |
1.6 |
months |
9 |
weeks |
2.0 |
Months |
|
55 |
6.4 |
weeks |
1.4 |
month |
8.2 |
weeks |
1.8 |
Months |
|
60 |
5.8 |
weeks |
1.3 |
month |
7.5 |
weeks |
1.7 |
Months |
|
65 |
5.4 |
weeks |
1.2 |
month |
6.9 |
weeks |
1.5 |
Months |
|
70 |
5.0 |
weeks |
1.1 |
month |
6.4 |
weeks |
1.4 |
Months |
It can come off as crazy to think of replacing your shoes every month, but every step you take and mile you run is breaking down that foam in your shoe. When you aren’t wearing them the foam regenerates, but not 100%. Once the shoe cannot break down anymore, the forces start to go towards our body; bones, muscles, joints, etc. This is where the aches and pains come from when running on old shoes.
Just as important, maybe even more important is making sure you are in the right size and category of shoe. We measure each person to make sure they are in the right size, a half a thumb from your furthest toe to the edge of the shoe. This allows for your feet to swell a bit from blood flow when running. Width is important as well. Many brands offer a wide size, some are just naturally a wider brand. Lastly, the category of shoe you need depends on how much you overpronate. If you overpronate drastically to the point where you often get injuries when increasing volume, you should look at getting analyzed for whether or not you need a guidance or stability shoe. A little pronation is our bodies normal way of force absorption when landing and then taking off again. Whether or not this pronation hinders your performance and body will depend on factors like strength, flexibility, etc. Get a gate analysis and let us help make sure you’re in the right type and size shoe for you.
Hydration/Fueling
A topic many older runners can attest to is fueling and hydration. I think back on my diet habits in high school and wonder how the heck I did everything that I did. I did eat a lot at the school lunch, but I certainly wasn’t hydrating as much as I need to now. Proper hydration and fueling will help you have the best practices, workouts, races, and sleep as possible. You’ve probably heard a dozen times how our body is 70% water. Our muscles are ___% water, and that water has mineral and electrolytes to promote the muscles function. When we sweat a lot of that comes out. It is important to replace that water with the needed. On top of practice a majority of kids are also probably in a gym class each day for an hour. While this was my favorite class by far, there were days when I probably engaged in play a little too hard that it affected my practice later in the day.
Make the grind enjoyable
- Get your friends involved
- Get to know other competitors
- Plan runs with teammates on the weekends
Record your training
- Tracking mileage
- Seeing progress
- Set goals
Give it your all
- Only cheat yourself
- Accomplish what you can then.
