Last year I had to sit out all but one race of the cross country season with an injury, so this time round I was adamant I wasn’t going to make the same mistake. Having a good winter of running through mud was a top priority when I made the decision to drop out my half.
When I talk to runners about cross country, their reaction is often one of fear. I think. Lot of people were put off running altogether by memories of doing cross country at school, and they really don’t want to go back to that place.
Remember though that when you were at school, you probably also liked Bros, had a crush on someone called Barry and thought that baggy white jeans with Caterpiller boots were the epitome of cool (you can probably carbon date me by these references). Tastes change. You probably even like olives now. It’s time to give cross country a try.
Will I need new shoes though?
Spikes will help, yes. But they’re not essential. In fact, for some races you’d probably be better off with trail shoes.
Our season opener this year was at Claybury. I wore my Brooks Cascadia trail shoes (above) because it was warm and dry so the course wasn’t muddy. There’s also two short path sections along which those in spikes have to stick to the narrow grass verge, but if you’re in trainers, you can speed past them on the path.
This weekend I pulled my spikes out the cupboard to find the sole had fallen off one shoe. So I wore another pair of trail shoes for the London Championships. They were OK apart from a few skids round corners and slipping down a muddy hill.
I’m too old or too slow for cross country
First off, age is no barrier to speed and I get overtaken by a good number of speedy Vets in every cross country race. It’s one of my life goals to be one of those women, and I’m only a couple of years away from the Vets category so I guess it’s time to work on the speed.
Cross country really is an inclusive race. Just like most races, there’s speedy runners battling it out at the front, and some at the back just wanting to complete it.
The great thing is that your time is pretty much irrelevant. Because of the terrain and conditions, your 6k PB goes out the window and you’re just racing for position. Each runner scores points for their team based on their finish position, so you’re racing those around you, not the clock.
What sort of training should I do?
I’m glad you’re semi-convinced now. Most important is to get used to running on uneven surfaces. So if you do all your training on the road or treadmill, start adding in a bit of grass.
Your smaller muscles that act to stabilise you and keep you upright have had an easy ride while you’ve been running on predictable, even surfaces. It’s time to wake them up, because you’ll need them in the mud. Run round the edge of the park on the grass. You’ll find it harder work at first but you’ll get used to it.
You can work on them outside of running too. Stand on one leg while you’re brushing your teeth, waiting for the kettle to boil etc, or introduce one-legged exercises to your gym routine. A strong core is important too, but let’s assume you’re already working on that.
Then throw in some hill reps to your weekly routine and maybe find an off-road/ hilly parkrun route to have a go at.
Anything else?
Women and men run separately with women running 6k or 8k and the men running 8k to 12k depending on the race. The women run first so the ground is nicely churned up by the time the men race. You’ll also need to be part of a running club to take part – you can’t just enter as an individual.
from Lazy Girl Running http://ift.tt/2gdVxr9
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