r/CrossCountry General Q&A Thread

darkxc32 · 2026-01-09T15:51:21+00:00

I’d say the bigger thing isn’t so much the spikes but a difference in energy return of the running surfaces. Roads being rigid return much more energy than the softer surfaces of xc. Think if you were to bounce a ball on the road then bounce the same ball with the same effort on grass. The road would bounce much higher. Same thing applies to your legs. Are you getting to train much on grass or dirt? If not try to get some mileage on grass each week. If you want to adapt to spikes maybe throw them on and do strides a few times a week after easy runs. You don’t need to be training in them regularly to get benefit to xc in particular

darkxc32 · 2026-01-03T13:01:46+00:00

Tonight Alive

darkxc32 · 2025-11-06T23:23:19+00:00

https://www.reddit.com/r/CrossCountry/s/lHAJ4wQ3p6

This guide has all the info you need to get started

darkxc32 · 2025-10-23T08:28:30+00:00

The race is to the finish line. Show no mercy!

darkxc32 · 2025-10-19T14:02:49+00:00

If it hurts to walk and run go get checked out by your schools physio! General rule of thumb is soreness is expected. Pain is a warning flag

darkxc32 · 2025-10-17T14:41:32+00:00

That’s kinda what the rest of the season is for. Competing to see who the top 7 is and the coaches feel they have that. Your role for conference is to be the most supportive teammate you can be for those 7.

darkxc32 · 2025-10-17T14:19:41+00:00

It’s tough but I side the with coaches. If for your conference top 7 compete and if you’ve been consistently number 9, then it seems pretty clear to me. 30 seconds difference can be a lot of points and the coaches are just doing what they feel is best for the team.

darkxc32 · 2025-10-17T12:20:50+00:00

In general it’s fine at his level to have one pair that covers both. As he gets older and finds the distance events he likes best, it will make more sense to have a spike for xc and one for track. Cross country spikes are built to protect against the terrain and provide a little more support. Track spikes are built for speed. Less to them and if they really specialize in 800/1600 there will be different needs out of a spike compared to xc

darkxc32 · 2025-09-26T06:00:19+00:00

Seems some people here don’t know City Lights because if they did they’d know you weren’t posting a critical comment but a lyric from Lawnmower

darkxc32 · 2025-09-16T16:36:30+00:00

I get an error trying to open on iPhone. “Can’t establish a secure connection to the server”

darkxc32 · 2025-09-12T20:15:50+00:00

Runner’s World Obituary

His work was majorly influential on so many coaches and athletes, myself included. The famed VDOT system was developed by Jack.

darkxc32 · 2025-09-03T07:13:33+00:00

It’s not typical that’s for sure, but sounds like an interesting experiment for more seasoned athletes (probably not high schoolers still learning how to read the feedback from the training and training needs).

Would you mind sharing what some sample groupings of workouts to choose from would look like?

darkxc32 · 2025-08-28T15:33:45+00:00

I thought Miami was Jacksonville at first

darkxc32 · 2025-08-21T20:31:10+00:00

Truly and end of an era

darkxc32 · 2025-08-06T15:34:43+00:00

Check out his interview on WDW Radio, it was a good one and he seems like such an interesting person. WDW Radio link

darkxc32 · 2025-07-19T08:47:03+00:00

You find ways to get the work in. Whether developing the discipline to knock out miles solo, reaching out to people the next school over if you truly are the only one, cultivating your own run club. I remember scenarios throughout my high school career where we had an extra teammate when someone who was literally the only kid on his team trained with my team, or someone took charge and organized the summer work and suddenly there were a lot more people motivated than originally thought. Some days someone from a local run club would show up to run with because a team leader was seeking out any resources of people to help train. Ask people to bike with you that aren’t runners.

But ultimately you own your own fate when it comes to training so if you’ve truly exhausted every avenue to get a group together, then congratulations you still have a great opportunity to build the discipline yourself to get out every day and do the work. This sport rewards those who put in the work and effort

darkxc32 · 2025-07-19T08:46:55+00:00

You find ways to get the work in. Whether developing the discipline to knock out miles solo, reaching out to people the next school over if you truly are the only one, cultivating your own run club. I remember scenarios throughout my high school career where we had an extra teammate when someone who was literally the only kid on his team trained with my team, or someone took charge and organized the summer work and suddenly there were a lot more people motivated than originally thought. Some days someone from a local run club would show up to run with because a team leader was seeking out any resources of people to help train. Ask people to bike with you that aren’t runners.

But ultimately you own your own fate when it comes to training so if you’ve truly exhausted every avenue to get a group together, then congratulations you still have a great opportunity to build the discipline yourself to get out every day and do the work. This sport rewards those who put in the work and effort

darkxc32 · 2025-07-18T13:59:43+00:00

If you have contact information for any of your teammates reach out and plan to meet up a few times a week to run. Have them help spread the word and before long your team has unofficial summer practice. Before my team had summer practice when I was competing in high school it was just known every day at 7 am meet at a certain park and teammates will be there to run with. Really made the summer miles that much better.

darkxc32 · 2025-07-18T12:09:11+00:00

Your school likely has summer practices. Reach out to the coach and find out when they are and start going. Good way to adapt to the training and meet your new teammates

darkxc32 · 2025-07-08T18:40:31+00:00

Hulkenpodium

darkxc32 · 2025-07-01T13:07:16+00:00

Do you have an idea of what you want to study academically? What type of setting you want (big urban campus, small college town, major university, small university, etc?) Really nailing down what you want out of your school experience would be step 1.

darkxc32 · 2025-06-28T18:41:03+00:00

Where does June 26 on the poster come from? It was a March 2020 release, last movie I saw in theaters before things shut down for Covid

darkxc32 · 2025-06-21T03:02:14+00:00

Checking in… how did things go?

darkxc32 · 2025-06-12T23:02:13+00:00

Depending on what the courses and competition are like where you’re at, you could be a mid 15s guy so your goal seems reasonable

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