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Cross Country Training Thread

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Comments

  • #572
    Wubble Wubble
    Registered Users Posts: 2,600 ✭✭✭Wubble Wubble


    Open event in South Kilkenny this Sunday if anyone's interested...

    https://register.enthuse.com/ps/event/StSenansACCrossCountry


  • #573
    adrian522
    Moderators, Computer Games Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 16,093 Mod ✭✭✭✭adrian522


    Cancelled.

    Dublin Athletics Board Cancellations - Message from Cecil
    Following the Government announcement and advice from Athletics Ireland this evening, I regret to inform you that the Juvenile Cross Country League 1 scheduled for this Sunday 20th September is CANCELLED and as these new restrictions are in force for the next three weeks the Juvenile League 2 and Novices scheduled for the 4th October is postponed until further notice.
    I would like to take this opportunity to thank Lusk A.C., Fingal County Council and others for all their efforts and hard work in the past few weeks which unfortunately cannot now be realised.
    Whilst accepting this decision will come as a great disappointment to us all and in particular our young athletes, we must accept and understand it is in the best interests of the health and wellbeing of us all.
    We will continue to plan for future competitions and will endeavour to keep you updated.
    On behalf of the Dublin County Board.
    Take care and keep safe.
    Cecil Johnston
    Juvenile Competition Secretary


  • #574
    mylesforsmiles
    Registered Users Posts: 24 ✭mylesforsmiles


    MY BAD wrote: »
    It's a great race. Enjoy the playground :D


    Playground was interesting today. Very good testing course. Excellently organised.


  • #575
    Sacksian
    Registered Users Posts: 1,895 ✭✭✭Sacksian


    Autumn Open also cancelled.

    https://www.athleticsireland.ie/news/spar-autumn-open-international-cross-country-festival-cancelled/


  • #576
    omicron
    Registered Users Posts: 810 ✭✭✭omicron


    Cork county xc going ahead, details went up today, novice first off 4th October, senior the following week then masters and lastly intermediate.

    Chip timing and limited entries by the looks of it.


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  • #577
    healy1835
    Registered Users Posts: 2,181 ✭✭✭healy1835


    If someone was coming off a decent level of fitness and decided, 2 weeks out, that he was going to lace up his (still new) XC spikes for the first time ever, is there anything in particular he could do or that he needs to know before race day. Asking for a friend. :)


  • #578
    Duanington
    Registered Users Posts: 2,980 ✭✭✭Duanington


    healy1835 wrote: »
    If someone was coming off a decent level of fitness and decided, 2 weeks out, that he was going to lace up his (still new) XC spikes for the first time ever, is there anything in particular he could do or that he needs to know before race day. Asking for a friend. :)

    Maybe tell your friend to find a field, run some unstructured fartlek stuff around it first ? Just to get a feel for the surface and shoes etc

    Also, your friend could try one or two of their sessions on the grass over the course of those 2 weeks

    Also, also - if your friend was in the kind of shape you're in, I'd say to back him\herself and be brave from the start, backing themselves to finish strong and pick people off ;-)


  • #579
    Butterbeans
    Registered Users Posts: 436 ✭✭Butterbeans


    omicron wrote: »
    Cork county xc going ahead, details went up today, novice first off 4th October, senior the following week then masters and lastly intermediate.

    Chip timing and limited entries by the looks of it.

    Looking similar for Kildare county xc. 4th and 11th of Oct dates announced but no further details yet.


  • #580
    Sacksian
    Registered Users Posts: 1,895 ✭✭✭Sacksian


    Duanington wrote: »
    Maybe tell your friend to find a field, run some unstructured fartlek stuff around it first ? Just to get a feel for the surface and shoes etc

    Also, your friend could try one or two of their sessions on the grass over the course of those 2 weeks

    Also, also - if your friend was in the kind of shape you're in, I'd say to back him\herself and be brave from the start, backing themselves to finish strong and pick people off ;-)

    This is spot on.

    Definitely forget the watch - it might take a few attempts to dial into the effort that'll work for you but the watch will only hinder you. Some people can go hard from the gun all way round and for others (including me) you might need to be a bit more measured. After a few races, you'll have figured out what works for you.

    Cross-country racing doesn't suit everyone but marathon training definitely gives you a strength advantage in xc. I think the biggest difference from road racing or marathon running is the constant changes in pace - concertina effect going into/out of corners, changes in elevation, courses cutting up, etc. Which is why a few fartleks or training on the xc course helps.


  • #581
    mylesforsmiles
    Registered Users Posts: 24 ✭mylesforsmiles


    Sacksian wrote: »
    This is spot on.

    Definitely forget the watch - it might take a few attempts to dial into the effort that'll work for you but the watch will only hinder you. Some people can go hard from the gun all way round and for others (including me) you might need to be a bit more measured. After a few races, you'll have figured out what works for you.

    Cross-country racing doesn't suit everyone but marathon training definitely gives you a strength advantage in xc. I think the biggest difference from road racing or marathon running is the constant changes in pace - concertina effect going into/out of corners, changes in elevation, courses cutting up, etc. Which is why a few fartleks or training on the xc course helps.


    Very accurate summary of what xc is like and the effort levels required.

    I had no interest for my first 5-6 years of running (was fixated on marathons) but I've done lots of xc over the past 2-3 years and I've loved it.

    Very different running experience and a serious buzz imo.


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  • #582
    Sacksian
    Registered Users Posts: 1,895 ✭✭✭Sacksian


    mylesforsmiles wrote: »
    Very accurate summary of what xc is like and the effort levels required.

    I had no interest for my first 5-6 years of running (was fixated on marathons) but I've done lots of xc over the past 2-3 years and I've loved it.

    Very different running experience and a serious buzz imo.

    I'm always trying to convince people to do xc and I still haven't quite accepted that some people just aren't into it.

    It's just a different buzz to everything else, especially if you're in a club and you have the team aspect.

    A lot of the season usually clashes with the preparation for and recovery from the various Autumn marathons so there might be a few people making the transition like you did and getting the chance to embrace the mud this year!


  • #583
    mylesforsmiles
    Registered Users Posts: 24 ✭mylesforsmiles


    Sacksian wrote: »
    I'm always trying to convince people to do xc and I still haven't quite accepted that some people just aren't into it.

    It's just a different buzz to everything else, especially if you're in a club and you have the team aspect.

    A lot of the season usually clashes with the preparation for and recovery from the various Autumn marathons so there might be a few people making the transition like you did and getting the chance to embrace the mud this year!

    Very true. Hard to twist the arm of fellow club runners to do xc. Hopefully this year will be different though. Team aspect is a brilliant idea. Castlegar xc got decent numbers last Saturday so that looks like a good sign.


  • #584
    Aurelian
    Registered Users Posts: 176 ✭✭Aurelian


    Any general first time XC race advice?


  • #585
    Timmaay
    Registered Users Posts: 11,394 ✭✭✭✭Timmaay


    Set the bar low lol, don't kid yourself that it's gonna be like a road race etc, it's alot more physically demanding, like your running with lead weights on your feet, when you eventually stumble over the finishline the main feeling is usually relief that it's over and a good sense of achievement, that's as positive as you can hope for in my view ha, fun/enjoyment etc etc, they don't even come into the equation and shouldn't, its not what xc is about haha.


  • #586
    DukeCaboom
    Registered Users Posts: 1,028 ✭✭✭DukeCaboom


    Aurelian wrote: »
    Any general first time XC race advice?

    From personal experience the main difference between road & x country is you get lapped during a x country race :)


  • #587
    KSU
    Registered Users Posts: 946 ✭✭✭KSU


    Aurelian wrote: »
    Any general first time XC race advice?

    If you are coming from a road running background or longer distances ease into the race. There is a tendency to go from the gun for most people and alot get sucked into going out too fast. If you don't do alot of shorter distance stuff this will come as a shock to the system so you are better of working through the field as you will see carnage of those who went out too fast later in the race.


  • #588
    joe35
    Registered Users Posts: 446 ✭✭joe35


    Don't think cause you can race 10k on the road I can do 8k CC no problems.

    It's a big difference. Just start of handy enough and enjoy it. I find CC far more enjoyable, you're not watching your time. You're just emptying the tank and enjoying the race.

    Best of luck


  • #589
    Aurelian
    Registered Users Posts: 176 ✭✭Aurelian


    Thanks for the advice. It was my 1st race in any running discipline and I hadn't run in 4 months, so, was glad to manage under 21 minutes. Really eager to actually train for it now and see if I can improve.


  • #590
    healy1835
    Registered Users Posts: 2,181 ✭✭✭healy1835


    KSU wrote: »
    If you are coming from a road running background or longer distances ease into the race. There is a tendency to go from the gun for most people and alot get sucked into going out too fast. If you don't do alot of shorter distance stuff this will come as a shock to the system so you are better of working through the field as you will see carnage of those who went out too fast later in the race.

    I'm torn between this approach...and the complete opposite; flat out for 2 Miles and try to cling on! Race is 'only' 4k... :)


  • #591
    Duanington
    Registered Users Posts: 2,980 ✭✭✭Duanington


    healy1835 wrote: »
    I'm torn between this approach...and the complete opposite; flat out for 2 Miles and try to cling on! Race is 'only' 4k... :)

    What distance is the race?

    I'd back you to finish strong but I'd also back most people that fly out of the traps to fade towards the end, usually sooner than they think they might.


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  • #592
    joe35
    Registered Users Posts: 446 ✭✭joe35


    Cross country is a different animal, while adrenaline and pure thickness will push you on on the road, in xc you'll just want to die.

    My advice for anyone in there first race would be take it steady and try finish strong. It's like uphill all the way. If you go hard for the first k and then have 5 or more tough Kms after that you're in trouble.

    Let us know how you get on and best of luck

    Or even 3k, still tough, you'll get it hard to do 2 miles flat out xc


  • #593
    Sacksian
    Registered Users Posts: 1,895 ✭✭✭Sacksian


    healy1835 wrote: »
    I'm torn between this approach...and the complete opposite; flat out for 2 Miles and try to cling on! Race is 'only' 4k... :)

    4k sounds very short. If it was 6k, I'd go with the original advice but I'm not sure people will be coming back to you quickly enough over 2.5 miles to benefit from a conservative start. Maybe treat it like an aggressive 5k race: hard out, hold on and try to go again if you can.

    The other confounding variable is that xc distances can be a little inexact. In which case, you could be looking at anything between 3 and 5k!


  • #594
    healy1835
    Registered Users Posts: 2,181 ✭✭✭healy1835


    Duanington wrote: »
    What distance is the race?

    I'd back you to finish strong but I'd also back most people that fly out of the traps to fade towards the end, usually sooner than they think they might.

    4km DD :) Venue and course are new so not entirely sure of what awaits...


  • #595
    Duanington
    Registered Users Posts: 2,980 ✭✭✭Duanington


    healy1835 wrote: »
    4km DD :) Venue and course are new so not entirely sure of what awaits...

    Balls out it is so :pac:


    In all seriousness, it probably depends on the course and conditions - 4km does seem very short alright but I suppose you have to keep the conditions in mind


  • #596
    jamule
    Registered Users Posts: 933 ✭✭✭jamule


    Louth novice this weekend, 6km of bliss. I need a week of rain, going yielding at tge moment with plenty of grass on the course. no hill though :(

    I got a new pair of nike cc spikes, some strange looking spikes on them, feel great though.


  • #597
    Cartman78
    Registered Users Posts: 9,590 ✭✭✭Cartman78


    Aim not to finish last...... anything better than that is a bonus :-)


  • #598
    token56
    Registered Users Posts: 2,600 ✭✭✭token56


    For anyone interested in the Leinster XC Championships

    https://athleticsleinster.org/2-uncategorised/238-leinster-xc-2020?fbclid=IwAR1NsMzmv8zfLrkrUe2-pNSF8v7meXg4PUd1QaO3cWuBmxENhc6DkJIhcVg

    It is a pity that there will be no spectators allowed but it will still be great if it can go ahead. However I presume if Dublin (or any other county) is still on Level 3 lockdown then they will not be able to take part.


  • #599
    Seannew1
    Registered Users Posts: 979 ✭✭✭Seannew1


    Really enjoyed the return to racing yesterday. I did my county's novice. Looks like that's the end of it with increased restrictions. What a shame as return to athletics from what I have seen has gone extremely well.


  • #600
    Sacksian
    Registered Users Posts: 1,895 ✭✭✭Sacksian


    Seannew1 wrote: »
    Really enjoyed the return to racing yesterday. I did my county's novice. Looks like that's the end of it with increased restrictions. What a shame as return to athletics from what I have seen has gone extremely well.

    It's great to see how well the athletics competitions have been going, including the track & field stuff during the summer.

    But hard to know what the rest of the winter will bring. I'm hopeful that, there'll be a decent chance of some sort of xc competition season, even it's after Christmas.


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  • #601
    Ceepo
    Registered Users Posts: 2,508 ✭✭✭Ceepo


    Sacksian wrote: »

    But hard to know what the rest of the winter will bring. I'm hopeful that, there'll be a decent chance of some sort of xc competition season, even it's after Christmas.

    All XC fixtures have been cancelled in Tipperary under the present guidelines


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