Hey, blogettes! It was requested that I do a post about cross country to make it easier for all of the runners out there that already do it, or for those girls that are thinking about doing it next year. I say go for it because it really is a challenge for just yourself, and not only do you learn how to be a better runner, but you get stronger, and learn a lot about yourself as well as other skills that you can use in normal life. Anyways in this post we will cover what you will definitely be needing, what meets are like, how the places work, my must haves for meets/bus rides, and what the team I was on was like. This may be a long post and I can't break it into parts really well so just bear with me and go with it.
You will definitely be needing a good pair of running shoes, and socks, and a pair of shorts or running tights as the weather gets colder. I liked dry fit tops the most, and as the weather got colder I switched to long sleeve dry fit tops, although your standard t-shirt works, I really liked the dry fit because it helped me feel weightless and fresh still even though I was sweating buckets in the intense workout. A good deodorent is also a must have. You should apply the deodorent ten minutes before your workout so it has time to set before it has to worry about sweat, and as your body gets used to the intense workouts you will notice that it takes more to break a sweat, and that you sweat less as well. A reusable water bottle is also a must have because staying hydrated is key, especially in the start of the season when it is so hot outside.
You need to replenish your fluids just as fast as you are losing them, and drinking and having enough fluid in your body also helps make the workouts seem easier because you aren't dying of thirst ad your body isn't tensing up either. I like the Conigo brand of water bottles, because they have a sipper, and can be operated using only one hand, and is leakproof too. I also like it because they have measurements on the side so that you can easily keep track of what you are drinking and if it is enough for what your body is doing and going to need. It was also nice because at the start of the season the coach told us that if we had a 24 oz bottle that we needed to be drinking at least two or three of those per day, and she said the more we drink the better off we are. I most of the time got four to six water bottles in a day. She was right because by the end of the season when I kept on hydrating more and during the times when I was drinking more, I found things to be easier.
You will also need to be eating three well balanced meals per day, and getting at least six hours of sleep each night in order to have enough energy to get through the school day and then the workout. I quickly learned that she was not kidding about needing that much sleep because I went to practice on three hours of sleep one time, and I swear, I just barely had enough energy to get across that finish line and then I felt to the ground in a heap of exhaustion. Sleep is important, and so is school. She made that clear that even though we were in cross country and going to be tired that we still needed to give school our everything.
Our practices were 90 minutes long, but we probably were doing running or things with running for 70 minutes of it most of the time. It all depended on what the weather was like, and what our upcoming meets had in store for us. Sometimes it was hills and track work, and other times it was a really long run with everything in the mix of it. If the weather was really hot we either had it inside or we had early morning practices at 6:00 AM. It wasn't a good wake up call and I was dead when I went to school but that was okay because I was refreshed and ready to face the day. Running always puts me in a good mood for some reason. I guess it's just the feelings that I get when I run. Anyways, on to our next thing.
Meets are a lot of fun because they can be small (10 teams) or very large(45+ teams). You also pull schools from different levels, and age groups vary as well. The meets where we raced were for class 3A and 4A teams, and select 2A and 1A teams. We raced at the class 3A level most of the time, either that or we were invited 2A schools with high regard and image because we were state champions last year. This year however we are runner's up. We also did a lot of fun things back at base camp while we were waiting for results or not prepping for the next meet. It was the most fun after everyone ran because we had a half an hour to an hour depending on the amount of teams at the meet before official results were posted and handed out to the coaches. During that time people blared music and started to break dance, or we pulled pranks on each other or even though we were so dead we somehow had the energy left to chase each other around base camp a little bit. It was also fun because sometimes we had sing alongs, and sometimes they were good and other times they were awful. It depended on the song, and how well we knew it too.
No doubt about it, there was always someone at base camp, and when we were all there it was positive that something fun and crazy was going to happen. We were probably the only middle school team that really used all the rules of having base camps at meets to the max. I mean our base camp was more than a plot of land where we dropped everything that we would need during the times when meets were going on as the bus driver would not be on the bus for us to be getting things until after the girls meets. Anyways most of the time at meets it's girls first and 7th graders before 8th graders, this year however we did have one meet where it was everyone together, but it was really hot that day and there were a lot of teams running. I counted at least sixty different base camps. If high school was with it their base camp was close to ours. and same case with other schools to save space for those teams who had yet to arrive. Getting there early however is key. We got there an hour before go time so that we could hand out things that would be entered when we crossed the finish line, and then we took a quick bathroom break, walked the course, and then we went back to base camp did some stretches, and then the first group would go and find their starting chute and start jog outs while the coach talked with the team of staking themselves out to give support for us mainly and other people too sometimes around the course. It used to be that during our race everyone hung out at base camp for some reason.
You only mattered for your team right from the start since we all were in different chutes. The race official would kind of say what was going to happen and what to know and look out for while we were out there running. He would then go back out of the way and say on your mark and then wait for five seconds which felt like forever and then fire the gun. Then it was find your pace and go time, and you knew that it was every man for themselves after the first 100 meters. Sometimes instead of words, they used a whistle, and sometimes it was a fast start where the gun was just fired. That was what the last meet of the season was, so you have to be ready for anything. I was shocked too because I was a pack runner which meant that I was right up there with the bulk of the people and I was neither in front or in back, that when people passed they were so supportive saying keep it up and that they got this.
Whenever someone fell and was hurt, a couple of runners usually stopped to be there with the runner until the corner guard came. Either that or they talked the runner into getting back up and finishing this thing and they would be right there with them if anything were to happen before the finish line. I brutally wiped out on a hill twice. The first time I wiped out I threw out my back and there was no way that I could finish. I had to even be helped up off of the ground and back to base camp. The last time I fell on a hill, was the last meet of the season. That one was a hard and awkward fall where I was seriously injured, and even though I was tired and scared, and my knee was numb but I could see that my shin was kind of out of place this one runner talked me into getting back up and finish. I ended up beating her in but I think she did that on purpose. I looked down at my leg when I finished since it was numb and my shin was really deformed and extreme weight or bending really hurt, and it felt like my knee was locking every time I walked.
I would later learn that was because I completely tore my meniscus, and the reason why my shin was deformed and my knee numb was because I had a partially torn MCL. I actually went to the hospital that night because I was in extreme pain. They did x-rays, a CT scan, a CAT scan, and an MRI to figure out what was wrong and how much was damaged. The first thing that popped into my mind was could I run again or was my career ended by just this one fall and me getting back up and finishing. They said that as of right now my career in running looked grim, and that distance was for sure out at the time. Anyways, that is a totally new and different story that although tied to this, I am not going into anymore detail about. I can post it later if you wish. Onto our next topic.
Placing for this is kind of confusing. Not only do we use places but we also use paces and points. A perfect score is 15 which means that you had runners in 1-5 places. All the places are worth certain amounts of points and the team with the least amount of points based on their first five runners through wins the meet. If there is a tie, it goes based off of the sixth runner. Places for teams are 1-8, most of the time, sometimes it is 1-4 at small meets. Places for runners at small meets are 1-10, and at large meets it can go anywhere from 1-20 or 25 to 30 or 45 even. The top three runners on each race are most of the time rewarded. Everyone however is running for PRs or Personal Records.
My must haves for meets are sweatpants or really soft fuzzy and warm pajama pants especially as the weather gets cold, sunblock, a cami to put on under our uniform as I quickly found out that the tops show our undergarments, my iPod with a pump up playlist to listen to on the bus and while walking the course to get me in the zone pumped up and ready to run, a blanket, some sunglasses, my cell phone in case my parents aren't there, and maybe my pillow pet. I also brought my water bottle to base camp with me so that I could drink up after I ran. That reminds me. Take your last drink ten minutes before your race and apply deodorent then too that way both have had time to set, and you don't get sick or all sweaty and the deodorent not work too well then. I also liked to have a bandana handy to wipe that sweat off me especially as the season grew colder, and I even used it to cool off with during the really hot times too.
Oh, I know this next question was going to be asked. Let me tell you. My team was so amazing. They were funny, and supportive, and encouraged me to become the best runner possible and to dream bigger and keep on challenging myself and stepping out there. When there was nobody from my school around I could open up and be the real me and they were accepting of that too. Like I said, at meets my team was crazy, and we did a lot of fun and random things that were kind of cool and really funny like pranking each other and messing around. By the end of the season our team bond was so strong that it seemed like we were all from the same school, and could even be a large family. We were probably thee closest knit team out there.
Wow, I don't even know where to begin for this next question because cross country has taught me a lot of good things. It has taught me a lot about myself and the real me, and it has allowed me to meet new people and make new friends with people from bigger schools which would not have happened if it wasn't for cross country. I was also able to compete at a larger level of competition and feel some pressure there to perform well and represent well because we were state champs last year and we had a great name. I also learned that anyone can be a runner and that it is hard to get back on track when you quit something and not to quit something just because other people disapprove but because you want to quit it because it doesn't feel right. I also learned that anything is possible if you have the guts just to go out there and try it. Anything can happen when you trust and believe in yourself and that you can do it. If people are too afraid to try something or if they can't do it they are going to try and bring you down and say that you can't do it too. That's when you go out there and give it a try and maybe prove them wrong. I not only became a better runner in cross country and became a part of a close knit family where people care and it really doesn't matter what team you are on because everyone supports everyone I also learned some life skills. I learned how to believe and trust and rely on my faith when times got tough because it would help me through, and I learned a lot about myself because I got feelings and thoughts while I was running that felt so good and that I never had in a long time. I felt while I was running distance that I was free and no one could stop me because no one could touch me. I felt like nothing mattered, and that I could do whatever now because I had confidence and I found the real me as well as my path again, and I got the thought that something was going to happen and that help was on it's way and that I was coming out of this bullying phase and coming out of it alive, and well look at me now. It's a new year and a change is coming. I am going to be the real me and turn over that leaf whether there are people there on the other side that are happy with it or not.
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