I'm a Freshman right now, but I usually ran those 2 events last year. I ran the 400m in 59 sec and the 1600m in 5:27.
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Any Cross Country Runners On MacRumors?
- Thread starter iDAG
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i gotcha. as a freshman i think they had me running the 400 also. i think my best was 58 seconds then. i was clearly in the wrong event at the time. i'm sure they'll figure out where to put you this year. that's pretty good though for 8th grade.
you'd be surprised what you can do. even in high school i got down to 52 seconds. and that was from training for the 800 and 1600. i'm sure you could at least run 59, most likely faster
U could be right, I haven't raced a 400 in spikes in a long time, its also that I hate sprinting. Some would argue that the 800 is almost a sprint.
I think people would be surprised at how easy it is to become fast. Sadly, most people think that sprinters are only people who are naturally fast, but what it takes is excellent mechanics (and good knowledge).iDAG said:
For example, the foot strikes of the average distance runner stay in contact with the ground many times longer than those of a sprinter. In a sprint, ground contact beyond what is absolutely needed to move forward will slow you down. Foot strikes should be more of a pop than a thud.
Additionally, to make sure that you accomplish the proper foot strikes, sprinters should be running a couple inches taller than their standing height. Once you transition out of your drive phase in a sprint, you should move into a position were you feel like you are almost floating above the ground.
Another thing that people overlook is the vital part that arms play in sprinting. Not only can arm movement help speed up leg movement, your arms can also help you maintain your floating position. Driving the arms up (in both the forward and backward parts of the swing) can help with lift, this means that more of the energy from foot strikes can be used for pushing you forward rather than just keeping you up. It is also important to open up the arm swing so that while swinging forward you are punching through the height of your center of mass (for most athletes this would be at about hip level).
Arm movement technique is so important that when I was coaching I had my athletes stand in place and practice just arms. Beyond letting me see their technique up close, it also helped them feel what good arm technique can do. Just standing and doing proper arm movement, most athletes can feel the upward force that they get from it. It also helped to get them to show up for weight workouts once they could actually understand how important the upper body is for sprinting.
The float position is even more important for the longer events like the 400, 400 hurdles and 800. When done right, it takes less effort to maintain speed while floating... specially on the straightaways. In those races, the key upper body muscles are across the upper back, and I designed weight workouts for my athletes to help keep the bear on the last turn from jumping on their backs.
And all that was especially important for me in my main event, the 110 meter high hurdles, because in addition to needing the float to run fast, the extra couple inches helped put me into a better position for attacking the hurdles. Being neither naturally fast nor all that tall (I'm 5'11", which is on the short side for someone who sprints over 42" barriers), I used perfect sprint technique and hurdle form to make up for what nature left out.
I was also lucky enough to have one of the best sprint/hurdle coaches in the world ask me to start working out with him after my sophomore year in high school. In the high hurdles I ran 16.2 my freshmen year, 15.7 my sophomore year, 14.72 (and 14.6 hand timed) my junior year and 14.88 my senior year (following ankle surgery). My first year running college high hurdles I dropped down to 14.64 (and also ran 10.8 in the 100 and 22.3 in the 200 that year).
While those aren't exactly incredible times, considering that they were run by someone with only average natural abilities is what sets them apart.
the 800 is most definately a sprint. no doubt about it. some people just can't sprint the whole way.
why do you hate sprinting?
racerx, i'm not going to quote all of that, but very informal. even though you could have just said "sprinters need to run on their toys and pump their arms."
those times are pretty good. especially the 10.8 100 meters. (in my opinion anyways).
Well, if all any one got out of what I had written was "sprinters need to run on their tows and pump their arms" then they lost out on a massive amount of sprinting tips passed down among the best sprinters in the world.twoodcc said:
The "sprinters need to run on their tows and pump their arms" advice might work okay for high school athletes who aren't serious about the sport, but what I posted above is exactly what was taught to Michael Johnson and Jeremy Wariner. It was what my coach was teaching his sister the year I started working with him that got her the NCAA Div I title in the 400 hurdles and an American Record. And it was what his mentors had taught him (one of whom now holds my old coaching position).
Back in 1996, I offered to help out the Cuyamaca College track team (for free) to kill some time while I took a break from school. After two weeks of working with their sprinters they hired me as an assistant coach and put me in total control of the sprints, jumps and relays... and that was based mainly on what I shared above (and the recommendations of other San Diego area coaches who told them that they should take advantage of me being there).
Just think, what I posted is most likely one of the most valuable kernels of sprinting knowledge on the web, and it is most likely lost forever in a cross country thread in a Mac forum.
For what it is worth, there is more to sprinting than just running on your tows and pumping your arms. That is how a math/physics nerd like me was able to run as well as I did... I both worked out and studied sprinting and hurdling.
Well, if all any one got out of what I had written was "sprinters need to run on their tows and pump their arms" then they lost out on a massive amount of sprinting tips passed down among the best sprinters in the world.
The "sprinters need to run on their tows and pump their arms" advice might work okay for high school athletes who aren't serious about the sport, but what I posted above is exactly what was taught to Michael Johnson and Jeremy Wariner. It was what my coach was teaching his sister the year I started working with him that got her the NCAA Div I title in the 400 hurdles and an American Record. And it was what his mentors had taught him (one of whom now holds my old coaching position).
Back in 1996, I offered to help out the Cuyamaca College track team (for free) to kill some time while I took a break from school. After two weeks of working with their sprinters they hired me as an assistant coach and put me in total control of the sprints, jumps and relays... and that was based mainly on what I shared above (and the recommendations of other San Diego area coaches who told them that they should take advantage of me being there).
Just think, what I posted is most likely one of the most valuable kernels of sprinting knowledge on the web, and it is most likely lost forever in a cross country thread in a Mac forum.
For what it is worth, there is more to sprinting than just running on your tows and pumping your arms. That is how a math/physics nerd like me was able to run as well as I did... I both worked out and studied sprinting and hurdling.
apparently neither one of us can spell "toes" correctly.
anyway, i know that's not all you said, but probably all that you needed to say. like you said, this is more of a high school cross-country thread.
i'm not saying that i don't like what you said or don't appreciate, believe me, i do. i might actually benefit from that, considering i still have one track season left and i'm focusing on the 800.
and i will agree that even running the 800 you need upper body strength so you can use your arms more at the end of a race.
I'm a senior this year. Pretty soon I'll be able to buy lottery tickets!
awesome, but don't waste your money. keep running instead
It's not that I'm bad at it, its just over way to fast for me to be very competitive in it. The 800 I can tolerate that but the sweet spot for me is the 1600.
i gotcha. i think you'll learn to like shorter stuff with time.....or then again you might like the longer stuff. it's usually one or the other. some people start off like you and run the 1600 and 3200 in high school, 1500 and / or 5000 in college, then end up running marathons later in life. not me. later in like if i'm running it'll be the 100 meter dash
Winter Training Question...
Now that the Cross Country season is over for most everyone, the next sport that most of is go to is track. I was wondering if anyone out there would (or did) go and do indoor track for the winter to train? At my high school it is not considered a "varsity" sport but a "club" sport. I think training out in the cold, snow, ice and whatever is out there is more fun then running on a treadmill over the winter. (unless it's so cold they cancel school or there's a bad storm, then I'll go use a treadmill)
Now that the Cross Country season is over for most everyone, the next sport that most of is go to is track. I was wondering if anyone out there would (or did) go and do indoor track for the winter to train? At my high school it is not considered a "varsity" sport but a "club" sport. I think training out in the cold, snow, ice and whatever is out there is more fun then running on a treadmill over the winter.
(unless it's so cold they cancel school or there's a bad storm, then I'll go use a treadmill)
Now that the Cross Country season is over for most everyone, the next sport that most of is go to is track. I was wondering if anyone out there would (or did) go and do indoor track for the winter to train? At my high school it is not considered a "varsity" sport but a "club" sport. I think training out in the cold, snow, ice and whatever is out there is more fun then running on a treadmill over the winter.
well we didn't have indoor track at my high school, but i ran it in college. but even training for indoor track, i still trained outside.
That's what we do and I love the cold, the only thing I would change about it is that our school would make it a varsity sport. They even made bowling a varsity sport this year!
yeah i don't mind running in the cold either. yeah that would be nice if it was a varsity sport. it's cool you got bowling though, i like bowling too
I used to be into my sports. When I was in high school, the teachers made us do a '12-minute run' every day between recess and lunch. I represented them in swimming, cross country and sprinting and sometimes collapsed in a heap due to asthma.
The asthma has gotten better as I've gotten older but I've become less active too
Yoga, cycling and passionate sex keeps me fit these days
The asthma has gotten better as I've gotten older but I've become less active too
Yoga, cycling and passionate sex keeps me fit these days
just ran(lol) across this thread.
i finished my 3rd year of cross country and i am in my 3rd year of track as of now. I run year round and i really hope to do 600 miles this summer break.
its great to see other xc runners on this site!!!
i also just signed up for this awesome camp... i hear its one of the best in the US.
o and i am a frosh.
i finished my 3rd year of cross country and i am in my 3rd year of track as of now
. I run year round and i really hope to do 600 miles this summer break.its great to see other xc runners on this site!!!
i also just signed up for this awesome camp... i hear its one of the best in the US
.o and i am a frosh.