XC Tips for My Younger Self

That's not just a question a writer may ask themselves, but may also be something you're wondering as you head into cross country season. Well, start where you are. Begin with a single step, as even the longest journeys do, and continue one step at a time. A friend who trains in Jiu-Jitsu recently told me that "the white belt is the hardest to get," meaning it can be the most intimidating thing to do just to walk in the door (or, in the case of XC, out the door) and simply begin. So, take a deep breath, approach whoever you need to (a coach, friend, parent, acquaintance, teacher, etc.), and show up.

I joined XC in 10th grade to stay in shape for spring soccer (stop me if you've heard that one before) and because my older brother, who was a grade ahead of me, had joined as a Freshman. I learned a lot through cross country and discovered a lifelong love of running. My goal for this article is that you will find something helpful for your unique XC journey, whether you're an elite hyper-competitor or more focused on simple health and enjoyment. You've got this! Running isn't just a sport; it's a lifestyle. So slap a Ted Lasso "Believe" sign on your wall or phone case, and let's go!

There are no shortcuts in the long run (pun intended), but I know time and attention are limited, and this article is long. I hope your scrolling finger is ready and that you take the time to read this through. If that's not for you, at least not right now, here are the summary takeaways for your first (or fourth) cross country season.

Tip #1: Focus on Total Health and Your Own Ability — Sports are all about utilising competition as a motivator to improve your fitness and abilities. That said, it's important not to compare yourself to others. Instead, focus on maximising your ability and prioritising your mental health, and stay healthy, happy, and humble all year long. Remember, running should be fun!

Tip #2: Be Sure to Fuel Your Body — Always get enough to eat and fuel every workout. Focus on eating easily digestible carbs and electrolyte hydration for high-intensity performance while focusing on a balance of fats, proteins, and carbs for recovery.

Tip #3: Don't Forget to Cross Train — Avoid overuse injuries by incorporating low-impact training like cycling, elliptical, or swimming into your schedule. And more importantly, make strength training mandatory, with a minimum of once each week.

Tip #4: Get Enough Sleep — You can't out-train inadequate sleep. Target 8-10 hours of sleep per night to ensure your body is maximising recovery. If you love to train hard, challenge yourself to be just as disciplined with sleep habits.

Tip #5: Take the Time to Prioritise Recovery — Be patient and do the little things. Take rest days, foam roll, warm up, cool down, stretch, and take recovery weeks. And foam roll some more.

Tip #6: Invest in Quality Running Shoes — Wear running-specific shoes and replace them when needed. Running shoes contain specialised designs to handle the repetitive motion of the sport and help keep your feet happy and healthy all season long.

Tip #7: Identify Your Strengths — The best racing strategy is to figure out where your strengths lie. Can you drop others on the climb, or are you better at bombing the downhills? Is your strength in finding that last bit of energy to push past the competition right before the finish line? Lean into your strengths on race day, and run your race to the best of your abilities.

Tip #8: Prepare the Night Before A Race — Prepare mentally and physically the day before a race. Pack a bag with everything you will need for the race, review the course map beforehand, and write out goals and plans for the day.

Tip #9: Warm Up At Your Own Pace! — Don't be tempted to keep up with others and run too fast during your warm-up. Maintain a pace that is best for you and save your energy for when the gun goes off.

Tip #10: Be a Good Sport — Give every ounce of energy and SEND IT on race day! But, regardless of how you perform, be a good sport. Be kind to teammates and fellow competitors, and take pride in yourself for showing up and finishing, no matter if it went to plan.

When I was younger, it didn't occur to me to treat running or training as a full-year activity and to try to maximise my own ability. I trained and improved, but I wish I had tried to reach my highest potential and compete athletically in college. Now, I think about the big picture and consider all the things I need to do to stay healthy (uninjured physically but also holistically, mentally, and spiritually) for the entire year. It might be your goal to out-train your competition today or this week, but I ask myself, "How can I outwork them over a year... or a decade?" Yes, you'll need some hard workouts, but the only way to do this is to embrace the power of the easy run, be disciplined with your time and consistency, and avoid overtraining. I know, piece of cake, right?

No matter where you are in your journey, remember that "comparison is the thief of joy." It's much easier said than done, but never judge your self-worth by your performance against the clock or by what others have or are capable of. Practice self-acceptance, fully appreciate the one amazing and capable body and talents that you have, and work on being the best version of yourSELF that you can be. Find pride in the FACT that you can do hard things. To borrow from Nelson Mandela, "It always seems impossible until it's done." For all of you high achievers, stay humble. Keep down-to-earth and remain grateful.

Even in the last few years, research and real-world practice with new fuelling strategies have produced incredible results for long-distance endurance athletes in running, cycling, and more. While you don't need to carry nutrition or target 70-100 grams of carbs per hour for a cross country race, I do it during long training runs and ultras, and the lesson I've learned is clear: a well-fuelled body is a strong body. A starved body is weak and injury-prone.

We runners (if you run, you're a runner, no matter the pace or distance) tend to overthink what to eat the night before or leading up to a race. Shortly before an event, electrolyte drinks and easily digestible carbs (gels, chews, oatmeal, banana pancakes, etc.) work best for performance. While that's important, even more essential is to eat and hydrate well throughout the week, the month, and the year. This is especially true right after a run or workout when there can be a relatively brief period of optimal time (target within 30 minutes) to start taking in recovery nutrition. I usually pack a recovery shake with a mixture of protein, carbs, and healthy fats as a convenient start for right after a run if it might take me 30-60 minutes to get more of a proper full meal. If you're hungry for second helpings, have them.

Athletes like Allie Ostrander, Parker Valby, and so many more are showing us the huge power of cross-training, using big volumes of the elliptical and bike trainer in particular. Be sure to incorporate low-impact training like stationary cycling, elliptical, rowing, incline treadmill hiking, swimming, walking the dog, or anything else you can think of. I didn't start doing this in a BIG way until this year, now in my early 40s, so I missed out on a lot of fitness gains potential.

Vitally important is to make full-body resistance (strength) training mandatory, at least once a week. I didn't commit to this until my late 30s after seeing Altra pro runner Jeff Browning share a brief video of his routine. I'd tell my younger self that I don't have to go heavy weight or high reps to create significantly stronger tendons and bones and increase my running power output capacity and ability to clear lactic burn. Instead, I can do a 20-40 minute session at home with body weight and some light dumbbells and resistance bands. Even easier, as of late, I love fitting in a 10-minute strength "fitness snack" almost every morning and a 15-minute elliptical (or row or incline treadmill) every lunch break. I've learned that "you always have time for what you put first."

I focus on compound (involving more than one joint) movements like squats, lunges, deadlifts, step-ups, push-ups, pull-ups, etc. Again, you do NOT have to use heavy weights or high reps - a little bit can go a long way. This message finally clicked when a friend told me, "If all you want to do is run, you HAVE to do something ELSE to be able to run as much as possible." In other words, by reducing running impact, you strengthen the bones and tendons so you can handle the running load.

Lastly, rather than strictly thinking in mileage, I've fallen in love with thinking in hours of training time. I used to train 5-6 hours per week solely by running, and that was pretty much the limit of what my body could handle. I now train 9-10 hours per week, injury-free, by adding low-impact cross-training. Your body doesn't really know mileage - it only knows stress (as in stimulus). Think about what stimulus input (volume and intensity) you're telling your body to try to adapt to.

I can do the best training in the world, but I won't improve or stay healthy without having quality, consistent sleep. According to many expert sources, teens should target 8-10 hours of sleep per night. Do everything feasible to get this amount for as many nights as possible.

When my mom was raising two young boys on her own, working and finishing college at the same time, one of the best advice she got from her doctor was to make sleep consistent, with the same bedtime and wake-up time. Although she only got 4-5 hours of sleep a night during that period of adulthood, she made it the SAME 4-5 hours. So if you're only getting 7 hours, try to make it the same 7, and do what you can to get more.

We all know that smartphones can be addicting, and it can be too easy to stay up late scrolling through social media. I'm blessed that I'm not too attached to my phone, but I know how hard it can be, and you want to put the phone down. If you need to experiment with deleting some social media or whatever you can do to support yourself in limiting or reducing screen time, do it. I get the highest quality sleep when I put my phone on airplane mode, leave it far away on the other side of the room, and maybe even turn the wifi router off. I've recently added blackout curtains, and they made a significant difference. Challenge yourself to schedule sleep and take it just as seriously as you take studying, gaming, or training.

I credit my older brother with sharing another of my favourite mantras: Choose your hard. Meaning it's hard to put your phone away for a while, but it's also hard to live your life glued to its screen. Or, it's hard to be consistent, disciplined, and change a habit, and it's hard living in an inconsistent, chaotic way with an unhealthy habit. So, if it's hard either way, then choose your hard. Life is hard. Choose your way.

As a reminder, my four pillars are sleep, nutrition, training, and recovery. You are recovering whenever you sleep, fuel up, and when you go on an easy run. That said, there are other ways to promote faster recovery. Be diligent with full-body foam rolling or a percussion massage gun if you like that better. For me, a thorough foam roller session once or twice a week takes 15-25 minutes, but even 5-10 minutes helps immensely and is by far the best bang for the buck I can get, the next best thing to professional massage. Whenever my legs feel dead or sore, nothing makes them feel instantly fresher faster than the foam roller.

Also, if you're increasing weekly mileage, only increase by about 10% every week. As I'm building or training at a consistently high volume, I take a purposeful lower-mileage and lower-intensity recovery week every 4th or 5th week to help keep me healthy for the year, not just the month. A runner that stays healthy to train 50 out of 52 weeks (yes, take at least a week or two vacation) is out-working a competitor that overtrains themselves into an injury that forces them to take 6-10 weeks off. As boring and unnecessary as they might feel, get a warm-up jog for at least 10 minutes before any strenuous workout, and never skip a cool-down jog! Cooling down for another 10+ minutes helps me recover fresher and be less sore for the next run.

Lastly, I always feel my best when incorporating consistent stretching almost every day. An ideal combination is a brief warm shower, then the foam roller, finished with stretching. My favourite habit is blocking off 10 minutes for stretching in a quiet, dark (or dimly lit) place just before bedtime. Focusing on just breathing and stretching can be meditatively calming.

Invest in quality running shoes - the right footwear is the one that feels best to you. You don't have to get the most expensive ones - value shoes and normal daily trainers are great! If you're running enough miles or more than three times per week, having more than one pair of trainers in the rotation (if you can fit it into the budget) is beneficial. Pay attention to how you feel as your shoes wear out, and know you will likely need to replace them by 600-800 kilometres. In general, running in super foams and medium-to-higher stack heights for your longer runs can help you feel fresher and recover faster, and you can find good options at a good value. You don't have to have the most expensive shoes, but make sure you have at least one or two good pairs that are made for running.

For training or racing, my high school coach (thanks, Coach Hart!) instilled at least two habits that I still strive for today: maintain or increase effort uphill (you might break a competitor's spirit with a strong pass going uphill, but they might try to make it up on the downhill), and making the last one the fast one, meaning the last rep of a workout or a race should be your fastest one of the session. I've discovered that I'm faster than most at racing downhill and maybe just average going uphill - I love to put in solid effort going up, and it feels amazing to accept gravity's gift to bomb the down. Of course, I invest the work to strengthen my weaknesses, and I also know there's power in strengthening my strengths.

As training becomes monotonous, I try to remind myself to make running fun or at least suck less. I'm lucky that my dad is the biggest kid you'll ever meet, and he can always make me laugh. My favourite podcast for positivity, uplifting, stoke, and training science is SWAP (Some Work, All Play) with David and Dr. Megan Roche. I'd tell myself to start taking in that type of content immediately.

Finally! Race day is almost here. Be ready to give your all by ensuring you have everything you need for the next day. Writing out a physical list of items to bring, goals, race plans, or reminders can ease the anxiety burden on the brain.

Think about what you'll need for the entire day, not just the race. Consider clothing and items for travel to the meet, and don't forget what you'll need to kill time before and after your race. Sunscreen, snacks, water, electrolyte drinks, change of clothes, a towel/blanket/tarp to lay on, extra layers for sun protection or warmth, foam roller or massage tool, comfortable sandals, hat, sunglasses, etc.—the list can get long. Don't forget your racing shoes and uniform, but also make sure you wear comfortable running shoes to walk and jog around when not racing.

And yes, everyone on the starting line has massive butterflies (even the professionals). When you're goal-setting, remember that goals should excite us a lot and scare us a little. Or maybe even sometimes scare us a lot if you're dreaming BIG. But don't disregard the power of smaller, concrete, achievable goals, and celebrate the small victories. Also, nobody is falling asleep easily and getting great sleep the night before an event, so don't worry if you find yourself struggling with sleep - you'll be all right.

For the warm-up, I'd tell my younger self in my first season that I DON'T have to warm up at the same pace as my fastest teammates do. Everyone needs to warm up, and the faster you're going to run, the more important the warm-up is. But I can do it at my own pace. Trying to keep up with faster runners may lead you to use up all your energy before the race. Be sure not to wear yourself out before the gun goes off.

Also, get to your event early! The course walkthroughs can massively calm your mind once you lay your eyes and feet on the actual course.

For the race, I get comfortable with discomfort, as I've sought out and made friends with discomfort in hard speedwork sessions. Hype music is powerful to get fired up and ready to crush! Rage Against the Machine, Metallica, Pantera, and System of a Down are some of my favourites. Or, for others who don't want to get TOO fired up too early, emanating strength and calm is contagious; this will hurt, and this is what I signed up for! I'll emerge, purified to an essence, stronger.

Give a hard effort, but settle in and try to relax to run smoothly and fast, not over-straining hard. As the saying goes, slow (or relaxed) is smooth, and smooth is fast. I've experimented with different race strategies or plans on varying courses or depending on how I'm feeling. Sometimes, it pays off to go out as hard as possible, like Steve Prefontaine, and try to hold on, and other times, it's smarter to start a bit more conservatively fast and build in faster and faster as the race goes on.

Or, instead of positive-splitting or negative-splitting the course, I might want to try to give a steady, consistent effort at the same pace the whole way. I'd recommend you find someone to push you and don't be afraid to get up and run with the older or faster kids - you can see growth and achieve breakthroughs this way! If you can hear your opponent breathing harder than you or pick up on any other clue that they're hurting worse, that might be an ideal time to surge and open up a gap that sticks.

When I'm in the home stretch, whether it's the last 100m or 800m, I scrape deep to tap into every ounce of soul and extra effort (cue up Sha'Carri Richardson, Quincy Hall, Cole Hocker, and so many more from the 2024 Paris Olympics) I have left to KICK with everything I have and see how many people I can pass! Every person counts. My personal favourite (sometimes unrealistic) goal is to try not to get passed in the final mile. If someone goes by me, I try to hang with them or reel them back in gradually if I have time. And I'll NEVER get tired of the feeling of flying past dozens of competitors in the closing stretches. As Pre knew, "to give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift." He ran to prove who had the most guts and embodied that "somebody may beat me, but they are going to have to bleed to do it."

After you finish, get up and cheer for your teammates and everyone else who's still running - uplifting them gives them (and you) a huge boost. A solid high-five is one of my all-time favourite power-ups. It's ok to want to crush your competition during the race, but you should always race with good sportsmanship before, during, and after. You can be respectful rivals on the course and even be friends (or at least civil) before and after. If Olympians can hug it out with respect after losing gold, then we all can. Don't forget to give yourself credit and take pride in what you've done by showing up and finishing. Even if you came in dead last, you still improved and beat everyone that didn't show up.

If you get nothing else out of this article, please know that you are FULLY worthy exactly as you are, and you don't have to change. It is you vs. you. Don't judge your insides by others' outsides. Start where you are, show up, and finish. And lighten up, laugh at yourself, and HAVE FUN! Pure fun, even or especially Type 2 Fun, is a huge part of any chosen activity, especially a team sport. Give yourself credit for the progress you've made toward any aspect of your self-improvement.

Please, please, listen to the 1999 hit record "Everybody's Free (to Wear Sunscreen)," producer-credited to filmmaker Baz Luhrmann, apparently based on a newspaper column by Mary Schmich - it does a better job in 5 minutes than I've done in writing this.

Let's take another moment to reflect on the vital importance of mental strength. You're going to make mistakes, and that's a good thing! Own it, take responsibility, and apologise (including to yourself) if needed. Mistakes make for better stories, make you stronger, and teach you valuable lessons you'll carry for life. Learn from your mistakes, forgive yourself, and DON'T carry them or any shame into each new day. Remember the lesson, give yourself some grace, and leave the mistake in the past - today is a brand new day! Even GOATs and gold medalists have bad days and performances. Be not discouraged. Keep calm and carry on. Manifest your inner Courtney Dauwalter and smile.

If you have haters, either completely ignore them like water off a duck's back or use them to fuel your disrespected underdog story - don't those always make great movies? When people tell you (or reveal) who they truly are, believe them. If they don't like you, wish them "good luck, babe," and know in your soul that it's "their loss," and consider forgiving them. Don't care what anyone else thinks unless they sincerely care about you, uplift you, want the best for you, and want to help you be the best human you can be. If they don't care about you, they don't deserve to live in your brain, even for a moment. Guard against letting someone "sell" you something that you already possess.

On the other side, your people, your crew, your squad, your "run fam" will build you up. Ask for help. It shows strength and wisdom. Think about how good you feel when you can help and give someone else a chance to feel good by helping you. If you appreciate an acquaintance, friend, family member, or favourite teacher, tell them now, or at least before you part ways forever. Also, take a chance and talk to your crush.

My simplest wish for you is that you're blessed with one person in your life (family, guardian, friend, teacher, coach, mentor, etc.) who pours into you and is your cheerleader. My greatest wish is that you have more than one. If you don't have that yet, you can absolutely be your own cheerleader, and you WILL find your people in time. There's an extremely good chance you'll find them running trails.

Celebrate small victories, not just big ones. Encourage your teammates and others - true happiness comes from uplifting others and shared experiences. Smile.

Now, re-read this after a week, a month, or a year. Thanks!

Cheers!