How I Improved In Cross Country Running [5 Tips To Get Better at XC] 

Me chillin over here at 17:43 as a junior hearing him say 17:00 as a freshman is "not great"😂

Visualize your performance in the race too! The course, how you want to feel when. Really helps you come in calmer during the race

Pre race vision: I’m gonna wake up early in the morning, running on 3 hrs of sleep, go downstairs and eat a bagel, ride the bus to school, sit through an excruciating 90 min of Algebra II then cruise through my other classes. I’m going to eat shitty school food for lunch that I know is gonna hurt me later but oh well. I’m going to ride the bus with my team to the meet and discover we have gushers in our team snack bin. I am going to eat 9-12 packs of gushers over the course of 10 minutes. I’m going to do my usual warmup and probably throw up, where I’ll then have to explain to my coach that my vomit is blood red because I ate an unholy amount of gushers and that I don’t have a life-threatening intestinal issue. Then, 20 minutes before the race, I’m going to decide it’s probably a good idea to have my first bottle of water for the day, because you gotta get that pre-race hydration. I then take a sip of an energy drink to get pumped up before I walk to the start line. On the start line, the energy drink, 16 oz of water, and the school’s premium teriyaki chicken I had for lunch is going to develop into a nasty gut pain that refuses to go away. I then run the race as any sleep-deprived, dehydrated, malnourished 11th grader that’s trying not to shit themselves would, and still end up with a PR somehow. Just about sums up the cross country experience.

Now in every race the rest of my life I will think of how disappointed Spencer would be if I give up when it gets tough. 😂😂 Great video and definitely some great tips in here.

Had a XC meet where a teammate gave blood day of meet. He was cocky but he didn't realize how much a pint of blood given would affect him running.

watching Spencer talk about cross is so nostalgic for me, this is how I began my running career

These tips actually worked, as a high school cross country runner I was able to improve my pr from a 21:00 to a 17:21 within a season and I got a 17:33 on the meet two days ago

My season bests in 2023 -- 5k at 30::00 and 10k at 65:00. Hurting plenty well at 0.7k when I turn from downhill to flat. Sidebar - turning 60 yrs old this season.

School cross country be the hunger games fr fr

I got you! This might be my last race in cross country this season in regionals and I have to beat my team mate to get top 7 and we’re pretty similar runners. I remember this video for sure!

Agree with what you said about mileage in training for XCountry. After all, it's not a marathon you're training for! One thing i would add is to do some workouts on the sort of surface you are going to race on. Reps at race pace on the grass are great training for Xcountry. Depending on how much background you have, 5-8 x1000-1200 with a short(ish) recovery is a great workout especially if done on a slightly undulating circuit. It's also the type of workout you should be doing if your aim is racing well at 800-1500 later in the year. Also, practise running downhill! Something i never did and consequently always lost ground going down any hills.

Thanks for putting in those Lehigh clips from Paul Short. That’s where PA HS state XC Championships were my senior year of HS way back in ‘85. A great course of rolling hills. Good tips on the pre race routine. As a PhD in Sport Psychology I can tell you that is vital in controlling pre-race anxiety and stress. Good stuff there.

Bro. I run for Warde High School in Fairifield, CT. I didn't even realize it was Wilton, CT. I saw some of the clips of you running at Allen's Meadow and I just ran there this season. I honestly love your videos because I want to get better at Cross Country. I've improved so much and I've helped my team a lot going into the winter season!

YOOO I DIDNT KNOW YOU WERE FROM CT! as soon as you showed the clip of you running the green monster i freaked out. i ran in the class s meet last week as a freshman, though my time was not even close to 17:00 haha. i’m hoping to improve throughout the year for next season and get as close to there as possible (like a six minute improvement, probably not gonna happen but whatever).

I miss the XC season so so much i only started this year but this is one of my FAVORITE sports ive ever tried

Yo you probably won’t see this, but I run cross country at amity right now, and I actually ran a 26:01.04 at the Wilton invitational this year, and at SCCs I pr’d with a 24:18, so it’s cool to randomly find an xc RU-vidr near me!

Tip 4 is very helpful

Great video!

This is great. I just had a meet today, we do 2-mile races in middle school and for my first year ever i got a 13:12 I’m really proud and am hoping to get below 12s by next year it’s gonna hurt like hell though!!

Thank you for sharing your tips bc I wanted to know how to improve bc yesterday was regionals and I started of top 4 or 3 then by the end of the race I was in 26th place with 17:21

I'm in 5th grade going into 6th soon and I'm also a cross country but when you said that your 8K time was a 23:00 my jaw dropped because that's only my 5K time. But all I got to say is you are FAST

Ah yes, posting this after my season ends. You love to see it!

This is my first year running xc, I’m in 6th grade and I qualified for state!

Need to come down to Portland and race some xc in the fall next year !

I have my first cross country meet tomorrow. It’s only two miles but I’m so scared😭 So I won’t give up because I know Spencer will be disappointed in me😖✨

dude ur crazy my best was 26 and a half minutes freshman year

Regionals today :) thx for the tip Edit: I’m a freshman in HS

Bro as a 15 y/o on 4 *km* I got 16:34 😭 and placed 18/21 in my contry. But as 13 y/o on 1 km I got 3:05 and placed 5th in my country. I really dropped training during covid so that had a major negative impact on my running. (Just for clarification I am 16.5 y/o now) I hope I can get back in form at least a tiny bit.

Favorite workouts during base phase training for 5k/8k/10k?

Going to Wilton high this year and will race cross country

Some things that people do is they look back and it slows them down a bit

How am i eight grade how should I run in the winter for the mile my usual run are like 4 miles everyday so 20- 30mile week pls help

LeTtTtTtTsSsSs GoOoOoOooOo, we love the og Spencer content!

nice, what about xtraining how to get fitter if your limited with amount of running you can do like me due to injuries so i ride use spin bike, what are xtraining tips

i’ve just started cross country and im in 7th grade and i’ve just won the championship and got 5th place out of 70

What were your go to xc race shoes?

Sections on Thursday trying to qualify for state with the team

My garmin 245 music says I can run a 16:44 for the 5k but i never even broke 18 before but the reason why is cuz i get scared when i race after the first mile i slow down and just try to relax because I didn’t know it was supposed to hurt i would just try to be as relax as possible and would normally finish at 18:46-19:15 and in my workouts I go way faster. Im a 4:40 miller and I’m super scared to hurt after one mile i feel like i could die if i keep going but im not out of breath im breathing fine like if it was tempo and then just slow down cuz im scared. Help

Ontario University Championship XC tomorrow, baby!

Love these recent vids you have Allie have done 🎉

Nice video! Keep posting amazing content like this

I am currently waiting my section meet for tomorrow, hoping to go to state.

Believe it, or not, but I think I’m the only runner that never ran cross country I boxed in the winter, and fall. Spring I ran distance for track. Boxing was always my first sport I ran distance for cross-training.

What’s weird is that in the US XC finishes after you finish high school/college. Whereas in the UK you compete for a club and you can do cross country from age 9 up to like 90

Running in NXN as an 8th grader soon hope this helps get my time under 17.

sir im 28 im in good shape but my running sucks im bevileve it or not im 312 but im in good shape i was wondering how can i be able to run cross country im want to be there for my family and be able to be there for my nice that like a daughter to me i already lost two of my brother i just dont want my mom and dad to lose me so that benig said how do i do cross country oh and the only time i can run is when i have adrenaline

I’m cookin at Wilton invite this year

i didn’t do sports for 3 years and i just started running again in freshman year highschool (current) and i ran a 33:25 5k😭😭😭

17:00 flat asa freshman!?! 15:58 as a shophmore!?! That would be 1st place in the state where I live why is your state so good

EVERY FAST PERSON IS NAMED SPENCER I SWEAR.

I’m going into 5 th grade this year any tips on xc

ye nice

Dude your state must’ve had a lot of fast course, 17:00 and 150th at state lmaoo Georgia’s state course is almost entirely uphill a 17:00 would be like top 25

I just signed up for cross country without even knowing anything abt the sport 🤷‍♂️

i hope you see this but i was wondering in gr 10 i ran 4k in 14 min and placed 53 in provincials is that good?

My freshman year I ran 24:32 how you so good

I think this is the DOWN moment for me, sometimes is so stressful to not see my results 😭😭😭 I need to get better

is 11.58 good for a 3k

17:00 would get top 15 at my my state meet

I'm based in the UK - why does XC stop in the US after college????

I started in 4th grade and I am in 5th now

Wow

green lake

OMG ARE U A GUYANESE I AM ❤❤

First!

I run cross country in England and your cross country looks like a road race to us 🤣. I came 5th in my latest XC which was a 10k. The course was dreadful. About 1000 places to twist your angle then swimming in mud 🤣

I am in 8th grade and I can run a 21:25 is that pretty good?

Man's saying 17:00 as a freshman and my freshman pr was a 21:06. What am I missing?

Is that Wilton, CT?

Clicked off an older video of yours for this one😂

Hey man, since it looks like you’re trying to find where running will take you next, why don’t you do what deestroying is doing for football. Go seek out the best xc meets and then the best track meets and lift the athletes up from your soap box… just a thought.

sohpmore rn 29 minute 5k

Bro making me feel bad I got 23:14 my sophomore year so far

Freshman running 20:57

No way I live in Darien and have raced against Wilton dozens of times

My friend burned out. He was our best junior high runner, but today at our meet even I beat him. His best time is about 18 minutes. Mine is 22… Ps. We are freshmen

Dude you should be a high school CC coach and track. You are so dead on most people run their whole life and dont get this.

He said 17:00 isn't good

Bro all u need is to practice.

Bud, you’re running out of content……

Bro I was running 15:00's in Jr High and didn't even qualify for finals in Cali 🤣. As a freshman I was killing my varsity team and still no good. I stop trying Junior year and gave up now I climb The tallest mountains in the country for fun lol