3 Top Cross Country Workouts You Can’t Miss If You Want to Succeed

Cross country running might seem like a sport that’s simple enough to train for. All you have to do in order to make yourself a better cross country runner is, well, run, right?

To some degree, yes. But if you’re going to transform yourself into the best cross country runner that you can be, there are certain cross country workouts you should incorporate into your training routine.

Here are three of the best cross country workouts.

1. Working the Hills

When you run a typical track and field race, you do it on a nice, even running track surface. Read more now about how this will ensure you run your best times.

But when you run a cross country race, there won’t be anything “nice” or “even” about it. You’re going to be running up and down hills.

Train yourself to do this by taking on cross country workouts like this one:

• Warm your body up with a 1-mile jog
• Find a hill with a moderate slope and run up it for 30 seconds using 90% effort
• Take a 30-second break before running back down the hill using 90% effort
• Rest for another 30 seconds and repeat the process about eight times

2. Learning to Downshift

There are going to be times during a cross country race when you’ll need to expend a great deal of energy to get up a hill or through a rough stretch of terrain. This will force you to downshift for short periods of time to recover from these short bursts.

It can be very difficult to give your body time to recover while still maintaining a decent pace. It’s why you need to train your body to downshift from time to time.

This workout should help with this:

• Warm your body up with a 1-mile jog
• Run the same speed you would run if you were taking part in a 1-mile race for 30 seconds
• Slow down and run the same speed you would run if you were taking part in a 10K race for 2.5 minutes
• Take a 1-minute break and repeat the process about eight times

3. Adjusting the Pace

As a cross country runner, the last thing you want to do is come out running too hard at the start of a race and burn yourself out too quickly. At the same time, you also don’t want to finish a race and feel like you still have energy left in the tank.

Pacing yourself throughout a cross country race is of the utmost importance. Try this workout if you want to learn how to pace yourself more effectively:

• Warm your body up with a 1-mile jog
• Run uphill for approximately 1 minute, put down a marker, and then spend 2 minutes jogging back down the hill
• Run uphill for 1 minute again and try to run a little further than you did the first time before putting down another marker and spending another 2 minutes jogging back down the hill
• Do this about ten times and try to outrun your previous marker each time
• Use the most effort on your final attempt, leaving nothing left in the tank for later

Start Taking Your Cross Country Workouts to the Next Level

On the day of a cross country race, you want to feel like you’ve done everything in your power to train for it. It’ll make you so much more confident once the race begins.

Take your cross country workouts to the next level by trying some of the workouts mentioned here. They’ll turn you into a better cross country runner in no time.

Read more of our blog for other great workout tips.

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