My first year on the cross country team
October 16, 2019
My name is Alina Hernanez. I am a seventh grader and I joined Dobie’s Cross Country team for the first time this year. My experience has been exciting and challenging. When I first joined cross country, I thought it would be easy for me, but they pushed us harder than I was expecting.
Almost every weekend the cross country team has a meet; there are 5 meets in a season. Here is how I get ready for a meet; I drink a lot of water, eat enough protein, stretch, and get lots of sleep. Many cross country students, including me, love going to the meets. I feel like it is fun, exhilarating, and scary all at the same time!
Alessandra Ramos, a 7th grade runner says, “I feel nervous when I get there. I make sure that I don’t get lost. Mostly though, I feel excited for the race ahead.”
When I am running there are others running with you and against me. Some advice the cross country team would give is to keep your pace, help or cheer on others if they are walking or if they are in pain. If you get close to someone try to pass them.
Everyone is trying to run faster each time to improve their time. The fastest person’s time on our cross country team is 13:30,or 13 minutes and 30 seconds.
Avianna Bierl, a 7th grade runner says she has a strategy for increasing her time at each meet: I will pass 2 people for every one person that passes me.”
Most high schools and junior highs have cross country teams. According to https://www.britannica.com/sports/cross-country cross country meets are held during the fall or winter months, and many amateur athletes use the sport as a means of keeping fit and developing stamina. According to https://www.spx.org the fastest time in the USA is 12:56.
When I am in the middle of a race my legs or my lungs start hurting, my friend says that it is normal, it means that your legs or lungs are tired. If you have to walk, walk with purpose don’t strol. According to www.livestrong there are nine steps to push through the pain, some of which include preparing your body before the run to prevent pain and running with a partner who is stronger than you. My dad tells
me a lot to focus on breathing instead of pain (#4).
When I can see the finish line that means I am nearly at
the end. I start to sprint so I can reach the finish line faster. Coach Head always gives us good tips: “Keep running even if it hurts you should be almost there. Get water, rest and don’t forget to stretch. Check your time you may have gotten a new high score!”
Resources:
https://www.britannica.com/sports/cross-country
https://www.livestrong.com/article/427340-how-to-push-through-pain-when-running/
www.shape.com (Gives great stretches for after running.)
Aviana Bierl • Nov 5, 2019 at 2:04 pm
I thought you did a good job. I like how you incorporated the educational web sights into the cross country article. keep up the good work!
Larkin M • Oct 28, 2019 at 2:51 pm
i Love it!! i might do cross country next year 😉
Jaci Anderson • Oct 28, 2019 at 11:22 am
I like your article, I can relate to some things on your story. I was on the team with you, I don’t know if we talked a lot lol. Dang, I didn’t know the fastest time was 13:30. It was pretty cool to hear what it’s like from another perspective (I wrote about cross country too)