I'm 17 and I play volleyball, but because it's my senior year and the season is over, I don't have a way to work out. I think I'm going to start track and do long distance. I am a pretty good runner and have good endurance so I think I will do well. Any tips on running at all? Stuff I should buy, workouts I should do, weight training, nutrition etc?

While I run for a workout, I am not and have never been a cross country runner... but after reading your question and looking around I found these web pages that seem to have a lot of info.

Usually I wouldn't post about something I'm not familiar with, and I don't like suggesting sites where I am not sure about the accuracy of the content... but since your question had not been answered, if nothing else my posting will bump your thread up in the new questions list. Perhaps somebody else will see it pop up and chime in.

How to Run Cross Country - wikiHow
How to Be Great at Cross Country Running - wikiHow

Any chance you can talk to the coach and see if he or she has anything that they might give out to the athletes for off season training?

You could also print out the content I linked and take that to a coach and ask if there would be anything else theyd suggest.

And while I'm not a long distance runner, I do buy running and cross training shoes from the place in town where all the runners buy their shoes. Find out where the best stores are near you. The store I go to is staffed by runners, who are eager to fit you well and more than happy to give advice.

Lastly, the following article is posted by a college track strength training coach... if you scroll down you will see some of the flexibility and core strength training that he suggests for college runners.

Running Strong: Training for Cross-Country :: <blank>

Again... id probably talk to your school coach if possible to see what he/she suggests.

Whilst I run, I breath to a beat, music can sometimes help you breath to the beat, another idea is to keep light on your toes for long distance, don't stamp or run flat footed!

As for methods that can help, I learnt something neat this mroning, if before the running (supid as it may s ound) stick your thumb in your mouth and blow without letting any air out for around 20 seconds, your body will lighten and your heatrate will decrese slightly- good for the start of a run.

I also run around 6.1 miles a day and I used to run for my county so follow these tips:

Use light footwear
Don't stop if you have a stitch
Lactic acid will build up, make sure you rest after
Warm up well!
End on a little jog (any speed)


Good luck, please rate this answer
Standen

make sure you warm up and then stretch before you run. To avoid injuries I would get a shoe that fits your foot. I would watch your shin bone though because if you are not used to running and then all of sudden start running out of nowhere you are probobly going to get shin splints.
so in class sitting down if you tap your feet for a long time the muscle that gets sore is your shin, that is a really good way to strengthen your shin muscles so keep them strong because that is usually a weak spot on many runners.
I get shin splince and even got a stress fracture in my shin sophomore year.
hey have fun in trackthis year I am also a senior but I have run all 4 years xc and track but I sprint in track =] enjoyy!

First warm up by running 30mins. Then once your muscles are warm and ready to go stretch. It is better to do dynamic stretching than static because in the long run it will help you on speed. (If that's what you are striving for)
You should run one day "miles" and the next day a workout. The workout for a beginner would start from 3.0 miles at the fastest pace. Just don't stop pretty much. This is working endurance. Eventually you will increase this distance. And "miles" is just runnning for 1 hour at whatever pace you like for whatever distance you can do. This is more of a recovery run.

Running with music, I don't recommend it because if you run in college, according to NCAA you can't have any ipods on the course because it is considered "dangerous". And if you practice running with music, it will be A lot harder to run without it (I've learned the hard way lol)

What I find myself doing is thinking of a repetitive song and breathing to that beat and just focusing on my breathing the entire run. Don't think about how much your muscle are killing you because you will realize that if you fight that pain it only will get worst but if you accept it then you start to not realize it because you get the "runner's high." Otherwise, focus on the runner in front of you and just think to yourself, "I just need to pass that one person in front of me." Then once you pass them repeat this process.

Also side note: If you are a college runner, if you go to running stores and tell them you run for a college, you get a student discount.