I asked for blog ideas because I’ve been stretched for creativity lately. I could talk about food and low carbohydrates (that get’s old everyday), I can’t race recap every week, my musings have been limited because…well…I haven’t had too much excitement (never bad I guess). A twitter friend gave me a great idea to blog about the difference of cross country racing and road racing.
Then I drew on some other people for questions they may have and the rest is history. Well kinda , since it all happened this week.
First, cross country distances vary from high school to college. High school is mostly 5ks (boys and gals), females in college race 5-6k depending and males 8k. The courses are not meant to be easy and your time varies every single time. I’ve run 7:30 paced cross country courses…I’ve run 6:30, both I felt awesome. I probably failed to mention that most collegiate cross country team’s uniforms wear bottoms that have less coverage then my granny panties. Normally runners also wear spikes which are basically running shoes with nails in them to help you get a good grip.
Your sole purpose in cross country is to place for your team (or at least to rock an ass out run).
Road races are different. Most 5ks are relatively flat. I saw most. I know there are plenty that are hilly. There are plenty of age ranges, but when I road race, I race to PR. Cement is faster then grass/dirt/mud.
I guess when you move up to the greatest distances they start calling them trail half marathons-marathons. I’m not sure (please correct me if I’m wrong) but I haven’t heard of too many cross country marathons. Who knows.
So in short:
Cross Country:
1. Grass and dirt
2. Place > time
3. Hills are fun
4. Tiny spanx up your ass
5. Run in spikes
Road Races:
- Faster on cement
- Time>place (though I know a lot of people who run races to win…)
- Pring is fun
- Wear what you feel
- Run in whatever shoes you want..or flats
Questions for you:
1. Do you run cross country?
2. Do you like cross country or road races?
3. Do you enjoy ass out spanx?
If you can remember my blog from a year ago, I threw quite a large hissy fit about having to wear those.
To me, a cross country marathon = trail marathon. Both go through trails! So that makes it a trail for me. I’ve never been in cross country though I really want to when I get to junior college (!!!! wish me luck!) so I’ve never had the opportunity to wear racing spikes before, but they look fun.
Never have i ever worn those spanx. My legs have a little bit too much chub for the rub. Working on it though haha
I didn’t even post a photo of the booty ones. God knows I have to keep my dignity! 😉
uh snow in the middle of a race?! no thanks!
yeah I run cross country, I think I’ve raced with you? 😛
I like both, almost xc better.
And hell yea to the ass out spandex! I hope we can get them for our uniforms!
Just buy some. Ass out, class out.
I have much more experience with XC racing than road racing but honestly I love running with my spikes on the grass and trails so I think I will always prefer it. I know for sure that I like it better than track racing!
I’ve never raced on the track but I don’t think I’d like it. 😉
I did my first xc season last year, I remember I got my trackpants muddy and wet and couldnt wear them after the race. Then I got dropped off in the CBD (central business district-do Americans use that term??) and had to walk to home in my spanx booty pants and it was totes embarrassing and oh the catcalls..
I love road racing, I like the feel of the road and I love the speedy-ness. I am not doing too much xc this season. I have a race tomorrow though and I want to run super fast!!!!
I like the team work though, and the feeling of needing to preform well for them and your club.
You have great legs though girl, I bet you work those booty running shorts!
Yes, we do! (Well I do!). I’ve gone to the store in some booty spandex before and have felt so awkward. I totally understand!
I might be doing my first XC race tomorrow! I’m actually a fan of running in short spandex for short runs, but at my own discretion. I would not be happy about running in them in the snow!
Good luck! 😉
oy. booty spanx sound awful. reason #1 I would probably never race XC on a team.
I went to cross country practice once haha. I really liked it but it just didn’t work out with basketball, so that was a bummer. But I totally remember those booty spanx and spikes during track!
gosh a huge part of me wishes I had run in highschool/college…i love spandex! 🙂
I feel like I’ve run a lot of cross-country half-marathons this year, hills and dirt=fun but definitely not as fast as flat pavement.
I hope you’ve been having a great week!
xoxo!
Cross country is the best. I loved it when I did it in high school and when I go to college again some day, I will do it again.
Love your blog and this post btw! 🙂 I have to agree with above XC is the best, and you have to love the lovely shorts up ze butt feeling, not good either if you didn’t realise that you’ve put on a bit of weight and these shorts don’t fit, but you only find this out on the day of the run, awkward! :-/ I also love road though as I have done better on the rd and I feel like there is less pressure as I’m just running for myself, but a lot of the time I get so sore and had bad shin splints from running on road too much, so I prefer xc! Ramble over!
Ps: you look like an amazing runner, can I be you, now you actually look good in the shorts, envious over here! 🙂
ha! The first time I put the spandex on where at the race and I literally almost cried. Instawedgie! Thanks for stopping by 🙂