Cross Country

[cute_courtnee7777]

I have been running for about 4 years... i am a sophmore.... my best time is a 21:05... anyone from georgia?

[rainbowgirl28]

anyone from georgia?

I run this board and vault for UGA... there are a couple of us on the board now

[Azbeachboy1]

I dont want to sound mean or rude or anything but why in the world would any cross country runner choose to do pole vault. Pole vaulting requires lots of speed, and strength. CC requires slow twitch muscle fibers, and not amny cc runners are very strong. Im just curious as to why you cc runners chose to compete in an event that requires abilities total opposite to that which cc runners obtain?

[rainbowgirl28]

I dont want to sound mean or rude or anything but why in the world would any cross country runner choose to do pole vault. Pole vaulting requires lots of speed, and strength. CC requires slow twitch muscle fibers, and not amny cc runners are very strong. Im just curious as to why you cc runners chose to compete in an event that requires abilities total opposite to that which cc runners obtain?

If you are not an elite runner or an elite pole vaulter, I think the two can help each other out some. I did XC my senior year. I had never done track until the spring before, so XC definitely helped me get in better shape, and learn how to run. It hurt me in gymnastics cuz I kept spraining my ankles... but it was worth it, I had a lot of fun. I would have done diving in the fall, but that was not available to me

I can think of a number of HS pole vaulters in WA that are decent in both XC and pole vault. Your average high school athlete is better off doing a variety of sports, than specializing in just one.

[localrunner]

polevaulting helped me out so much in xc. It helped me by getting a faster start and to get away from the other runners and xc didn't really helped my polevaulting out but hey...

[Azbeachboy1]

hmmmmmmmmmm

[PvaultinGirl]

I can think of soooo many reasons why some pole vaulter run XC. (but i will only name a few). 1. it's FUN
2. gets you into shape for winter track and is just good for you
3. it feels good. i don't know why, but you feel really good when you've finished a race esp. when you pr.
4. you get to meet new people, and i like that.
these are some reasons why i run XC and pole vault too.

[lonestar]

I dont want to sound mean or rude or anything but why in the world would any cross country runner choose to do pole vault. Pole vaulting requires lots of speed, and strength. CC requires slow twitch muscle fibers, and not amny cc runners are very strong. Im just curious as to why you cc runners chose to compete in an event that requires abilities total opposite to that which cc runners obtain?

I'm going to have to agree with you on this one as a former xc runner myself. While I did get into great shape in terms of lung capacity and endurance, xc made me really slow because it trained the slow-twitch muscle fiber. Also, it really has no relevance to vaulting b/c it's an aerobic activity and trains the wrong energy systems. Vaulting is strictly anaerobic. The worst effect though is the style of running distance: low knee, heel-toe strike, foot in front of knee. I spend more time now as a vault coach teaching people how to run correctly than most other phases of the vault.

I do agree with Becca though that it's not a bad way to get into shape for indoor track for someone who's never really done track before, or for any jr. high or underclassmen in hs. If you really want to get good in the vault though, you need to specialize in it year-round and find a club or a good coach to work with. Should you decide to run xc, make sure to supplement it with sprint work, plyometrics, power-lifting, and a lot of sprint-form drills.

[swtvault]

In my opinion no vaulter should ever run cross country. It is the most reduntant activity a pole vaulter can do. Yes, it does get you in good shape-- to run long distances, not pole vault. I like to play volleyball in the summer as my conditioning. Not only are you building explosive muscle, you are getting your tendons and ligaments strong, and flexible, which is the purpose of pre-season conditioning

[localrunner]

Dude xc is the best and this year i don't think i am going to do polevaulting bc i want to do the 2 mile relay and they are at the same time in track so I am just going to stick with my xc running buddies this year but it is so sad bc polevaulting is so much fun

[PVJunkie]

It amazes me that with the knowledge on this board we are even having this discussion. Pole vaulting is explosive, dynamic, fast, etc etc. and cc is an endurance event. So lets see Pole Vaulters train like sprinters, sprinters never run cc (unless they are really bad sprinter HINT HINT), thus true pole vaulters should never do endurace events. You are better off getting the gamecube out than running cc. At least that way you wont have to completely untrain the endurance ant retrain your body how to be fast. You have 3 types of muscle fibers (thank you mom and dad cause they are genetic), slow, medium and fast twitch. Guess what the slow are for endurace and the fast are for speed. The ones in the middle here are the key, they can be trained to lean one way or the other. So.........cc runners, while they may be quick, they are not fast!! Maybe we could get the good doctor in on this topic.....I would be very interested in his 2 cents. Speed is far more elusive than endurance, why mess with it.

good luck and all you REAL vaulters stay off the roads and start doing your plometrics!!

[rainbowgirl28]

If you are a really good vaulter, looking at doing it in college and all that, XC would not be the best choice. Most HS vaulters are not there though. Specializing in one event or sport is not for everyone. A high percentage of people on this board? Yes. But for most kids pole vault is just part of what they do. Some sports will help with it more than others, but if you enjoy doing another sport, you should not give it up unless you are sure you want to specialize.