i am currently running cross country for my uni this fall after coming off of my most successful season as an 800/1500m runner last spring.
the last two seasons of cross country have been pretty uneventful for me. my sophomore year has been my best year for cross country, and since then i have only kept getting worse in my cross country races while becoming insurmountably better in my middle distance events. i just had the first race of this season for cross country, and it was awful. it was a little better than some of my performances last season, where i even dropped out of a couple of races. the types of races ive had in 8k cross country races have actually been blunders, actually. i myself cant explain them. my toughness and competitive mentality just isnt there in the fall. either that or these 4, 5, and 6 mile races really are too tough for me. although i dont really consider myself a "cross country" runner, it is sort of concerning to me how so many other great middle distance runners are able to be great in both, some even as great as cross country as they are at track. my disappointments in cross country last season didn't affect me going into the spring last season, and i hope I can at least get over this race as indoor and outdoor track approaches soon. do you think i have any cause to be concerned? have you ever been aware of middle distance runners that just dont improve in cross country as they do in track?
my PR's are
800-1:50
1500-3:50
5k-15:47 (in a workout)
8k - 25:58 (this happened years ago)