I'm a junior in high school and this is my first year of xc. I think because I've just started that I lack speed. My teammates are constantly telling me to go out fast for the first quarter or half mile. They say if your average pace is 5:40 you should go out at 2:35 and 5:18ish for the half and mile respectively. I tried this my first 3 races and I didn't feel as good as I could have during the rest of the race and I only ran low 18s. Then on the 4th race I decided to not do that.
The gun went off (JV race btw, winner usually 17-17:30) and I sprinted out for the first 100m and then I just eased into a slower than normal pace. I passed .5 miles in 2:53 and then mile in 5:31. I felt so relaxed becuase I didn't push the beginning. I was in like 40th place at this point and I was slowly passing people. By 2 miles (11:22 pr) I was in 4th place and closing on the next guy. I still felt like I had a good bit left in me. By 4k (14:00) I was in 2nd place. The first place guy was 20 seconds ahead of me. The last 1k was just me trying to catch him. I couldn't but sprinted to the line in 17:20 a pr by 48 seconds. I felt fast and smooth and full of energy the whole race becuase I saved it. It was a grea experience but I think I coulda won if I went out faster but I know that if I did I wouldn't have felt good the rest of the race.
How can I get faster at the beginning and still feel good at 5:35 pace?? A lot of guys that I beat by over a minute in 5k kick my ass in speed workouts like 400m uphill and even sprints. I want speed but I don't want to lose any endurance. More short hill sprints? 400s? 200s??