Bad on grass

have you tried vaping?

What's vaping?

Possible reasons

1) You go out too fast. Pace is hard to judge on xc couse and its easy to get caught up chasing faster runners in the early part of the race. You almost always pay for this on the back end.

2) You go out too slow and are scared to pass in tight spots. Going out with the rear pack guys and taking every turn wide can cost a lot of ground/ extra effort.

3) If you're in college, maybe you're not an 8k/10k guy or haven't done the mileage to be successful at longer distance.

4) You are a lousy hill runner. Some people just have a tough time mastering hills. Generally, its not the hill that's the problem, its the slowdown afterwards-

I found in hs/ college that I could run fairly similar times XC to roads assuming fast dry XC course but the XC effort generally felt harder.

Tips

1) Incorporate rolling terrain in continuous runs. Hill sprints are fine but the key to hill running is learning how to do it efficiently rather than at max effort.

2) Run on grass regularly for all sorts of runs. M.y recommendation is about 50% grass/trails, 40% roads, 10% track.

3) For one race, avoid the first quarter mile sprint but make a conscious effort to be within 50 yds of desired race place at 1 mile. Spend the rest of the race moving up. See how this works for you. Over time, you should be able to use competitors and clock to pace yourself.

4) Start your kick/ drive early. Many runners run hard through the first mile/ k marker and then fall back to a survival pace until they can see the finish line. In a 5k race you should be trying to pick it up at the 2 mile mark and already into your "sprint" with 400m to go. In an 8k race you should be gradually building from 6k on

5) Enjoy it. A 400 M track is a high-strung venue with little room for error. Road races are a long grind where drama and excitement are rare.

XC is the most natural form of running there is. If its raining, get muddy and enjoy it. If that hill just keeps going, embrace it. Times and places are much harder to predict in XC. Roll with it and eventually you will get the hang of it.

Horses for courses

You are lucky you are racing on golf courses in US and not proper xc with hills and mud. Then you would really be in trouble

I had OP's problem back in the day and I wish I had been given this advice to at least try. Instead I simply got frustrated with and still dislike cross. Thanks for sharing.

In addition to what one of the previous posters said, I think that some people just have poor biomechanics for running on grass. The runners I know who are relatively bad at cross country are guys who float. They typically have a forefoot strike, springy stride, and high heel action (close to the butt).

I think that these runners are really efficient on hard surfaces because they are more dependent on the elasticity of their muscles bouncing back with each stride than their more powerful competitors are. The bounce-back effect is lost of softer ground.

Advice: Your body adapts from practice. Do a lot of training on grass. Don't avoid the soft stuff. Also, lift weights. All of the runners I can think of who are like this have really weak glutes. Squat and deadlift, but make sure your form is good.

Thanks guys! :) appreciate the tips! And Mr E, what you say I can relate to a lot, I train only on grass during winter and I've always heard comments about my running style as being very bouncy.