Am I gonna fall behind my teammates?

Your heart rate wasn't 40bpm unless you had a medical condition.

If you're not racing outdoor than don't race outdoor. Idk what your question is. Could you beat him if you raced him during outdoor? Who knows.

The answer to your question will be answered the next time you do race him if you race him.

Ty for reply. You're prob right it was 40bpm when I was lying down right before bed. It was usually around 45 if I was focusing on breathing and sitting still.

I know that it's going to take a while. But what do I need to do to be ready to get back up with the team for XC? I can keep up with their training pace, but that's not very telling. However we do hammer the easy runs which Ik is bad.

Should I only do easy base building? Or should I eventually throw a track workout or tempo into the week, and/or a long run as well?

you should probably be doing 100mpw with 200m repeats every other day.

Returning from break hs runner wrote:

Ty for reply. You're prob right it was 40bpm when I was lying down right before bed. It was usually around 45 if I was focusing on breathing and sitting still.

I know that it's going to take a while. But what do I need to do to be ready to get back up with the team for XC? I can keep up with their training pace, but that's not very telling. However we do hammer the easy runs which Ik is bad.

Should I only do easy base building? Or should I eventually throw a track workout or tempo into the week, and/or a long run as well?

are you sure? 40BPM is basically brachycardic

Go big or go home, bro.

Here's a real answer.

There's probably not enough time to come back from injury and race up to your capacity in outdoor. If your coach asks you to race, then race and see how it goes, but look at it as part of your training and injury recovery process. Be patient.

There's plenty of time for you to recover and build fitness for a great XC season in the fall. That means you should stop worrying about your times or running faster or slower than anyone else or the intensity of your workouts for another 3-4 months. Just get healthy and build mileage. SOM is about consistent effort, not intense gut-busting workouts.

Finally, the only person whose fitness you can affect is your own. The other freshman guys might be faster than you in the fall, or slower, and it's mostly determined by how much natural teenage growth occurs and how steady all of you train. A fast 8th grader might show up and be faster than you all. Or all three of you turn into studs and stomp on the upperclassmen. Anything can happen. Just be patient, stay healthy, back off when things start to feel off, and work consistently toward a great XC season.

+1

Thanks for the response. Considering I've probably been losing fitness for 6 weeks, and the other guys have been improving for those 6 weeks. Realistically do I have any way of "catching up" by the time we start racing XC?

If I do more "easy" mileage while they're mostly focusing on the speed work, will this set me up to be just as good if not better for XC? Let's say they've been doing 25-30mpw with more focus on workouts and tempo. It's still early outdoor season. What if I build to 45-50mpw of mostly easy runs, with maybe one long run and/or tempo eventually. Will that still put me in a similar place to them by the time summer XC starts? Also, there is a 2-week break between outdoor and XC, I plan on not taking that break since I'm not really in season, also giving me a chance to get more good miles in to catch up.

I had injuries on and off through high school and college. First thing you need to do is relax, you will bounce back from this injury. Getting healthy should be your primary focus. Coach always said he'd rather us be 90% fit but 100% healthy than 100% fit but 90% healthy. In other words get healed up so you can do the work you need to get back in shape. Second, stop comparing your old self to your teammates current fitness, waste of time and energy. You'll be in your head too much and start to question everything. Start back training slowly and build from YOUR fitness level, not theirs. If you train smart you will stay healthy and get better. If you try to match them immediately you'll over train and get another injury. Finally, a resting HR of 40 is not impossible. In peak fitness in college (28:41 10k), my resting HR was 36. Even now it's 42 most mornings. But really it doesn't matter. Rest up. Get healthy. Train smart and consistently. You'll be fine.

This. Also, none of this will work until you figure our why you got injured in the first place. If it was overtraining, then you'll have to watch your volume and increase very conservatively. If it was pounding on hard surfaces, then you'll have to mix in training on some softer terrain. Nutrition is often a factor, so be sure to get plenty of calcium in your diet (of course, balanced with all other nutrients).

The hardest challenge for you will be patience. If you can race outdoors with discipline and accept that it may not be your best season, then go for it. If you think you can't handle being middle of the pack, then don't race. Mental health is just as, if not more, important than physical health.

hljnlinjkn wrote:

are you sure? 40BPM is basically brachycardic

My resting HR wavers between 37bpm and 40bpm and can climb as high as 44bpm if I'm sick or unrested. Max HR is 191bpm. I've had no problems yet. We're all different. I'm an old guy though (mid 40s) so maybe its because of that.