When did you stop missing high school cross country?

I am 37 and still miss the fall cross country. I competed until I was 30 but closest I ever was to my teammates was in HS. Luckily I am still friends with handful of them and we can throw back beers and talk about the old days.

Paavo Zatopek wrote:

Yea I'm a freshman in college.

Just wondering about other people's experiences with this, I guess I didn't realize how important it was to me and now its gone.

Dude I'm in the same boat. I'm in my second semester of college now. If you can't make it on the team (or it doesn't exist) find the college running club! Also, if the team has tryouts, there are likely guys around your ability that you can train with. You can really get a good group of guys that way.

Plus, if you don't care about eligibility, you can enter collegiate invitationals as much as you want. You can even ask local athletic directors and coaches to let you run in their collegiate meets. It doesn't have to end!

I missed it more than anything before finding a group to do this with. Hope this helps!

I just celebrated my 57th birthday a few days ago.

I'll let you know when I stop missing high school XC.

I was better on the track, but XC was hella fun.

When I hit the 5k mark during the 10k at regionals my freshman year!

When I started running better/faster than when I was in high school.

Ditto BBT. I'm glad that I've stayed connected through coaching. One of my favorite times of the year when the leaves turn and the air cools. Only thing that beats that for me is when the trees bud and the flowers bloom in the spring and track starts taking off.

For me, I'd say I started missing it late in my college XC career. It took me a long time to realize how much more fun high school XC is than college. Even though I am happy with the way college XC went for me, I never find myself looking back on it nostalgically.

But, high school was more than 30 years ago and I don't think I will ever stop missing it.

Autumn 1978 wrote:

I'm 53 years old and still miss it.

53 also

Miss it as well. Those days were beautiful.

abubenjamin wrote:

I miss having training partners in general. I get my fill on competition from road races. I don't miss anything about high school. I am an adult.

Many adults miss many things about high school.

I stopped missing high school xc as soon as I met my college team and started working out. Too many tools on my high school team. I do still miss college xc after 24 years.

I like your attitude, Really. I’m 30, and I'm looking for a nostalgia cure as well.

I wonder, do you have to be part of a college to enter its meets?

Easy, never!!

I don’t miss the immaturity of high schoolers. I do miss being able to eat whatever I want and still be super skinny. And I do miss not having to go to a full time job.

FlyingFrenchman wrote:

I like your attitude, Really. I’m 30, and I'm looking for a nostalgia cure as well.

I wonder, do you have to be part of a college to enter its meets?

No, as long as the meet allows for unattached runners. If it's on directathletics, it's pretty easy, just go to the meet info and it shows who's allowed to compete in it. You'll then have to make a (free) account and sign up for the race. Otherwise, you'll have to dig into the school's website and look for info on the meet (usually in a "More Links" sections) or worst case scenario there's no info to be found anywhere and you'll just have to email the coach to find out (usually listed in the roster/coaching section of the site). I've been doing this for the past 7 years since graduating college and I really enjoy competing with decent collegians, especially when the road race scene can be so random (one 5k is won in 20 minutes, while the other is won in 15 with no rhyme or reason as to why).

2.5 years out of college wrote:

I dont think I will ever stop feeling nostalgic for it at times. Especially in the summer when I run (that feeling of summer miles), or in the fall when its usually championship season.

What makes me not miss it or wish I was still running is looking at the life of some of my running bum friends. I completely respect their choice, but it would feel empty to me. I enjoy the freedom I have in running now, and I am glad that I am pursuing grad school rather than working at a running shoe store.

You should do something with your life instead of wasting time with more school on top of school.

26 now, no change of heart yet.

runn wrote:

I coach it, I can't imagine the day I step away and don't go to an invitational on an Autumn Saturday morning.

I've coached for 30+ years and up until two months ago, I couldn't imagine not coaching. Now I can't wait for the season to be over. There have always been knuckleheads and a few parents here and there who might be annoying, but I've always been able to ignore them or at least not let it bother me. Something changed, and I'm not even sure of what it is.

I'm 34 and every now and then I'll think about it on a crisp fall day while out on a run but really that was a long time ago and I'm a completely different person. Good memories, but I wouldn't want to go back. Part of the reason the memories were good was because we were young and didn't know much.

I missed it for not a minute - and not because D1 on scholarship didn't have its own challenges. I was a top runner on what is considered one of the better high school teams of all time (this is accurate), and found the entire experience miserable. Look up the plight of Lance Butterfield in Texas. That was my environment, and in some cases it was worse. Glad there was no handguns around as was the case with Butterfield. Too bad, too, because I could see someone with a "normal" experience really cherishing running in the fall. But not my experience. D1 I was entirely on my own on scholarship, and did OK - but very difficult financial situation and never ate or lived in a stable situation. Better that all of this is in the past.