What are some of the biggest misconceptions or cliches that high schoolers and College runners have?

i was fed quite a bit of bs from coaches back in the day. After getting my phd i decided to do some investigating on my own. These are the philosophies i realized i was an idiot to follow- Carb loading the night before meets. Big sleep night. Static stretching. Peaking for an (average) high schooler. Mid d guys doing tempos longer than 26 minutes. Going balls to the wall in practice. Taking days off when healthy, especially between seasons. A ratio that somehow equates miles biked to miles ran. Speedwork only while in season and peaking. Getting protein and recovery food into your body within a half hour when not in season. Chocolate milk, gatorade and (especially) soda being ok for you. Motion control and orthotics as a PERMANENT fix for injuries and poor form. Same goes for chiropractors. Of course, we also then have the opposite side of the spectrum. Myths that have shocked me when ive seen them confirmed up close: Baking soda before an 800(keep in mind though, is puking for two hours afterwords worth a pr?) Extreme amounts of caffeine in shorter distance events (its illegal for a reason!).

That Jewish girls don't give bl*w jobs

Exactly right. I would like to see D3 runners and their great coaches get the message to elite high schoolers to keep an open mind on where to run in college.

As a college coach I found the two biggest misconceptions to be that cross country was a school spirit thing like in high school and that you can run (well) in college without thinking of yourself as a distance runner.

Just to chime in on that whole "Talent" vs "Training" debacle... You also have to factor in determination. For instance, you could have a runner with a lot of talent, another runner with a lot of training and another runner with a lot of determination in the same race and they could potentially run the same but, it's the runner with a lot of talent, training and determination that will usually stand out the most.

This is the biggest joke thread I have ever seen.

Really, determination is something you need to do well at distance running? Never heard that before.

I know they have to be trolls, but just in case anyone takes them seriously. Yes, you do have to have talent. If your body doesn't adapt to training, you are going to be slow. High testosterone, propensity for capalarization etc, are absolutely necessary. You can be skinny but if the little meat you have is not muscular, you will be slow.

doo doo wrote:

Really, determination is something you need to do well at distance running? Never heard that before.

Emil Zátopek ran and placed second in his first (mile) race. He didn't want to enter it but, his over-bearing boss forced him to and out of anger Emil wanted to win.

I'm pretty sure that is an example of determination.

Now who's the troll?

Bing wrote:

doo doo wrote:

Really, determination is something you need to do well at distance running? Never heard that before.

Emil Zátopek ran and placed second in his first (mile) race. He didn't want to enter it but, his over-bearing boss forced him to and out of anger Emil wanted to win.

I'm pretty sure that is an example of determination.

Now who's the troll?

I can't tell if you are joking. Is your reading comprehension that bad?

Big Misconception: You must go out super hard in an X-C race, and continue balls to the wall for the whole race in order to win.

Methinks the simple idea of even splits makes for the overall fastest race, which often means laying back a bit for the first half of a Cross country race.

Brilliant summary. Thanks.

El Grumpo wrote:

Big Misconception: You must go out super hard in an X-C race, and continue balls to the wall for the whole race in order to win.

Methinks the simple idea of even splits makes for the overall fastest race, which often means laying back a bit for the first half of a Cross country race.

I have never seen this work. I don't know why exactly, but I have never seen someone win who wasn't near the lead at the mile.

I had a false perception that the college coaching would be better than high school coach. Wrong.

High school CC. We actually had two coaches that worked together very well. Both of these guys had many years experience.

High school track....we had a head coach, a distance coach, and two other guys that helped with the throwers and sprinters.

College CC.....the guy was a recent graduate of our college so he was in his early 20s. It was his first job coaching. Poor guy was clueless, he made up the workouts as we arrived for practice....one of his favorite workouts was us playing frisbee golf.

College Track....one coach for an entire team of 50 guys. The coach was also one of the schools football coaches. He was more a thrower coach. He tried when he could with the distance guys but mostly left us alone. He of course also had to drive the bus to the meets. Nice

bullshit, long as you have a working set of legs there's no limit to your achievements.

El Grumpo,

This is not a big misconception. Milers and marathoners have to run XC races differently. Milers need to go out conservatively and marathoners need to go out fast.

Natural talent and genetics do exist..........

Don't go out hard in a race to win? Then you must watch this video: http://www.flotrack.org/coverage/249798-2012-Wisconsin-XC-Invitational/video/658369-Wisconsin-adidas-Invitational-Womens-College-6k

No one outside of running gives a crap about your weekly/monthly milage.

They don't know the difference between 100m and 400m. Between 5k and a marathon. Between a 2:15 marathon and a 4 hour marathon.

Don't blather on about it. Hell, most runners don't care either

Can you elaborate on...

-ratio that somehow equates miles biked to miles ran

-chocolate milk and gatorade NOT being ok for you

-baking soda before an 800?

Many of those things listed ARE true and are not BS. Maybe you didn't research these topics enough. For starters, why do you think chocolate milk is not good for you and why do you think immediate protein after exercise is bs?