How to run on wet/muddy courses

Forget about the Nike swamp and run FL instead.

Or people will die harder in muddy conditions, making them easy to pass near the end. But if you stay in front, your uniform will stay cleaner.

Get out a little faster. Very few people, especially in high school, move up on muddy courses. If you are looking to win it, get out in the front group from the beginning. A big advantage in being out front is that you can control where you run. You can avoid big mud patches (when possible). When you are stuck in the big pack, you can't really decide where you run on the course. In my experience on muddy courses, the front runners aren't slowed anywhere near as much as the midpack runners. Take advantage of the course conditions. They are the same for everyone, but they can give you an edge if you know how to run it.

whatajoke wrote:

Get out a little faster. Very few people, especially in high school, move up on muddy courses. If you are looking to win it, get out in the front group from the beginning. A big advantage in being out front is that you can control where you run. You can avoid big mud patches (when possible). When you are stuck in the big pack, you can't really decide where you run on the course. In my experience on muddy courses, the front runners aren't slowed anywhere near as much as the midpack runners. Take advantage of the course conditions. They are the same for everyone, but they can give you an edge if you know how to run it.

What sort of spikes would you use for a really muddy wet course? (not brand of shoe, but actual spike) I'm from a desert state where we never use any spikes in xc, but might go to college back east and am curious. Like half inch needles?

There's always a bit of a tradeoff: Longer spikes certainly help with the traction, but they can also pick up more mud, putting more weight at the end of the lever (leg). Still, I think there's an advantage with the longer spikes--soft conditions are what they're *for*, actually--and have run with 3/4" spikes in really sloppy conditions, though I'm not sure those are readily available anymore. Those would be pyramids, not needles, by the way.

Probably the most important shoe "adjustment" to make, in really sloppy conditions, is to tape the shoe on securely. (In my experience, by the way, most people don't seem to know how much taping "securely" entails. Having the front and middle of the shoe stay on your foot, while the heel portion gets pulled off your foot by mud, is not a lot of help.)

whatajoke wrote:

Get out a little faster. Very few people, especially in high school, move up on muddy courses. If you are looking to win it, get out in the front group from the beginning. A big advantage in being out front is that you can control where you run. You can avoid big mud patches (when possible). When you are stuck in the big pack, you can't really decide where you run on the course. In my experience on muddy courses, the front runners aren't slowed anywhere near as much as the midpack runners. Take advantage of the course conditions. They are the same for everyone, but they can give you an edge if you know how to run it.

I'm usually not in favor of fast starts but I agree with the above. A muddy course can get MUCH worse every time a runner runs over it especially if there are multiple races that day.

whatajoke wrote:

Get out a little faster. Very few people, especially in high school, move up on muddy courses. If you are looking to win it, get out in the front group from the beginning. A big advantage in being out front is that you can control where you run. You can avoid big mud patches (when possible). When you are stuck in the big pack, you can't really decide where you run on the course. In my experience on muddy courses, the front runners aren't slowed anywhere near as much as the midpack runners. Take advantage of the course conditions. They are the same for everyone, but they can give you an edge if you know how to run it.

Yeah, Colorado went out real fast when they upset Wisconsin on a muddy course in 2006. Oh wait...

HIgh School XC Dude wrote:

Just wondering what you guys thought. If a course is wet/muddy, would it make sense to get out a little faster. Seems like it would be harder to make up ground in sloppy conditions. What do you all think?

Yes - it's harder to make up ground in muddy conditions. That doesn't mean the best strategy is to go all-out at the start, but it is more important than usual to maintain contact and put yourself in position to compete.

rthrtsj wrote:

There's always a bit of a tradeoff: Longer spikes certainly help with the traction, but they can also pick up more mud, putting more weight at the end of the lever (leg). Still, I think there's an advantage with the longer spikes--soft conditions are what they're *for*, actually--and have run with 3/4" spikes in really sloppy conditions, though I'm not sure those are readily available anymore. Those would be pyramids, not needles, by the way.

Probably the most important shoe "adjustment" to make, in really sloppy conditions, is to tape the shoe on securely. (In my experience, by the way, most people don't seem to know how much taping "securely" entails. Having the front and middle of the shoe stay on your foot, while the heel portion gets pulled off your foot by mud, is not a lot of help.)

I have found putting vaseline on the spikes helps keep them free of mud and other junk.

Do the spectators a big favor if you end up in the very back of the field near last place. Do a huge headfirst slide into a mudhold before you hit the finish line.

I saw a kid do this a couple of years ago at a meet. Hilarious.

disclaimer:

As long as you are not a top 5 for your team.

The truth is that a gap of about 10m on a muddy course is roughly as hard to recover as a 20m gap on a dry course.

Athletes on very tough muddy courses may find themselves struggling from the very first mile, while on dry courses controling your effort perception is much easier.

Don't panic if you feel like exhausted and there are stil 4 or 5 miles left, the discomfort will stay the same, just suck it up.

Wet's easy. Run around the water and try to calculate tangents beforehand on the warmup. If you have to trudge through water (anything over the knee) don't kill yourself. It's guaranteed to tank any good race you may have had going. Mud has a couple of tricks. Long spikes are great, depending on the surface. If it's too much clay, don't use them. They will just accumulate extra weight on the bottom of the shoes. Try to find the harder/dry spots and aim for those. Slightly shorter steps focusing on not overstriding or slipping will save your a bunch of energy. If you have water and mud, sometimes running through deep puddles can knock the mud off your shoes and lighten the load. Also, either tape your laces or triple not them. And, when you're done, rinse your shoes right away. Nothing like beating 4 day old inches of mud off the spikes to ruin a good pair of shoes.