Cross Country 25th June - West Coast
2021 will be a year of change for the Annual Upper South Cross Country. We are very fortunate to have a brand new cycling/walking track being created which links the Westport Township and Charleston together. Ultimately it will be around 60km of track, but we have decided to give you a taste of this by using the Kawatiri Coastal Trail Puwaha Section for our cross country this year.
The race will be based at Carters Beach and include some of the best parts of the new Coastal Trail including bush, farmland and open trail.
Students will run distances depending on age. Year 3-6 students will run 2km, Year 7-10 students will run 3.2km and Year 11-13 students will run 4.5km.
We will have access to the Carters Beach Hall and amenities there, ample space for organised sport in between races and an excellent view of runners finishing the course at the finishing line.
The Westport and Greymouth Campus can't wait to welcome you to our special event, more to come in coming weeks, watch this space!
Pip Hateley
This is an optional training plan for anyone who wants to improve their fitness and speed for the upcoming cross country.
This plan can be changed if you feel this is going to be too hard/easy for your abilities.
To increase personal fitness during your time of training you will need to do some faster runs, some easy runs, some longer runs and some shorter runs.
The distance on this table is the cumulative total kilometres for the week.
To track your runs, you can use a phone, smartwatch or just use a loop or an out and back in your area that you already know the distance of.
A few tips:
Before you run:
- Stretch - do some stretches to get your body warmed up
- Hydration - you will likely not need any water during your run, but it is key to drink a bit of water up to 30 mins before. If you drink right before your run, you will get a stitch.
- Eating - do not eat right before your run, you will get a stitch
During your Run:
- Pace yourself - don’t start to fast and burn your yourself out, you will regret it later.
- Consistent breathing - do not change your breathing pattern while running
- Mindset - keep a good mindset, this will improve your morale and make your run feel easier compared, to if you think it is hard it probably will feel really hard.
After your run:
- Stretch - cool down stretches are the same or more important that your warmup ones, do this as soon as you finish your run.
- Eating - wait a while after your run because you may bring it back up
Outside of running:
- Shoes - check your shoes, make sure the foam is still cushy and the base is still supportive. If you feel like you need new ones, get them ASAP as it takes time to get the shoe feeling how it should. This means it would benefit you and your body if you did not turn up with a new pair of shoes on race day, or even two weeks before.
- Food - eat healthy foods
- Sleep - sleep will boost recovery and make you feel better when running
Nutrition is crucial, ensuring your body has enough fuel to run and recover is instrumental. Incorporating healthy dietary practices in your training will ensure your body is ready for race day.
Make sure you eat an hour before you run, so the energy has time to get into your system.
So, take this diet into consideration if you have a hard time running, a bit of discipline isn't going to hurt, so NO EXCUSES.
A one-hour run is 6% of the time you spend awake, and it doesn’t even have to be that long.
