by Larry Eder
This is Sunday, July 31, 2022. You are ending week 4, and this is day seven of the 2022 RunBlogRun Summer Cross Country Mileage Program. Give us eight weeks, and we will get you ready for cross country in the Fall!
Cross Country is one of the top four sports in all high schools in the US. Over 16,000 high schools have cross country programs, which need five to score and seven to place. When I was at Bellarmine Prep in the 1970s, we had about 25 boys out; now, they have 100 plus each season. Many schools are like that. Schools with big traditions build teams. When I was at DeSmet in Creve Couer, Mo, the team was pretty awesome, and Paul Heck went on to win state 2 miles the next spring; I think he won the cross country title too.
That Athlete I wanted you to think about today is Jessica Stenson. Jessica is an Australian marathoner who took the bronze medal in Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, bronze again in 2018 at the Gold Coast (Australia) Commonwealth Games, and in Birmingham, England, on Saturday, July 30, took the gold medal in the Commonwealth Games marathon! The Commonwealth Games are sporting events for all of the former colonies of Great Britain. They call them the “Friendly Games’, I covered them in 2014 and loved them. Think about waiting 8 years to take the big win. Could you be that patient?
Your workout today is warm up, and get in a nice 60-65 minute run, at a talking pace, on soft ground, and then cool down and hydrate. Hydrate is not Starbucks, but water, lots of cool water, and some diluted sports drinks (caffeine dehydrates you!, so be careful).
