Nutrition for Cross Country

It's easy to ignore nutrition during the cross country season. But nutrition plays an important role in your training and race day performance.

The most important part of nutrition is to avoid eating something that will upset your stomach during a run.  Otherwise you may finish the run with a side ache or worse - throwing up!  To avoid stomach upset avoid large meals, soft drinks, or foods which do not agree with you a few hours before a run.  That doesn't mean you have to avoid those foods - just wait until after the run.

Beyond keeping your stomach settled, eating the right foods can actually help your performance.  Proper nutrition for the runner follows common nutrition advice.  Avoid fast food.  Instead think about salads, chicken, turkey, etc.  Drink water or other unsweetened drinks instead of soda or other flavored drinks.

You may want to read this quick article on race-day nutrition for cross country runners.

If you have any questions on your nutrition don't hesitate to ask Coach White, Coach Ohara, or Coach Sean.

Hollywood Sign Run a Success!

This morning 20 OVHS Cross Country team members participated in the run to the Hollywood Sign.  There will be more pictures in the future, but here is a quick run down of the day's activities.

We started at the trail head - about 1 mile from the sign

It was a foggy morning, but the trail was actually above the fog level.  The result was that we had some spectacular views of the Hollywood Hills and valley.

The trail was about 1.5 miles with a fairly steep incline.  At the top, we were actually behind the Hollywood Sign.  A truly unique view!

After a short break, we ran/walked back down the trail and ran up to the front of the Hollywood sign.

After the run/walk back down the hill, we headed to the famous Hollywood Walk of Fame.  It is amazing how many famous landmarks are so close together.

There were plenty of famous people's stars:

Much to our surprise there was a pack of show-off motorcycle riders that took over Hollywood Blvd.  They were doing wheelies and other stunts:

Then we walked to the next block to see the hand and footprints in front of Mann's Chinese Theather.  The cast of Harry Potter was just one of the many sights:

There were a bunch of characters taking pictures with the tourists.  Some of them were a little mischevious - including scaring the coaches!

In the end, we had a good work out and got to see some of the famous sites of Southern California.  I hope everyone had a great time - I did!

Hydration Tips for Runners

Hydration is an important part of preparation and recovery for any runner.  Whether it's practice or a big race, hydration (along with nutrition and many other factors) is one of the simplest ways to improve your performance.

Check out this article on hydration for more information.