Sometimes in the thick of a race on like the last stretch I'm like... Why did i ever choose this? I'm going to die! but then everyone on the line is cheering and I sprint with all my life and just collapse at the finish. Like if this is you.

Why are all these comments a whole entire essay about their life???

I struggle the most mentally during XC, especially now in college since we run 6k. My biggest tip is to visualize the race the night before, and play the ideal situation out in your mind over and over. This will help you execute the race plan in the moment!

Once I hear "hydration" I knew the plug was bout to come out 🤣😫🤣

Distance takes more guts than sprinting. This is a fact, don't even @ me

I met Ryan at my 3A regional meet, I told him i was one of his only 200 subs then and he was one of the best people i ever met. I got to run against him and obviously did not get to advance finishing 5th and 6th in the 2 mile and mile. From that moment of meeting my favorite youtuber and now friend I put up over 500 miles over the summer and joined a summer select track team (I had never taken track serious or even ran cross country) and now I am finally doing cross country in which he had a huge influence on me doing! I have set goals to take my school CC record and make state in both Cross Country and Track and potentially earn a medal and continue running in college.. I havent had soda, sweets, anything. I have lost weight, dropped my time for the 2 mile and mile and just completed my first week of cross country 2-a-days.. Ryan, i just want to let you know you are an awesome individual and can change lives. Keep doing what you are doing, I am very glad to call you my friend :)

My friends are intimidated by my gigantic water bottle

who else wants ryan to post running videos again??

Racing Tips 1. Pre-race: - visualize the ideal race the day before - drinking LOTS of water - eating food you regularly eat (consistency) - stretch, easy run 2. Morning of Race - eat food 4 hours before (don’t change it up) - water - sip on energy drink 3. Warmup - easy 10 minute warmup jog - light stretching - strides 4. Racing - go out with a good stride (not too fast) - save yourself for the rest of the race - use aerobic system so lactate doesn’t build up - don’t cross over the anaerobic threshold - maintain your speed or get slower on hills - wait to hit ur mud pit till the end of the race 5. General tips - start conservatively - pick off runners who went fast in the beginning - stick on shoulders of runners you want to pass no matter what - run comfortably in the first 1.5 miles - (no one ever ran their best race when feeling dead within the first half) 6. Post Race - breathe - water - cool down within 10-20 minutes of race - jog for 10 minutes - refuel

Who would if ever known that Ryan trahan would go from a track and field runner to be a professional UKpostsr

What I like to do is make the guy in front of me push harder. Like I'll run right behind him which In the mind makes him think oh crap he's about to pass me! So then he uses more than I do and in the end I sprint by..... I'm 5foot 5inches and I out sprinted a guy who was 6foot 7inches using this strategy.

Born too early to explore the Universe Born too late to explore the oceans Born just in-time to combine the two & get your brand new 36 oz. Neptune Bottle!

Tomorrow is my first race as a senior and I can’t believe I’m back here watching this. I remember watching this exact video my sophomore year. Can’t believe this is it.

I'm getting nervous just thinking about starting a race😂😭😭

DUDE HOW DOES UKposts KNOW I RUN CROSS COUNTRY OMG THANKS FOR ALL THE LIKESS 💕😂

This video got me thinking about a race so much, my legs got numb, and my heart started beating really fast 🐝 Great video, I think my xc pr will improve by over 2 minutes this year because of your videos

Watching this already makes me nervous 😂

Learning for my cross country meet with the penny man😂

Despite my Dad's advice (he's a head coach at his high school for girls XC & TF) I've never tried to keep up with the pack at the beginning. I keep a comfortable, but gradually accelerating pace. Eventually I'll get to a certain speed and maintain. Then outside of the end of the race, there'll be short speed bursts as necessary.

I like how Ryan responds to his comments

Thank you Ryan! My cross country was on Friday and I watched this on Thursday. Because of your help I finished 1st. It took a good 4 minutes before 2nd place finished. I was a mile in front of everyone! Thanks again Ryan. 🎉

One thing that helps me is like 20 minutes before the race I like to take an advil so it'll kick in when I'm running and the pain one less thing for me to worry about. You obviously still hurt but it's a dull pain and it doesn't stop you.

So far I'm only 13 and have run XC for 6 years. There was this running group for 5-7th graders that I LOVED. Let's for the purpose of this call them the Badgers. I had done the previous Badgers season for the younger kids and this section of the team was during the fall and spring while the younger kids practiced during the summer. So either way, I had done this for awhile and then now I was doing the fall season which was very competitive. I was able to do 2 falls seasons and 2 spring seasons until I aged out of the group and which was a total of 2 years of running with these people. The first season I was pretty much invisible. I was friends with the faster people in the group but was pretty slow with a 7:40 mile and a 16 minute 2 mile. Then, the second season which was spring track and field came along and I improved and ran a 7:10 minute mile and a 14:30 two mile and I won the most improved award still wasn't one of the fastest on the team but was pretty close. The third season which was the second fall and a year had passed since I joined this team. This season I was determined to get better and grind after winning the most improved award last season. Every practice we had I would work as hard as I could and it payed off I dropped to a 6:15 mile and a 12:40 two mile. I was the fourth fastest boy on the team and was clawing my way to the top. I didn't win any awards that season but my improvement was enough for me. I knew that next season would be my last season and I was determined to go out with a bang. The last season I pushed myself even harder than the last season and ended with a 5:45 mile and a 12:10 two mile. I needed the MVP award and I was close in team points to another kid on the team. The deciding factor was a 10k that our coaches had decided to do for the team. I beat the other badger runner by more than 10 seconds and right when I finished I was more happy than I ever was before. My finishing 10k time was around the 41 minute mark . During the awards ceremony I was sad that 2 years had gone by so fast and I had made so many friends. Now I'm going into my first year of middle school XC and am one of the best on the team. I still am amazed that I had run for 6 years and was never good until the last year. Now I'm running around a 5:26 mile and a 11:54 two mile and am shocked how I dropped around 2:30 minutes in my mile time and 4 minutes in my two mile. Whenever I see a slower runner I never think lower of them because I know that that was exactly how I was for 5 years. If you have the determination you can do anything. Running is a great source of life lessons. Thanks for reading about my boring life :)

I can't believe I'm legitimately watching this in 2023

I’m a sprinter who does XC for shape , blah blah I like this distant runner 💓

Looked him up on milesplit and God dang he’s a good runner

In the UK we run typically 8K but the 1st 400m start wide and typically narrow going through woods/ shrubs etc. If you don't go out fast, it is very difficult to get position because other teams wont make it easy for you to pass. In fact, a pack leader will usually drop off the pace a little so they can catch their breath a little and at the same time it disrupts the stride of the pack bunching behind. A good course will have tight turns and hills so groups will bunch and pull away so practicing surging is a useful skill. I'm too slow to score but really enjoy XC as I fee like I am racing rather than just running. Great channel!

I love how this man started as a runner, and grew to be such an awesome man

Ive watched ryan for a long time and im currently following the penny series. who wouldve thought when i look to youtube for running improvements hes got that covered too!

I love the shameless Neptune plugs in the middle of the videos

Wait I searched up how to be good at cross country and this guy popped up wow

Im shook that Ryan Trahan made this

Love your channel bro!! This is my first year doing cross county and you've helped so much!

Could you make a video on how you handle the mental aspect of racing/running, like dealing with nervousness and pushing yourself more?

Glad i found your channel! I've ended my season in cross country with 27 min and it was my first time doing something like cross country.( my first time on a team in general) I just got out of being a vegetarian and i've been trying to have a better pr so this helps a ton!

my name is Brooks and i run in New Balance is that a problem.

I'm 13, I do track and cross-country. Last year In 6th grade I had a 10:14 mile, later that year I got 8:22, at the end of 6th grade I got 7:45. In the beginning of 7th grade I got a 7:08 when I joined cross country. During cross country for the 1.8 I got 14:02. Meets later I get 11:54. For states I ran a 11:25. At the end of cross country I ran a 6:54. When I started long distance in track I got 6:40 on the dot. For the 800 I got 2:34. Near the end of track I got 6:08 and now at the end I run a 5:50 being the 3rd fastest on the team and in my school ;) next year I'm routing for 1.

Frick looked up tips saw my boy Ryan

These tips actually really helped me I actually finished the race in second place😀 your so awesome dude keep up the hard work

Crazy good advice for someone your age (as of 3 years ago) - Ran 5 years in the Pac 12 and have been coaching for 5 years and this breaks down some of this information better than I could to my athletes. Cheers!

I can't wait to start running.

This was great and as an incoming freshman this is helpful for my first high school XC season

Ryan this video is so helpful because it puts these complex concepts into simpler words. Thanks man

your videos are really helpful! Thanks Ryan!

I've always wondered if the guys who run a 15-minute 5K are able to sustain more pain than a more average 18-minute runner like me, or if we actually run the same kind of perceived effort, just at a different speed. Do you train specifically to endure pain from lactate accumulation or do you only focus on staying in the comfortably hard pace?

The way Ryan’s content has changed over the years is crazy😂😂

First time CC coach and this video was extremely informative. Thank you Ryan.

Just bought myself the 36 ounce Neptune bottle. Love it great product. These are great videos! Keep them coming

Sometimes in a race when I’m close to the finish and I see like 5 people in front of me, I try to muster up all my energy and sprint through them all. My method is to make sure I’m taking big steps and pumping my arms rather fast, it always works for me Even though I may colaspe at the end, it’s all worth it.

Great tips Ryan... Very informative

I love this channel. I get anxious wanting to run watching them.

So funny to see skinny younger Ryan You really changed!

I spit out my water when he said "go usain bolt up the hill" 😂😂

Thank you I have a Cross Country meet tomorrow !👍😄

I just started watching your videos and there pretty good I enjoy watching them and learning new stuff! I have been running about 6 years I have been a one and two miler since almost my whole career, but I learn some really valuable stuff from this channel and your kinda an inspiration for me, I'm going to be a fresh man at Norman high school and I also have been running cross country since 6th grade. My current time in the 1500 is a (4:49) and my time in the 3000 is a (10:27) so thanks for making these great videos 👍🏻 keep it up!!

Wish I had seen this channel When I was running In High school, Great info that I didn't learn untill senior year and starting college running! Great channel brotha, God bless

I'm going to throw out a few of my tips, being trained by an ex-D1 coach helps. Now for me, personally, high mileage (80-95 MPW with down weeks close to or at 70 MPW) works. That goes back to the aerobic engine that Ryan talks about with good, consistent training. In terms of bread and butter workouts, TEMPO TEMPO TEMPO. Tempo runs or Lactate Threshold runs are my bread and butter workouts, they are off race pace for a 5k (for me) by about 30 seconds, 4x1mile, 2x2mile, 4 miles continuous tempo (anywhere from 22-25 minutes depending on what your specific tempo pace is). A sample tempo workout is 1x3mile and 1x2mile with 90 seconds rest in between reps. I ran that workout yesterday and crushed it. Another tip is the long run: The long run should be treated like a workout. You have to prepare for it as you to a race, sleep, hydrate, warmup like it is that, DO NOT RACE THE LONG RUN EITHER UNLESS YOU ARE INSTRUCTED BY A COACH TO CHOP IT DOWN AT THE END. The long run is the biggest part to build aerobic fitness for my team's program as it is for most college teams. Sometimes I'm out there for close to two hours, I have to bring my A+ game mentally to complete that solo or not. So bring your mental game to the long run, that's probably my biggest tip to anyone reading this. Good luck, run smart, run hard, trust the process.

Dude I got a meet in 2 hours and your advice is the thing I’m relying on thank you for the tips and tricks

Thanks for the tips!!💕 I'll use them at the invitational tomorrow!!

Really good Analysis, thx so much Ryan this helped me a lot In visualising my race and learning how to pace It.

YO YOU DID CROSS COUNTRY?!

One of the little things that helps during a race: be happy and smile. It’s a lot easier when you’re thinking “I’m going to get my PR this race. Heck yeah” then when you’re “Oh I got a terrible start, this is a terrible race i hate it”

started XC recently and am having fun this is very cool video!

Thanks Ryan! I feel much more READY

YES YES YES! I love when I get a notification for a new video

Yessss a new running video 😍

Great video! Super helpful... I have really improved my times since I have watched this video👌🏻❤️Thanks!

THANK YOU FOR MAKING THIS RYAN

Hey Ryan I have a very important question: here at my school in Texas we don't have winter track, and I was wondering how you ran winter track races? I saw on your mile stat you have winter track results, so I was wondering if you did ustaf?

it’s that type of year again 😛🤙🏽!

I have my first middle school XC meet tomorrow and I thing these tips helped a little so Thanks a lot.

Got me with that Two door cinema club at the end ✨

my xc starts sept. 13 cant wait!!! just posted my first vid and excited to post more

I'm just a boy! Ryan's a smart young and very charismatic. I like the analogy using mud, it was effective

I agree with everything you said Ryan

I miss running ryan, but im glad his new content is taking off and that he’s doing in his life

Bro Ryan has changed

anyone else watch this the night before every XC race they have?😂🔥💪

How have I been watching Ryan for years and never seen this

very helpful. I will use these ideas to win my race next week. thanks

Love the vids my dood

I did wat u said to do in this video my time decreased by 40 seconds. I’m a freshman. Thank you Ryan

This video was actually very helpful bro

i raced today in zapata texas, i was just looking for some tips and this def helped for next time

Fun fact I’m a sprinter and I’m gonna run a 5k at flcc regionals for the bag

When a random junior starts running and for some reason runs an 18 flat 5k and goes to regionals

Thanks bro!!! I've needed to know this stuff!!!

I got this on my recommendations five years later love you Ryan ❤

Ryan, I really like your videos and I'm glad I found your channel. I'm an aspiring xc runner but I really struggle with diet. Anything I eat really. Could you make a video on cooking like the specifics on eating (meals) (drinks) (caffeine.) If you did I would really appreciate it :) Like if you want diet vid

from running to pennies

nice outro song and good tips. I'm a musician and entrepreneur by trade but ever since I turned 30, long-distance outdoor running has brought so much good and so much health into my life. thanks for these great tips, and don't worry about not being a certified "coach" - for viewers like me, it's equally valuable to get the unfiltered, intuitive perspective of a real athlete. thanks for sharing

I had already known of your channel and watched your videos...i look up tips for CC and click on the top video... I REALIZE IT WAS YOUR CHANNEL AND I WAS VERY PROUD

I just ran a half marathon & then I see Ryan posted!!!

What kind of 5ks you running in 15mins, holy cow

I had no clue you were an xc runner before now, always loved your vids man

Top quality content all the time Ryan! Keep it up 😁

Just when I thought ive seen it all, theres a Latin Dating ad on your video😂

I have a cross country meet in 3 days 😢😢 wish me luck

Thanks for the tips! I have a 2 mile race in some big mountains tomorrow

I'm about to start Cross Country so thanks for the tips!