Will being a sprinter and a long distance runner effect you overall?

I'm a cross country runner in the fall and a sprinter and jumper in the springtime. I'm running at a varsity level in both fields of running. I've been mixing up my training so I can excel at both. I've been told that doing this can really throw you off. I already know a lot about running and I have a general idea of why this is so, but I'd like a professional opinion. Even though I've been told this is bad for you, I've also been told by other people that this is actually very beneficial. I know there are decathletes that do this.|||Personally I don't think it will effect you very much at all. I am a varsity cross country runner and during track a varsity hurdler and high jumper. during the summer i focus strongly on distance running for cross country. as soon as cross country is over i continue my distance training, but not as heavily. along side my fall/winter distance training i also work with my sprint coach by doing a lot of sprint drills and weight lifting to increase my vertical jump. If anything distance running will help you out in the long run for sprinting. during track every year when i work with all the sprinters, the sprint work out come a little easier cause of the endurance i have already gained from distance running. and when the sprint drills do wear me out i tend to recover from them a lot quicker than the other sprinters. I know sprinting and distance running works different muscles, but y can't it be good to build up both. i know a guy that runs about a 10.8 100 m and can also run about a 4:05 mile and a 8:28 2 mile, so i know people can be good at both.|||"a 10.8 100 m and can also run about a 4:05 mile and a 8:28 2 mile, so i know people can be good at both."





PURE bs.....

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|||10.8 is not that fast. But pretty much all world-class male middle distance runners can run sub 4 miles as well as 10.6-10.7 100m on average. So that's not "good at both".

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|||I don't think it's a problem. I know tons of people who do that. I don't think you should mix up your training, though.|||yes it does cause i know for a fact .... because if u train like crazy as a long distance runner then you stop and begin sprinting and then back and forth you might injure your legs|||It will help your fitness, but there is a problem. You can be good at both, but you can't be excellent at both. It has its limits. Sprinting takes different training and muscle than long distance running. Trying to excel in both is like driving with your brakes on; they're opposite directions. You end up cancelling out the training too. Once again, this is good for fitness- you have good speed/power and endurance, but it's bad for competitiveness, because each takes away from the other, and you can never be the best at both. Nobody will be able to run 9.9 sec 100m and 12:50 5000m within the same week.|||There's no problem here. But the fact is that you won't be able to "excel" at both indefinitely. Eventually, one skill will exceed the other if you train seriously.





But since X-country and Track are at different ends of the seasons, I don't see an issue. I assume you only sprint during Track season, not run distance too. When I was in high school, I used X-country to help me prepare for the Track season by building an endurance base. Although I never became one of the top runners on the team, I did OK. We ran 2M courses then (now you run 3M) and I improved from 13:00 to 11:17. This then allowed me to enter Track, having done the distance strength building and I could concentrate on speed work. I was a 220/440 runner and I ran 21.7 %26amp; 48.3 for those events.





There's also a physiology difference between top sprinters/distance runners in the type of muscle fibers you have (fast or slow twitch). Sprinters have more fast, distance have more slow. Your body will not grow more of either, you're born with all you'll ever have and all you can do is develop what you have.|||It will affect you, you are doing training for two different types of muscle needs. You need short strong power based muscles to sprint and long muscle for distance. Decathletes do it yes but notice there is only 1 distance event in that event. You can do both but you'll always be intermediate level never on an international level unless you decide which speciality you will be in, and do it soon.|||Hey just like me but i started sprinting slower since i did cross country.