New at X-Country running! Help/advice?

Hi! I just joined my school's cross country running team and we have meets almost every week and they vary from 2 miles to 4. I need help with the following, but any ways any advice would be helpful. I am really out of shape and running miles is hard for me. I have been running for about 2 weeks now...





1) I get this sharp pain in my side, like under my ribs, whenever I start to run, and it hurts to run! What is this and is there something I can do about it?





2) Just starting running and get out of breath really quickly, how do I get used to this? what should my distance be until I can ran 2 miles without stopping?





3) There are 2 miles meets every week and I KNOW that I can't run them yet, what should I do?





Thank you so much for your advice. STORIES ARE WELCOME AS WELL! Thank you again!New at X-Country running! Help/advice?
ight well. for the number one part. i kno that when your a runner breathing is obiviously nessary. so the pain you get are called '; side stiches '; yea i kno but its the breathing wrong that cuases them. but you need to do its when you get home practice breathing this is how you do it.





when you breathe in your stomach should go out. and when you exhale it should go in. everyones use to breathing in as in sucking in your stomach when inhale and let it go out exhale. do it the oppisite way. trust me do it for like an hour like do your hw and do it. it works








to answer number 2 what you should do is going out not too fast but keep it at a steady pace. dont do it like if it were a 400 sprinting all out. think of it as a very long steady 400 and youll be by the end of the race before you kno it.





the heavy feet question- yes it has and what i do is pump my arms. keep your arms in motion and you will keep your legs in motion. you will need them on hillie places and your going to need it when your passing people. so keep it in motion and youll do fine.New at X-Country running! Help/advice?
sorry this answer probably won't help but i'll try





1) make sure you don't drink/eat too much too soon before you run


2) I know what you mean on this, just make sure to pace yourself and keep on pushing. I know it is so hard when you're actually doing it but you have to and thats how you get better


3) just try, even if you're the last one just make sure you finish no matter how slow you go.