You are going to get both answers. I believe XC is not bad for sprinting. The main thing you need to do when running XC if you do so is not go over 35-40 miles a week in your training. This means you’ll be less likely to be highly competitive, but your speed will carry you a long way. Another thing is that your coach should focus 2 days of your weekly training on running 200m,400m, or 600m intervals in season. 20 200’s, 10 400’s, 6 600’s. A lot of people will say don’t do it, but I can guarantee you will start next season at 49 point in the 400m and you will be able to stress yourself with better quality in your early track season quantity workouts. Meaning sub 48 or even 47 is quite possible. It can be done, but you have to train the right way in XC for it to be beneficial. Meaning that every run, race, and training session should be hard and exhausting that is alot to bear over 3 months.
