I'm working as a middle school track assistant this year. The head coach would like me to primarily work with the milers and 800 runners (boys and girls). I know what personally works for me, but I don't have too much coaching experience with other people, particularly 12 and 13 year olds.
So what kind of workouts would you suggest? What ideas should I be working on most to get them prepared for high school track?
I coach a middle school/junior high XC team, but the experience is pretty translatable I think. We try to do mainly base work throughout the season. It's middle school, they don't need to be running lots of anaerobic stuff. I try to keep it fun, but still have meaningful practices.
Another thing is trying to keep them motivated. Boys and girls combined, it's about 50-60 kids every day, and a lot of them do a lot of walking. It's hard to keep tabs on everyone but I know it goes on.
It's middle school. Your job is to make sure they have fun and enjoy running enough to do it in high school or as general exercise. Don't worry about getting too technical. I recomend easy runs and ulimate frisbee.
The most important thing you can teach at that age is getting them use to the idea of being on a team that is working on something together, and that will produce results if they are consistent and dedicated. Make it fun for them (short relays, drills and games etc.) Don't worry about specific workouts, just don't over do it. They are very early in the learning curve so be sure they are successful to build confidence. This will set them up for a more serious program in high school.
I should have specified games in addition to workouts in the main post. Ultimate frisbee is a good idea. What kind of other games/relays/drills would keep it fun for middle school kids? I didn't run track or xc through school so I'm kind of working with a disadvantage here. I wish I'd started running a lot earlier than I did, and I'm trying to make sure my kids enjoy it as much as I did later in life. Haha. Thanks for the help so far everyone.
I coached at a HS where 7th and 8th graders were allowed to run with the HS kids. Keep it simple, aerobic running is the safest way to go. Try to keep it fun and remember that they are young, if they enjoy it they will continue with it. When we did workouts we did some hills, good for strength development and form but not so fast that it was too hard or anaerobic.
When it comes to track let them try several events, not just running events. Keep it interesting.
This is a pretty good book about structuring a team and making running fun for the young ones.