Why is my kid racing so slooooowwww

go out and run yourself and meet some of your goals rather than pressure your kid.

falling apart as the season progresses is a sign of burnout. basically too much hard anaerobic running without the base to support it. she needs a bigger base of miles, more strength (to keep all-around fit and able to handle the mileage).

if workouts are great and races bad, then she's leaving the races in workouts. that's it. besides, those workouts you mention are way too fast for her ability - no wonder she has nothing for races.

Your kid just isn't a champion. As soon as the two of you realize that, you both will be okay.

annoyed parent wrote:

Why is my kid racing so slow?

Thoughts?

Because she has your genes.

The workouts sound like they are burning her for her races. Have her work out a little easier, her legs will come around and she will race better.

Obviously the freshmen are more talented, they are running the same workouts and running better, which means the workouts aren't out of range for what they can handle, so they respond to them and adapt while your daughter is frying her legs.

75-78 is way too fast for 400s for a 525 miler.

This is either a troll, or she is (as noted) burning herself out in practice or she has some kind of mental racing issue preventing her from going as fast as her w/o indicates..

Working out too hard is probably leaving her drained by the end of the week. What's her pace on easy and recovery runs? Have her drop them at 8:00+ minute pace and reduce the workout intensity a bit and she should have more left for the races.

You are the classic 'little league dad'. Now this isn't as derogatory as you may think; it would be much worse to call you a 'soccer mom'.

You know the old saying:

"If you can't do it, coach it."

Well, let's go a step further:

"If you can't coach it, bitch about how much other people suck at it."

Finally,

"If you can't laugh at yourself, make fun of other people" (preferably your own offspring!)

I am a runner, but a hobby jogger admittedly - so she runs the speed she does DESPITE my genes, ha. I do enjoy following the sport, though, and would even if she quit.

She runs easy and recovery runs around 8-8:30s.

I obviously don't see her practices most of the time, but when I have, she's handling practice pretty well. The times above are for real; we travel to another track for speedwork, so a lot of the parents are there because we have to drive them (I'm not just hovering for funsies). In track season, she ran mile repeats in 5:30, but never much faster in races.

It's totally possible that she trains fast and that's just the speed she is, the end. But if she finishes a race and is not really winded or looking as terrible as everyone around her, honestly my assumption is just that she's not trying THAT hard at races. She looks like she's working HARD in practice, but definitely not in races.

That's what makes me think it's a mental issue, not an ability issue

Why don't you ask her if she really wants to race and train.

Or is she doing it to please you?

Racing hurts. If you aren't 100% committed to accepting and

overcoming the pain, then you'd probably quit when it gets

tough.

What's her state of mind like before races? For a while, all of my PRs were from off-season "for fun" races, and I'd bomb every race that counted. It was because I was too anxious to run well when it counted. I saw a sports psychologist and ran the race of my life. I still struggle with it a little but I have ways to cope.

Other than that I'd check ferritin. Mine has a tendency to get lower and lower as I train, so sometimes by the end of the season I'm very iron-deficient, and my performances plummet.

"Example, last week she ran 12x400 at 75-78sec."

PROBLEM.

That's a workout for a kid who is much, much faster than her. As one poster noted, that puts this post into borderline "troll" consideration.

She is putting lots of pressure on herself, running race efforts in practice, and is dead for the meets.

There are so many warning signs here for overtraining it's ridiculous. If the coaches (and you) are frustrated, they have no one to blame but themselves for not recognizing the warning signs. Your daughter carries all the signs of a runner who is naturally talented and works hard but may not have the same durability or trainability as some of her teammates.

Also, keep in mind that some kids sandbag practices. The other runners might be giving much lower effort in practice than your daughter to hit the same times.

Be PROUD of your daughter for being a varsity runner in a good program and working hard--how does that sound??

annoyed parent wrote:

It's totally possible that she trains fast and that's just the speed she is, the end. But if she finishes a race and is not really winded or looking as terrible as everyone around her, honestly my assumption is just that she's not trying THAT hard at races. She looks like she's working HARD in practice, but definitely not in races.

That's what makes me think it's a mental issue, not an ability issue

No. If her muscles are too tired, then she will not be able to work hard enough to be out of breath. Bump her easy runs to 9+ minute pace (or however slow is unforced) since she is already doing 8-8:30. For what it is worth,I was doing 8:00 pace as a 14:00 5k guy. What's her 5k time again?

annoyed parent wrote:

In track season, she ran mile repeats in 5:30, but never much faster in races.

Total bullshit that your 14 year old daughter is doing mile repeats in 5:30. What is her 5k PR? 17 flat? Troll.

This makes sense. Thanks.

To respond to others, her iron levels were fine at her pre-season physical. The 5:30 repeats were for real, I was there. The times she runs in practice are all for real. You're all right, she obviously is leaving everything in practice.

Her 3mi pr is 18:55; 1600 5:25; 5k 19:17... Her pr's don't make sense for the work-outs she's doing - which is what I said in the beginning.

But I was looking at it from this direction - these workouts are for people running a 17min race, therefore, she should be running a 17min race. It didn't really occur to me that she was overtraining and just putting all of the effort into the practices. I was thinking it is ridiculous to work so hard at practice and sandbag the race. Too close to the situation to consider alternatives, I guess.

Good job. 8/10

what if your daughter reads this and sees that her parent is "annoyed" and that she is racing so "slooooowwww?" (Obviously, she isn't slow. Seems like on the contrary, she's quite impressive, considering that in the late 90s, a woman could win the A-10 Championship with an 18 something.) Now that you listed all her marks she will strongly suspect it's her. Good job.

xenonscreams wrote:

Other than that I'd check ferritin. Mine has a tendency to get lower and lower as I train, so sometimes by the end of the season I'm very iron-deficient, and my performances plummet.

This is a possibility. Some people in this situation are able to run interrupted workouts (like a set of quarters) well, esp. if the recovery after each is substantial, but then can't sustain a good pace over a longer time period (e.g. a cross country race).

Others have spoken to her likely making too hard an effort in training, so I won't beat a dead horse there. The suggestion that they've made of having her cruise the workouts makes a lot of sense: she should finish each workout feeling like it's built her up, not drained her.

But I'd also look at recovery. There's more to that than easy-day runs. Nutrition (incl. vitamins)? I coached a woman who trained great during the week, then would eat an apple (total food intake) the day before her race--which, surprise surprise, would generally suck.

Sleep? Many high-talent distance girls are also very ambitious academically--we see this somewhat less frequently with guys, for whatever reason(s)--and during the school year sleep much less than during the summer. She needs to get to bed at a reasonable hour. She also should stop using electronic devices an hour before bedtime--you may have to enforce this. (Quality of sleep is much better if the last hour or so beforehand is free of high-intensity light and the visual stimulation of a screen.)

Further to nutrition and sleep, combined: if she ingests caffeine at all, it should only be on race day--equivalent to a cup or two of coffee, a couple hours before the race. All other days: no caffeine. This will improve the quality of her sleep. (If she "can't function" through the school day without caffeine, it means she needs more sleep overall.)

She gets a solid amount of sleep. She IS limited on time, because her clad load is pretty hefty, and we are definitely finding that the free time is much more limite this year - and as such the amount of time she has spent on recovery (easy swims, ice baths, foam rolling) is also not a priority (wrongfully so, admittedly). That is a fair point, for sure.

Nutrition is pretty solid.

If she stumbled on this, it wouldn't be anything she doesn't already know. She is frustrated at her times, too, and we've discussed them when she wants to. She also knows that we think she's pretty great, running or not running. And obviously I know her times are not slow - that's something we note frequently, how insular the XC world can be where those times are frustrating, but out in the rest of the world they'd be exciting.

She knows it's not something that defines her. But she also feels like her racing isn't what it should be, and it's frustrating for everyone.

Anyway, a lot