Coaching a Slow High School Freshman

My mom is a single mom, and she worked 2 jobs so I could go to school, and run, and I really appreciate everything she did for me over the years, so yes, I try and help her out whenever I can, and I don't like disappointing her.

All kids already know how to run slow so you need to teach him how to run well at faster speeds. Sending slow kids out for easy miles will only reinforce how to run slow. I coached HS for years and some kids cannot do "workouts" and just get tired and run slow so when they have to race they default to running slow.

This kid likely will not respond initially to real structured sessions so a simple way is to get him to build some base while maintaining some rhythm. Running straights and walking turns will allow him to maintain rhythm without gradually getting slower and slower. He's a kid so they'll get in shape just doing that a few times a week starting with 6-8 laps and getting up to 12-16. Preach form over and over so he doesn't develop bad habits early. Form will carry him even when he's tired eventually.

He'll likely get bored of a track so you can wheel/step off a loop around a grass field and employ same thing. Maybe he can get to 200 at speed and 100 jog/300/100 and on. In a couple months he'll be fine for XC.

I should also add that you will be a HERO to this kids for getting him on the XC team since as a freshman he's sure to be scared about entering high school and getting into a positive group like all XC teams are will be huge whether he decides to stay with it after this year.

I had many kids like this in my 20 years of coaching and the support and acceptance he will get by hanging tough will be huge at this age. It sounds like XC starts before school does and that also a huge benefit since he'll be around other high schoolers and that first day of school he'll know many people.

I would always tell parents to have their kids go out for XC as freshman because they'll be around the best kids and acclimate to high school so much easier. We had many championship teams in my years but some of the best memories are of seeing senior kids looking after incoming freshman and especially the painfully slow ones who came everyday and tried their best. Kids in XC understand how hard the sport is and how much harder it must be for the slowest kids.

I can understand you are unsure about this responsibility but you need to look at what an effect you're going to have on a young person that may change his life. Good luck and from your comments I can tell he couldn't ask for a better mentor!!

Thanks!

I just noticed that in the background of some of the circuit videos, you can see a younger version of my guy that just ran 1:52 for 800m. I had some sprint/jump types making the video with me and my cross country kids doing a workout on the track.

2020 was such a hell-scape of a year. I remember the day we made a couple of those videos. The sky was red from one of the many fires that rampaged through our state that year. It so happened that on that particular morning, the smoke was high up, so we had decent air quality at ground level. Not to mention that we were at one of the peaks of the pandemic.

Glad that crap is in the rearview mirror.

thanks for the advice! I think you are right, slow runs are probably not a good idea, I will try to do more fast stuff, and do it in different places/settings, so he does not get bored. And I will try my best to help him with his form! Thank you so much for taking the time to help me out! :)

Just saw that you posted this comment too, I totally agree that xc is amazing for making friends, it really made a huge difference for me back when I was a freshman, I made friends for life though it, and it made high school so much easier and less intimidating. And thank you so much for the positive feedback and for believing in my abilities haha, I will try my best! :D

Sad to hear that you had a tough 2020, but at least it is over, and hey, those videos are awesome! And you can use them in the future too!!

It could simply be that he has zero experience in pushing himself. My Freshman year I had never run more than a mile in gym class. My first race was 2 weeks after we started practice. So I had 2 weeks of low mileage training in my entire life...that 5k XC race took me over 29 minutes.

Two weeks later with two more weeks of training I was down to 20:30 and before the end of season I was sub 20. Not fast but respectable. And the following year with some experience I was much better.

Give it a little time for him to figure out how to deal with pushing himself you never know.

thanks for the input! You could be right, I never even thought of that, and since I didn't see him running, it is very possible that he did not push himself much. I will definitely stay patient, and I guess you never know what can happen, but either way, I will try my best to encourage him. Thanks for the idea!

Long story short, if this kid is at all receptive to what you're telling him, you'll have a fun time. He's certain to improve a ton!

This plan posted seems very doable for the boy you are referring to. Over the next two months the boy could show some solid improvement and have a chance to both, make the team, and have a healthy season. -Adam Kedge, Albuquerque Academy kedge@aa.edu

A 13 second 100m suggests that he’s fairly agile, and therefore, very trainable. All the other times are irrelevant, as you said yourself; he’s never run before. He should improve massively with a bit of consistent training - but don’t recommend too much too soon.

I’ve never heard of a high school track/ xc team having cuts. 0/10

Get him to enjoy jogging and appreciate the joys of running community 5ks.

Maybe in a year he can develop as needed to make a cut team, but seriously if you can help him enjoy running every day and chase 5k PRs, that something all by itself.

I started out very slow back in middle school so maybe I can help. I remember in 6th grade when I broke 10 min for the mile for the first time so a very similar starting point, just younger. I would advise just focusing on building his endurance. Start out with 3 min run 2min walk for 15-20 minutes 3 times a week and then build up to where he is comfortable running 30-40 min 3 times a week. Really emphasize to him the importance of running at an aerobic effort no matter how slow it is.That should help him to not hate running once he gets used to it. Then maybe start including light fartleks or tempos. Nothing too intense and probably only do 1 a week. Seems like he mostly just needs an aerobic base at this point. He's young and he'll probably improve a lot fast if he sticks with it. During the season my freshman year of high school I cut 4 min off my 5k time from 31 min to high 27 min. Not sure if he'll improve enough to make the team but he'll probably be a he'll of a lot faster regardless and maybe even learn to enjoy the process.

thanks CoachB! I hope so!

thanks for the advice and encouragement! I really appreciate it!

Yup, that's true! Wow, I honestly feel so much better about this after reading everyone's comments! And don't worry, I will definitely not do too much too soon! Thanks again!

I suppose that most don't, but his high school/my old high school is pretty massive, with a lot of kids going out for all kinds of sports, and they have a pretty strong team, and the coach has always cut. It's unfortunate, but I don't think it's that uncommon.