Just as I predicted...... Tuohy burns out while Sydney Masciarelli continues to dominate.
Contrast the approaches. Tuohy = intense, high mileage from a young age, neurotic, obsessive, overly involved coach and parents.
Sydney Masciarelli = low key, chill, dedicated but not obsessed with running.
These same stories play out year after year.
Tuohy peaked her junior year of HS. She will NEVER run faster.
Wow!!!!! wrote:
Hounddogharrier wrote:
Uhhh, you do know Tuohy does her slow runs at your daughter’s race pace, right ? We are talking about the greatest high school distance talent ever in the USA. If she is starting to hang around with the wrong crowd eating junk food then the parents need to step in.
If I were her dad , I’d limit her cross country races and then go pro after NXN.
Uhhh, you do know that "NO she doesn't run sub 18's for 5k for her slow runs". If you actually believe that, you are a complete mental patient and should stick to your local 5k age group top 20 awards.
My daughter was in the top 30 in the NCAA Cross Country Meet last year and I ran Division 1 at a Big 10 School, hence I know what I'm talking about>>>>>>>> NO high school girl, I repeat NO high school girl, not even Katelyn Tuohy runs her """""""slow runs"""""""""""" at sub 18 for 5k. For you to post such garbage is beyond the word ignorant. I'm so glad you aren't her Dad and this is why I don't come her often.
You don't have to open the door, I'll let myself out. You have some very creepy bizarre people on this site that enjoy posting trash.
If you read this Katelyn, and I hope you are far away from this thread, ignore these posters who are clueless and uneducated to a scary level.
One the best posts I've seen on LRC in a long, long time. THANK YOU!
Dr Taboo wrote:
very thankful you don't coach my daughter wrote:
Because it often leads to disordered eating and potentially life-threatening health issues you dim-witted moran. That's why.
I hope you are nowhere near high school girl athletes.
Talk about healthy nutrition. Don't talk weight. It's not that difficult.
You still don't get it. No one is saying to pull teenager girls aside and tell them to lose weight if they want to run fast. Run a 6 minute mile and be happy. Run a 25 minute 5K and be happy. But, DO NOT tell someone that wants to achieve the highest level that they can do so without weight AND nutrition being part of the equation. ANY elite female knows this, they just won't say it out loud because if they did, they would get exactly the same reaction and be accused of causing girls to have eating disorders.
I have a girl that's 5'4" and 125 lbs and she's been killing it running PRs of 4:56 & 10:49. You act as if I am suggesting that we have a discussion about losing weight to make her faster. That IS NOT what I am saying and NOT what happens. That's her body type and she's going to get into the school that she wants to and everyone is happy. Yeah, that's right, I hate to break it to you, but I coach HS girls. And, since I'm a female, a runner, a board certified endocrinologist and have actually been through it all, I speak to my athletes about this issue all the time. I also speak to them about menstruation, sex, contraception, boys, drugs, violence, rape, childbirth, movies, clothing, dating and a whole bunch of other stuff too. You WISH I was your daughters coach!
You sound like one of those simpletons that think girls are made of sugar and spice and will melt when spoken to. Some girls want to be warriors and will push themselves to be the best. You act as if all girls are the same and come in a cute little pink package marked fragile. To tell a highly motivated girl that dropping a few pounds naturally during our build for state will greatly improve their chances, might sound horrible to you, but only if you buy into the fragile, melting girl bullshyte. The hype is that if you mention weight to a girl she is so mentally unstable that she will go spiraling into "disordered eating and potentially life-threatening health issues.'" Only a true dimwit would actually believe that. You have been so programmed to believe this nonsense. You clearly have no idea what girls talk to each other about. If you do have daughters, they clearly don't trust you enough to open up about these matters with you. Apparently boys can handle putting weight on for football, taking it off for wrestling, being told to hit the gym because they are scrawny, being told to lose weight because they are heavy but girls are unstable anorexia time bombs ready to go off at the mere mention of the word "weight." It's stupid, sexist and simply untrue.
And as a disclaimer: I am in no way minimizing the issue of eating disorders. Eating disorders are complex and to suggest that any single event would be a trigger shows a deep ignorance. Eating disorders deal with obsession, weight, appearance, body image, hormones and there is now compelling evidence to show that genetic factors contribute to a predisposition for eating disorders.
Don't sell your daughters short, outfit them with the right tools for success. As with most things in life, how you say it is as or more important than what you say. Girls are badass and a lot tougher than you think.
Get a clue!
Great post Dr. Taboo - Yourr female athletes are lucky to have a coach like you!
Dr Taboo wrote:
very thankful you don't coach my daughter wrote:
Because it often leads to disordered eating and potentially life-threatening health issues you dim-witted moran. That's why.
I hope you are nowhere near high school girl athletes.
Talk about healthy nutrition. Don't talk weight. It's not that difficult.
You still don't get it. No one is saying to pull teenager girls aside and tell them to lose weight if they want to run fast. Run a 6 minute mile and be happy. Run a 25 minute 5K and be happy. But, DO NOT tell someone that wants to achieve the highest level that they can do so without weight AND nutrition being part of the equation. ANY elite female knows this, they just won't say it out loud because if they did, they would get exactly the same reaction and be accused of causing girls to have eating disorders.
I have a girl that's 5'4" and 125 lbs and she's been killing it running PRs of 4:56 & 10:49. You act as if I am suggesting that we have a discussion about losing weight to make her faster. That IS NOT what I am saying and NOT what happens. That's her body type and she's going to get into the school that she wants to and everyone is happy. Yeah, that's right, I hate to break it to you, but I coach HS girls. And, since I'm a female, a runner, a board certified endocrinologist and have actually been through it all, I speak to my athletes about this issue all the time. I also speak to them about menstruation, sex, contraception, boys, drugs, violence, rape, childbirth, movies, clothing, dating and a whole bunch of other stuff too. You WISH I was your daughters coach!
You sound like one of those simpletons that think girls are made of sugar and spice and will melt when spoken to. Some girls want to be warriors and will push themselves to be the best. You act as if all girls are the same and come in a cute little pink package marked fragile. To tell a highly motivated girl that dropping a few pounds naturally during our build for state will greatly improve their chances, might sound horrible to you, but only if you buy into the fragile, melting girl bullshyte. The hype is that if you mention weight to a girl she is so mentally unstable that she will go spiraling into "disordered eating and potentially life-threatening health issues.'" Only a true dimwit would actually believe that. You have been so programmed to believe this nonsense. You clearly have no idea what girls talk to each other about. If you do have daughters, they clearly don't trust you enough to open up about these matters with you. Apparently boys can handle putting weight on for football, taking it off for wrestling, being told to hit the gym because they are scrawny, being told to lose weight because they are heavy but girls are unstable anorexia time bombs ready to go off at the mere mention of the word "weight." It's stupid, sexist and simply untrue.
And as a disclaimer: I am in no way minimizing the issue of eating disorders. Eating disorders are complex and to suggest that any single event would be a trigger shows a deep ignorance. Eating disorders deal with obsession, weight, appearance, body image, hormones and there is now compelling evidence to show that genetic factors contribute to a predisposition for eating disorders.
Don't sell your daughters short, outfit them with the right tools for success. As with most things in life, how you say it is as or more important than what you say. Girls are badass and a lot tougher than you think.
Get a clue!
It's weird. You say you DON'T advise your athletes to lose weight, then later on say "what is the harm is telling a girl to lose a few pounds for state."
Honestly, you seem a bit unhinged.
There is a difference between an elite athlete and a HS athlete. There's ZERO reason to have HS athletes targeting weight loss. Emphasis nutrition instead. If she needs to lose 5lbs to become elite....well let's worry about that when she is an elite adult athlete. Who cares if she runs 10:25 2 mile vs 10:17 2 mile in HS. In the long term it doesn't matter if she was 7 seconds slower in HS. She can lose that weight at any time, why the need to lose it in HS?
No gains due to coach encouraged weight loss at the HS level are that important other than to perhaps feed the ego of a maniac coach. But the potential damage is enormous. As the adult coach and trusted 'expert' you are being reckless and selfish with your athletes if you are encouraging weight loss in HS. Is getting 2nd in the Podunk Valley Conference meet really important enough to justify the health risk? If you think it is, then you need to be removed from coaching HS athletes. HS athletics is about more than running.
It's
Try 75 degrees. I am from upstate NY and the racing conditions at states were great that weekend
This thread is disgusting.
Discussing the weight of a teenage girl on a message board is terrible. If your contributing to this, you should be ashamed of yourself. The last thing that will propel Tuohy to success (which is apparently no longer on the table due to one non-PR season) is a hoard of disgruntled, slow, middle-aged men talking about her body, publicly.
Whether or not Tuohy has gained 5, 10, ... 20 pounds is irrelevant. Given the level she has reached as well as her academic ambition, its evident that Tuohy is an incredibly talented, smart girl with an amazing work ethic. I can 100% guarantee all of you morons that she is trying her absolute best in regards to nutrition, training, etc; AND that it is perfectly obvious to her that running is a weight-dependent sport. If she did gain weight, its not because she hit mcdonalds a few too many times. It's because its a necessary, normal part of her development, that is tremendously important to her health as well as her OLYMPIC aspirations.
Given the prevalence of REDS (Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport) in distance running (60% of college runners), its paramount Tuohy focuses on energy balance (calories in = calories out), not micromanaging her weight, to reach the top level. This may mean she puts on some weight over the next bit, maybe doesn't PR for a few years. BUT, what it will avoid is the fate that multiple college runners experience -- multiple sacral stress fractures, osteoporosis, and an inability to run high mileage after the age of 23.
BTW, most professional elite females went through a phase in high school or university of being softer. See Kim Conley, Shelby Houlihan, Shannon Rowbury, etc etc etc for reference if you'd like proof.
Note that this comes from a female who was very good, young (think 3:43 1500m equivalent for a guy), who experienced weight shaming from idiots like your selves, eventually leading to an eating disorder after some injury related weight gain. Comments from misinformed idiots who feel they have to "step in" and say "being light is really important, and your not right now" did nothing to help me. I eventually got back to that level and beyond focusing on consistent training and good, healthy and voluminous nutrition, not worrying about the number on the scale.
YES, i'm not denying weight is important. BUT it should not be the focus of Tuohy at this point given her talent. If you need proof, just look at the IOC resources on REDS and read stories from the likes of Bobby Clay and others.
Katelyn, if your reading this, don't listen to these idiots. There are more people rooting for you than looking to drag you through the mud at one mis-step. Trust your coaches, parents, and friends, not people who'd rather see you fail to remedy their own insecurity and shortcomings. You are once-in-a-generation and its important you have people looking out for you and your development!
Wow!!!!! wrote:
Hounddogharrier wrote:
Uhhh, you do know Tuohy does her slow runs at your daughter’s race pace, right ? We are talking about the greatest high school distance talent ever in the USA. If she is starting to hang around with the wrong crowd eating junk food then the parents need to step in.
If I were her dad , I’d limit her cross country races and then go pro after NXN.
Uhhh, you do know that "NO she doesn't run sub 18's for 5k for her slow runs". If you actually believe that, you are a complete mental patient and should stick to your local 5k age group top 20 awards.
My daughter was in the top 30 in the NCAA Cross Country Meet last year and I ran Division 1 at a Big 10 School, hence I know what I'm talking about>>>>>>>> NO high school girl, I repeat NO high school girl, not even Katelyn Tuohy runs her """""""slow runs"""""""""""" at sub 18 for 5k. For you to post such garbage is beyond the word ignorant. I'm so glad you aren't her Dad and this is why I don't come her often.
You don't have to open the door, I'll let myself out. You have some very creepy bizarre people on this site that enjoy posting trash.
If you read this Katelyn, and I hope you are far away from this thread, ignore these posters who are clueless and uneducated to a scary level.
I bet you are part angus because I’ve never seen so much bull $hit in one post . So your daughter has a17:33 pr and was top 30 at the ncaa cross country championship? I have news for you, there isn’t anyone in the top 30 of the D3 cross country championship with a pr as slow as 17:33, let alone the D1 nationals .
Touhy is without a doubt the greatest high school distance runner ever. She isn’t running faster because she is so superior to every other high school runner , she has nothing left to prove in high school and needs to go pro .
As for all the so called “experts “ saying she is past her prime , Touhy is a power runner , a lean muscular machine . She is not the little hummingbird with a huge motor and no body fat who grows up and disappears,, POWER DOESNT DISAPPEAR AT PUBERTY. SHE IS A ONE IN A BILLION TALENT . Treat her like one.
Here is my advice since you appear genuinely interested in addressing this. It might be useless, but if we have enough useless ideas someone may be able to think of something that works. The majority of Let’s Run posters are against unhealthy practices like overtraining young runners, and that is a great and positive resource for over excited kids who might otherwise overtrain. So you need to figure out how to be a positive resource for the other big problem in youth running: anorexia.
1) Given the nature of anorexia and its prevalence in young female distance runners, you have a moral obligation to help fight it. Calling a young female runner overweight is different than someone posting on Lets Play Football that a high school quarterback has a weak arm or on Let’s Play Basketball that a shooting guard is too short or out of shape. It is different because the very act of calling a young woman overweight can actually trigger anorexia. So yes weight is an important part of the sport and you would like to be able to discuss it the way a football fan talks about arms or a basketball fan talks about height, but you can’t. The risk that it places on the target of the comment is too high. So one thing you should consider is eliminating all comments about the weight of any actual female athletes below a certain age, especially if they are based on someone’s “analysis” of a photograph. It’s just not worth the damage it can cause. People can still have a general discussion about weight’s impact on running without mentioning specific young athletes.
2) In virtually any article about a person’s suicide, there is almost always a notice in the article about resources to call if a reader of the article is having suicidal thoughts. I don’t know that such a thing works in this case. But there are certainly lots of links and messages and advice that can be placed in any thread that goes near the weight issue. Lauren Fleshman’s letter to her younger self should be posted all over this thread. A young female runner with a proclivity towards an eating disorder will likely get drawn to threads like this, so use it to reach them and tell them what they need to hear. Instead of having topics like this create risks for young female runners, use your power of control over the message board to bring help. It probably won’t impact much traffic one way or the other, but you might wind up saving a few lives.
3) To the posters, I encourage you to provide as many helpful insights on this topic as possible. Give the right advice and help, and drown out the weirdos who almost seem to get joy in trying to ruin young people’s lives. The young girls need need your help, and you can make a difference.
4) To any young female runner reading this, read Lauren Fleshman’s letter. She has much more useful things to say about this than anything I can write, or any thing virtually all the other posters can write.
Look what our Olympian’s looked like in college -or before ... many were soft and bigger than they are as pros - they actually let their body’s Devlope and go through the healthy maturing process. Then they are and trained like pros ..
I'm quite confused by this thread, it's almost as crazy as Durant's achilles. Usually this forum is critical and concerned about anorexic girls, now you have a healthy runner and you say she has to lose weight???
there is a lot of misinformation in this thread
1 - "shuts down her season" - usually Tuohy runs her state meet and then NBON. This year she was gong to skip NBON and run a 5k with pros to see if it might be interesting for her to try a USATF race this summer. So the shut down of season is the 1500m at states, the 5k with pros and the possible extended summer running.
2 - "heavy racing schedule" - she actually has a light racing schedule. Other than the 3k indoors with pros, she has never run any race outside of the normal NY high school schedule or NXN/New balance track.
3- "weight gain" - other than a few opinions of photos, there's no evidence that she put on any weight. If she did it looks like healthy muscle to me. Isn't it refreshing to have a healthy looking distance phenom. Matter of fact I can think right away of 3 other healthy athletes who are making nice post high school careers now - Elle Purrier and Emily Lipari were both NCAA champs who keep improving as pros and Sage Hurta, another NY'er just had a break out season at CU, and is a 3 time all-american in XC.
4 - "no pr's as a junior" - also not true, she pr'ed in XC in the fall, and the 3k in Jan 2019. While she didn't PR in the spring, she has regularly ran high 4:30 miles or equivalents, and 9:55 2 miles or equivalents. Several of these probably give her some more top 10 all time high school marks, to go with the ones she already has.
5 - Olympic goals - I believe they are hoping for the 2024 Olympics after college, so there is plenty of time to see how she develops before that. Just becasue Cain, Efraimson, etc. went pro early, does not mean hat will be the route for Tuohy.
While it's disappointing for me as a fan that she won't be running this summer, I think it's the smart decision to stop now as it avoids injury, but it's not the start of some doomsday scenario - let's see how she comes back in the fall.
Dr Taboo wrote:
very thankful you don't coach my daughter wrote:
Because it often leads to disordered eating and potentially life-threatening health issues you dim-witted moran. That's why.
I hope you are nowhere near high school girl athletes.
Talk about healthy nutrition. Don't talk weight. It's not that difficult.
You still don't get it. No one is saying to pull teenager girls aside and tell them to lose weight if they want to run fast. Run a 6 minute mile and be happy. Run a 25 minute 5K and be happy. But, DO NOT tell someone that wants to achieve the highest level that they can do so without weight AND nutrition being part of the equation. ANY elite female knows this, they just won't say it out loud because if they did, they would get exactly the same reaction and be accused of causing girls to have eating disorders.
I have a girl that's 5'4" and 125 lbs and she's been killing it running PRs of 4:56 & 10:49. You act as if I am suggesting that we have a discussion about losing weight to make her faster. That IS NOT what I am saying and NOT what happens. That's her body type and she's going to get into the school that she wants to and everyone is happy. Yeah, that's right, I hate to break it to you, but I coach HS girls. And, since I'm a female, a runner, a board certified endocrinologist and have actually been through it all, I speak to my athletes about this issue all the time. I also speak to them about menstruation, sex, contraception, boys, drugs, violence, rape, childbirth, movies, clothing, dating and a whole bunch of other stuff too. You WISH I was your daughters coach!
You sound like one of those simpletons that think girls are made of sugar and spice and will melt when spoken to. Some girls want to be warriors and will push themselves to be the best. You act as if all girls are the same and come in a cute little pink package marked fragile. To tell a highly motivated girl that dropping a few pounds naturally during our build for state will greatly improve their chances, might sound horrible to you, but only if you buy into the fragile, melting girl bullshyte. The hype is that if you mention weight to a girl she is so mentally unstable that she will go spiraling into "disordered eating and potentially life-threatening health issues.'" Only a true dimwit would actually believe that. You have been so programmed to believe this nonsense. You clearly have no idea what girls talk to each other about. If you do have daughters, they clearly don't trust you enough to open up about these matters with you. Apparently boys can handle putting weight on for football, taking it off for wrestling, being told to hit the gym because they are scrawny, being told to lose weight because they are heavy but girls are unstable anorexia time bombs ready to go off at the mere mention of the word "weight." It's stupid, sexist and simply untrue.
And as a disclaimer: I am in no way minimizing the issue of eating disorders. Eating disorders are complex and to suggest that any single event would be a trigger shows a deep ignorance. Eating disorders deal with obsession, weight, appearance, body image, hormones and there is now compelling evidence to show that genetic factors contribute to a predisposition for eating disorders.
Don't sell your daughters short, outfit them with the right tools for success. As with most things in life, how you say it is as or more important than what you say. Girls are badass and a lot tougher than you think.
Get a clue!
I am glad you are posting
I would like to confirm that in other girls' sports it is common to do what you are suggesting. Thankfully, we do not have to deal with weight loss but others on the team do. To my surprise, there are those who do weight loss to enhance athletic performance even tho there is no college recruitment stake. To put it bluntly, after the weight loss some of the athletes will still suck but they will suck a little less. I cannot reason it but it is sufficient that they can. It is each individual athlete's choice.
What puzzles me is that running is such a low revenue sport with a lot of activism. Why don't we see this in higher revenue sports?
baldstradt wrote:
I am glad you are posting
I would like to confirm that in other girls' sports it is common to do what you are suggesting. Thankfully, we do not have to deal with weight loss but others on the team do. To my surprise, there are those who do weight loss to enhance athletic performance even tho there is no college recruitment stake. To put it bluntly, after the weight loss some of the athletes will still suck but they will suck a little less. I cannot reason it but it is sufficient that they can. It is each individual athlete's choice.
What puzzles me is that running is such a low revenue sport with a lot of activism. Why don't we see this in higher revenue sports?
Again, I am not suggesting anything. I am merely saying that yes, weight matters in female distance running and responsibly addressing the issue, should it need to be addressed, is not the life changing, earth shattering event everyone seems to think it is. It's time to get real here . I deal with taboo issues all the time, some things are uncomfortable to talk about but it must be done. You want to talk about eating disorders, let's do that, but let's keep it 100.
Female runners are no where near the top of the list or the most susceptible to eating disorders, that dubious honor belongs to the transgender community. Statistics show that the highest percentage of eating disorders by population group belongs to transgender students. I have repeatedly stated on this site that I believe the treatment of CeCe Telfer after winning the DII national championship and the 2 high school girls in Connecticut was absolutely disgusting. Nothing that was written here about Katelyn Tuohy even comes close to the vile, hateful, racist comments that were posted on this site. I didn't see any of the many who are now complaining, posting their disapproval on those posts. If they care so much about eating disorders and the concomitant psychological disorders, why don't they denounce those posts? I also see the most vile and hateful comments regarding Caster Semenya on this site, but I don't see anyone talking about the potential damage to her mental health status or to her feelings. Why do you think that is?
Let's talk obesity? Do we have that discussion with girls? As I stated previously, XC is a no cut sport. Every year we get girls that come out for XC with the stated goal of "losing weight." I am an endocrinologist and my practice consists primarily of treating diabetics. Most of those, I would estimate some 85% of them, are type II diabetics secondary to chronic obesity. Do I turn away the obese athletes and say, no, that's not what we do here. Every year I have girls that are average to above average but borderline obese. As a health care professional, coach and human being, am I not supposed to help them get fit, healthy and yes... faster? Why is it such a taboo subject to talk about weight to girls? Who is feeding this notion that every girl is incapable of discussing their appearance, health status and body image without coming apart at the seams? The reason that the men are piping up and saying that they believe talking about weight would drive girls to an eating disorder, is because they are projecting. They know exactly how disgustingly cruel they have been with respect to objectifying women, degrading their weight and mocking their appearance. They are simply reflecting how they think their daughters would react to a POS like themselves talking about their weight.
No one with any common sense is saying that Katelyn Tuphy is obese or overweight, at least I certainly am not. I am responding to the larger issue of whether weight matters and if it's appropriate to say so. I say, under the right circumstances and with the appropriate tact, "yes," to both of those questions.
Go Katelyn, you are loved!
you're just babbling now. If you were my daughter's coach I would DEFINITELY be trying to get you replaced.
you have obese girls going out for cross country. You don't think having them run every day and teaching them how to eat healthy is enough?
Also, if a girl is obese it's a little different because you are trying to help them for health reasons. But you were advocating for coaches to encourage fit athletes to lose weight only for the sake of shaving off a few seconds. That's absolutely a fireable offense in my school district. You're risking athlete health for performance, which isn't something a coach should be encouraging a teenager to do.
Many girls slow down JR and SR year because they’ve become depleted of iron. They tend to be in the mid-normal range for ferritin coming into high school and then slowly go the wrong way. That is a huge contributing factor in general.
Weight gain obviously is a big deal, but when combined with low iron stores it’s a disaster.
Cases like Tuohy are difficult to navigate appropriately due to the desire of the athlete and those around her to have success. Tuohy was and still is hugely talented. However, it’s a big problem when you don’t have competition as an athlete. In her case it would have been smart to move down in distance during track so she’s no longer winning so easily. That means focusing on the 200-800. That may sound stupid but it would have allowed her to reduce her volume, work on speed for the future and take the spotlight off her. She would still be competitive nationally in the 800 but a win would no longer be guaranteed like in the 800-1500.
When it comes to XC the goal should never have been to win by as much as possible. In fact the goal should have been to win by as little as possible, which helps develop tactics for the future and doesn’t stress the body nearly as much in addition to greatly reducing the stress that comes with the expectation of setting a course record every time out.
It’s very difficult to hold the reigns this tight and I don’t blame anyone involved for getting caught up in the moment.
All that being said, she is far from being done. Her mechanics are excellent, she has a huge aerobic capacity and is extremely motivated. As was mentioned, she had a sinus infection and couldn’t be expected to be at 100%.
Coach Goat wrote:
Many girls slow down JR and SR year because they’ve become depleted of iron. They tend to be in the mid-normal range for ferritin coming into high school and then slowly go the wrong way. That is a huge contributing factor in general.
Weight gain obviously is a big deal, but when combined with low iron stores it’s a disaster.
Cases like Tuohy are difficult to navigate appropriately due to the desire of the athlete and those around her to have success. Tuohy was and still is hugely talented. However, it’s a big problem when you don’t have competition as an athlete. In her case it would have been smart to move down in distance during track so she’s no longer winning so easily. That means focusing on the 200-800. That may sound stupid but it would have allowed her to reduce her volume, work on speed for the future and take the spotlight off her. She would still be competitive nationally in the 800 but a win would no longer be guaranteed like in the 800-1500.
When it comes to XC the goal should never have been to win by as much as possible. In fact the goal should have been to win by as little as possible, which helps develop tactics for the future and doesn’t stress the body nearly as much in addition to greatly reducing the stress that comes with the expectation of setting a course record every time out.
It’s very difficult to hold the reigns this tight and I don’t blame anyone involved for getting caught up in the moment.
All that being said, she is far from being done. Her mechanics are excellent, she has a huge aerobic capacity and is extremely motivated. As was mentioned, she had a sinus infection and couldn’t be expected to be at 100%.
It's tough to not have competition at her best events so she she should run the 200 and 400? You know she's a distance runner, right?
Dr TryHard wrote:
you have obese girls going out for cross country. You don't think having them run every day and teaching them how to eat healthy is enough?
Also, if a girl is obese it's a little different because you are trying to help them for health reasons. But you were advocating for coaches to encourage fit athletes to lose weight only for the sake of shaving off a few seconds. That's absolutely a fireable offense in my school district. You're risking athlete health for performance, which isn't something a coach should be encouraging a teenager to do.
She is not saying that. You have misread. Also, it is unlikely she is making any money from coaching. As a Physician, she is unlikely to prioritize a few seconds or minutes over the health of a teen girl.
I know there are coaches out there that push to the breaking point in search of individual glory to advance their career. Taboo does not seem to be that type. She probably does not want to take away athletic opportunity from girls who want to be competitive. She cannot force anyone to lose weight or to run faster. That stays with the athlete.
SDSU Aztec wrote:
Coach Goat wrote:
Many girls slow down JR and SR year because they’ve become depleted of iron. They tend to be in the mid-normal range for ferritin coming into high school and then slowly go the wrong way. That is a huge contributing factor in general.
Weight gain obviously is a big deal, but when combined with low iron stores it’s a disaster.
Cases like Tuohy are difficult to navigate appropriately due to the desire of the athlete and those around her to have success. Tuohy was and still is hugely talented. However, it’s a big problem when you don’t have competition as an athlete. In her case it would have been smart to move down in distance during track so she’s no longer winning so easily. That means focusing on the 200-800. That may sound stupid but it would have allowed her to reduce her volume, work on speed for the future and take the spotlight off her. She would still be competitive nationally in the 800 but a win would no longer be guaranteed like in the 800-1500.
When it comes to XC the goal should never have been to win by as much as possible. In fact the goal should have been to win by as little as possible, which helps develop tactics for the future and doesn’t stress the body nearly as much in addition to greatly reducing the stress that comes with the expectation of setting a course record every time out.
It’s very difficult to hold the reigns this tight and I don’t blame anyone involved for getting caught up in the moment.
All that being said, she is far from being done. Her mechanics are excellent, she has a huge aerobic capacity and is extremely motivated. As was mentioned, she had a sinus infection and couldn’t be expected to be at 100%.
It's tough to not have competition at her best events so she she should run the 200 and 400? You know she's a distance runner, right?
I know she’s a runner that has specialized in the longer distances. I also know it’s bad to win too easily because when the time comes someone starts losing they inevitably question everything and often give up. I also know that a talent like Tuohy will hit a glass ceiling eventually if her 400 time isn’t fast enough. Look at Houlihan and what she focused on in track during high school.
I’m not saying to stop doing XC or enter the occasional 1500 or longer during track, but for a precocious young talent like her that was a wrecking ball already in 8th grade, I believe a longer vision is needed for continued success.
Bop Bellyflop wrote:
Dr TryHard wrote:
you have obese girls going out for cross country. You don't think having them run every day and teaching them how to eat healthy is enough?
Also, if a girl is obese it's a little different because you are trying to help them for health reasons. But you were advocating for coaches to encourage fit athletes to lose weight only for the sake of shaving off a few seconds. That's absolutely a fireable offense in my school district. You're risking athlete health for performance, which isn't something a coach should be encouraging a teenager to do.
She is not saying that. You have misread. Also, it is unlikely she is making any money from coaching. As a Physician, she is unlikely to prioritize a few seconds or minutes over the health of a teen girl.
I know there are coaches out there that push to the breaking point in search of individual glory to advance their career. Taboo does not seem to be that type. She probably does not want to take away athletic opportunity from girls who want to be competitive. She cannot force anyone to lose weight or to run faster. That stays with the athlete.
actually , yes she is saying that,
here:
Can you be a good distance runner weighing over 110 lbs? Of course you can. Can you be the best? If you are being honest with yourself and your athletes, you know that answer already. Stop lying to them!
and here
Why is it so taboo to tell a motivated, talented, girl that wants to be the best at her craft, that she will have to manage her weight?
and here
To tell a highly motivated girl that dropping a few pounds naturally during our build for state will greatly improve their chances, might sound horrible to you, but only if you buy into the fragile, melting girl bullshyte.
and here
Talking openly about weight and setting expectations = Good
Ignoring weight as a factor in success = Stupid, Dangerous, Disingenuous & Anorexia Inducing
She had also whined about cross-country being a no-cut sport. Honestly, she really doesn't seem to have the best interests of her student-athletes foremost in her mind. She reminds me of one of those crazy HS coaches that squeezes all they can out of athletes for personal glory. Honestly, a cross country coach wanting to DECREASE participation in cross country, but also claim to be concerned about helping her obese athletes lose weight? inconsistent and frankly, a bit insane
Thats why the us. system for distance running is really bad for the amount of money it has. It produces a lot of mediocre runners in colleges because it promotes too hard and specified training in high school to get on the college teams. It should be the other way round. A diverse and free training in athletics in school and then a high training load to a specific distance when you are an adult.