Son is a h.s. freshman-to-be - advice?

Start with 20-30 min easy 4-5 days per week. Do that for 2 weeks to start.

Get in touch with the high school XC coach. They almost certainly have a summer training program. They have probably already started with summer workouts, so do is ASAP.

My remarks are a bit vague and perhaps not helpful. My take is that anything that gets him out the door, running, and feeling good is a win. You know him and I don't. I thought I knew my kid but was projecting my jr high feelings onto him instead. You don't need the whole story, but I wasn't at all high-pressure, just what I thought would work, because he's like me in lots of ways, and I chose the tack that would've worked with me when I was 13. He wound up choosing soccer and did fine. If your son wants to do more, make sure he's not doing too much. We can revisit that with particulars if its the case.

Is "timid" a really accurate assessment? I don't doubt your love and kindness, because I never doubted mine. I'd just ask you to evaluate what he does and double-check what you know about his internal motivation vs. his external motivation. You may have done so already, but I don't know. And part of your answer lies there. Again, I just don't know. Is he eager to get out the door each day and run, but he just blanches at distance or doesn't know time/pace? Whatever his level of talent is, there's lots of time for this kid.

40% Chance yes

40% Chance yes but it sucks

20% Chance no, they have nothing maybe not even a coach.

Keep it feeling fun. Some days in the off-season I procrastinated my run or didn’t feel like running some days. When my dad would get on my case about not getting my run in that day I hated it and made me want to run even less. The athlete needs to make the decision themselves to put in the work. You can talk to them occasionally and bring up how consistency is the only way to get faster, but don’t be a broken record player. I ended up becoming a state champ my senior year and all American in college and US/OTQ qualifier type guy and those are my thoughts.

From Illinois - ran 9:20 for 2M as a 9th grader long ago - never more than 30 miles a week but had speed so ran the 4 x 4 and sprints so that helped. Do not overdo the mileage. I grew 7 inches in 10 grade and did not get injured due to low mileage.

during this summer, see if you can bring him up to 30mpw with 1 day off. on average, that's 5 miles per day but don't just run 5 miles a day. maybe on one day, do 4 miles and on another, do 6 miles. long runs are good too. a 9 miler is fine but slowly work your way up to do that. no need for intervals. 6 x 50m strides at 800m pace is fine. also be sure to do some drills and stretches after these easy runs. do not expect your kid to do amazing during freshmen year. it isn't until you're doing 50+ mpw and hit puberty that you can even be competitive

I think 50mpw is overkill for the average 14y.o. Also, hovering over his training is a bad idea (how many miles per day, etc... long runs already evoke marathon training).

The goal is for him to acquire a taste for running, which would involve independent choices on when, how much and how to run. Light parental guidance is the best.

Sorry, 30mpw. That's already 50k.

I never ran so much as a middle schooler.

#1 - He'll be fine as long as he loves it. That is the most important thing. If you don't love it, it is a pretty boring sport and to be honest, if you aren't Birnbaum, Gorze, Lex, or Leo, nobody is "good" enough for it to matter. So learn to love it.

#2 - Embrace the history of the sport, not just the Instagram of today. Get him books by Peter Snell, Tom Jordan (Pre!), and Once a Runner (fiction). Watch movies about Billy Mills and Pre and so on.

#3 - Remind him that consistency is more important than volume. Volume is more important that intensity. But all three are required to be good. Running is like brushing your teeth. You just do it every day.

I have a niece who started running recently and will enter the 9th grade next year. I just told her to enjoy it. I coached for 30 years and the best parents were always those that were happy with anything and everything their kid did. Face it, running 3 miles so you can throw up is not for everyone!

if you're on here asking about your son's training, he's already doomed...

that's my story and i'm sticking to it,

cush

Have fun. Don’t just run! Bike, swim, play games, go for a hike, etc. If your kid starts to really enjoy being fit and active, they’ll be more inclined to train when the time comes to be more focused and deliberate with their activity.

Get his ferritin checked. My son was a freshman last year and had a ferritin level of 6, which was crushing him in workouts. Get it checked and then see if he needs iron supplements.

There are better things to be good at than running, like calculus and critical reading and presentation skills. You like running, great, either he grows to like it or he grows up to do something more important in life. You can’t want college running for him.

That is correct. His real passion is for the “Science Olympiad” team. But kids should participate in sports, too. Not with college as the end goal - I have no clue if he has that sort of talent. But just to move your body and compete and have fun and be a well-rounded person.

Your third poInt is great. You need to run once daily and twice daily is better

Get in touch with the coaching staff and ask what your son should be doing over the summer and then go from there.