We’ve cut back (significantly) on the amount of mileage our young athletes run on a weekly basis, especially the U13s and U15s.
There are certain boys who may mature faster and have the strength, as opposed to speed (the two are very different) to consider extra volume. But it can massively hamper kids who aren’t ready.
I just don’t agree with it. And as you say, it’s almost always an adult pushing it rather than the child.
He might be self driven, who knows? And he obviously has talent. But, he’s only 13. I would personally back him off, lower the volume, get him into cross training, either via other sports like soccer, hockey, or swimming, or get him into triathlon.
I had a great friend in high school who was a “prodigy” at like age 9 or 10, competed varsity in middle school, and was the #1 runner on our team when I first found the sport of track as a sophomore. Set all kinds of records at local road races. Fast forward to 16 years old, and this kid was a headcase who sustained a knee injury that he could never escape, and his running career was over by his senior year. He was also running about 70 mpw in 8th to 9th grade.
Not saying this will happen to this kid, obviously wish him the best, but, I suspect my friend’s physical issues stemmed from too much hard training before he hit puberty. I don’t see the point in the high volume/sessions until a boy hits about 17 with commensurate physical maturity.
Agree. I certainly hold nothing against this lad and wish him the very best. There’s also nothing wrong with parental encouragement and engagement. If there is balance to it and always backed up with support when things don’t go to plan, it’s brilliant.
We just found that our lads who were upping the mileage struggled on race day. Especially towards the middle, end of the season. Upping the mileage absolutely *has* to be combined with an awareness of rest and recovery. The boys just weren’t doing that and gassing out on XC races. You don’t even need to look at the times. You can see it in their shoulders and stride pattern.
Up until around 15/16, kids should focus on running fast. That’s the muscular development that can only really ignite in your formative years. 5k has obviously been installed as a standard distance through Parkrun, but any further than that is silly. Develop a kick, develop a start, learn to run hills hard.
There is ALWAYS a kid like this coming up. Age WRs, serious coaching, times matching people 2-4 years older than them.
No one has matched the hype since Galen Rupp.
Rupp wasn’t an age grouper. I would say Harrison more or less met the hype from HM record holder at like 10 to 4:02 as a soph to sub 4 as a senior. Yeah the progression (and racing choices) over the past 3 years isn’t quite what you dream about but decent enough.
Adian Puffer has done OK from those early fast 5ks(like 8:48 2 mile)but I don’t think he raced at all at NAU.
Not true that Puffer hasn’t raced at NAU. TFRRS profile shows he’s run 8:05 and 13:51. So he’s continuing to improve. Early success doesn’t necessarily mean you will dominate at higher levels when you get older but it also doesn’t necessarily mean you will flame out before high school as many predict.
He does pretty insane workouts, with a big focus on threshold volume + overall volume (says 70+ mpw). He recently got a lactate meter and from what he has posted it seems like his threshold is around 5:18/mi. Seems like his dad is his coach. Discuss… is this too early?
Had a reel come up today: 800 in 2:14 + 25x400 in 71 (30s rest). Either he's in <15 shape or he's completely overtraining
He was doing his double threshold workouts at 9.4 mmol lactate (5 x 6 mins), which is pretty crazy overtraining and not at all threshold. 15:34 is quite impressive, I saw he ran 31:19 too but the guy has been training like a pro for at least the last 3 years, so idk how impressive it actually is.... so we will see. I think he's likely to burn out by 16-17 through injuries and overtraining if he carries on like this. Not because of his age or mileage, I think the training is just not being done with longevity in mind. 25 x 400 off 30s is not a crazy workout in itself, but the idea is to be done at 10k pace or slower. Doing them at 71s would suggest he's in 29:30 ish shape, which he isn't...its a slippery slope
If he would slow all the threshold stuff down to true LT2 pace then longevity is there for sure
He was doing his double threshold workouts at 9.4 mmol lactate (5 x 6 mins), which is pretty crazy overtraining and not at all threshold. 15:34 is quite impressive, I saw he ran 31:19 too but the guy has been training like a pro for at least the last 3 years, so idk how impressive it actually is.... so we will see. I think he's likely to burn out by 16-17 through injuries and overtraining if he carries on like this. Not because of his age or mileage, I think the training is just not being done with longevity in mind. 25 x 400 off 30s is not a crazy workout in itself, but the idea is to be done at 10k pace or slower. Doing them at 71s would suggest he's in 29:30 ish shape, which he isn't...its a slippery slope
If he would slow all the threshold stuff down to true LT2 pace then longevity is there for sure
This. It's still very high for a 13 year old, but something like 16-20x400 at 10000 is good. Not running 9.4 mmol as "threshold"
He does pretty insane workouts, with a big focus on threshold volume + overall volume (says 70+ mpw). He recently got a lactate meter and from what he has posted it seems like his threshold is around 5:18/mi. Seems like his dad is his coach. Discuss… is this too early?
Yep and he's gonna peak too early and become a nobody once he's in college
He does pretty insane workouts, with a big focus on threshold volume + overall volume (says 70+ mpw). He recently got a lactate meter and from what he has posted it seems like his threshold is around 5:18/mi. Seems like his dad is his coach. Discuss… is this too early?
Yep and he's gonna peak too early and become a nobody once he's in college
Not necessarily.
But he’s going to get a stress fracture. Not sure what the rush is. He’s going to run out of runway.