Calling all coaches- what would you do about this athlete?

"only that they saw the food scale out"

don't understand what this means

a mental block in what way? a hard worker will run as fast as their body can, the mind wouldn't have much to do with it.

was the race the same conditions, i.e. hilly or flat, same temperature? was her taper good? what did she say when you asked her why her race was slow?

Sounds to me like you know what the problem is…..

The deeper issue is that she's in love with her coach.

Is this how you talk in life? And you’re a functioning adult?

Under fueled

Works far too hard on easy days and is now compromised on the hard days/racing

OCD and high functioning anxiety

Deep seated insecurities and, likely, spends a lot of time on Milespilit and Athletic.net comparing herself to other runners

Runs faster in practices and time trials because she can easily beat teammates (has control) but, folds when it counts against actual competition (does not have control)

In my experience, this is not going to end well. These athletes typically get injured with alarming frequency, won't listen to your coaching advice because they read that some elite is doing (insert details here), and burn out in short order. She needs serious mental health counseling.

Has been the best and most legitimate response so far. Don’t know if I worded it weird but I am a female too this isnt some weird dynamic. Is there something you think I should do? I want to stop this before it gets too far. You can tell she wants it bad and if she wants it bad enough I’m sure she’ll eventually figure it out but I think she needs some guidance. Pretty new runner too.

So you’re a sports psychology specialists, former collegiate coach, and you’re coming to Letsrun for advice?

Refer to my user name.

Ok, perhaps I worded this too vaguely. Yes, everything you said is correct. I was asking for guidance from other coaches on what approach to take. Not of course a step by step plan of what to say!! This is my wheel house, but every now and then we need a second set of ears

I agree she probably needs a therapeutic approach. Her getting out the food scale at such a young age and being close-minded about nutrition is abnormal.

For her races, one piece of advice that may be new is to teach her to negative split. Make her chase down the competition in the final 600 of the 1600. If we’re a head case, we’re more likely to race closer to our potential the longer we can delay both self-doubt and substantial pain, especially at a young age. If she has plenty of gas in the tank in the final 1/3 of a race, this accomplishes three things:

1. There’s still enough time to PR and in a race that lasts 5+ minutes, negative splits are the way to go for many runners

2. She will feel more in control of her personal race situation. People like her find a lot of security in raw, controlled data. The unknowable elements of competition are scary for them, so giving them something to focus on that they can control for a majority of the race distance will help them compartmentalize the entire thing and find success much easier.

3. She will have something to chase in the final 600 and should have enough jitters in her legs to make something happen.