You sound abusive. The best thing you could do is not be involved. Let your daughter chart her own path through mileage, workouts and coaches. This path is best traveled alone, as you find those you belong with along the journey.
We here sincerely hope her career is long enough to pass through Roxbury and Cambridge.
Overall No. If she has never used bicarb, it might not be worth it. It can upset her stomach and race day isn't the time to try something new. I would recommend if she uses it, to first try at practice then at a race.
Also to all those who are commenting this "wealthy parent" is buying his daughter success, look around. Many of the top HS have private coaches (which is very expensive), have supershoes, and fly all the time to meets($$$). This sport is full of wealthy privilege kids. Bicarbs is just like supershoes. Eventually it could be the new thing everyone is using. Don't guilt trip him when many other high schools seek ways to scientifically get an edge on racing.
Does the 14 year old want it or is it you who wants her to take it?
At 14 sport should be about fun and enjoying the journey. Better chance of staying in the sport.
If you are going with it, you need to try out first, don't introduce it for the first time at the race. Keep it simple.
This sounds weak. Both the "be about fun .." crap and "is it you who wants..". He is the parent, so he decides. She is not a grown up. If she wins she will think its fun and enjoy it, not the other way around.
I'm mulling this question over myself. My daughter knows about the bicarb and while I don't think it's necessary yet to use it, you can be sure that usage will spread like wildfire through high school runners. We've already seen kids in our area using lactate meters and doing obvious double threshold plans (easy to spot on Strava). Anybody who pays attention to competitive running is going to be facing this question.
Just like the supershoes, etc, if you don't use the bicarb, you'll eventually be at a disadvantage. These are kids competing for not just state meet spots and championships, but also scholarships. A few seconds could make the difference between taking huge student loans or having someone else pay for your school.
So my approach with my daughter has been to keep her informed, while encouraging her to improve without it and then we can evaluate later whether it's something she wants to consider if it's going to be a close call for state qualification or something like that. In her case, she's so far ahead of where she was last year, she's gonna destroy all her PRs significantly. I could only see her using it if it's going to be the factor that puts her over the edge in some important way.
What other posters have said about using it before the meet where you're going to need it is spot on. If my daughter ends up using it, I would first want to see her use it for 2 separate interval workouts, then in a throwaway dual meet, then in an invitational setting (but not the key race). That's what I'd recommend for anyone whose child is going to consider doing this.
Re: “having someone else pay for your school,” I highly encourage you to read this:
You may have to enter an email address to read the article. Note this was written several years ago, and a full ride or even partial scholarship is even more of a unicorn.
I'm mulling this question over myself. My daughter knows about the bicarb and while I don't think it's necessary yet to use it, you can be sure that usage will spread like wildfire through high school runners. We've already seen kids in our area using lactate meters and doing obvious double threshold plans (easy to spot on Strava). Anybody who pays attention to competitive running is going to be facing this question.
Just like the supershoes, etc, if you don't use the bicarb, you'll eventually be at a disadvantage. These are kids competing for not just state meet spots and championships, but also scholarships. A few seconds could make the difference between taking huge student loans or having someone else pay for your school.
So my approach with my daughter has been to keep her informed, while encouraging her to improve without it and then we can evaluate later whether it's something she wants to consider if it's going to be a close call for state qualification or something like that. In her case, she's so far ahead of where she was last year, she's gonna destroy all her PRs significantly. I could only see her using it if it's going to be the factor that puts her over the edge in some important way.
What other posters have said about using it before the meet where you're going to need it is spot on. If my daughter ends up using it, I would first want to see her use it for 2 separate interval workouts, then in a throwaway dual meet, then in an invitational setting (but not the key race). That's what I'd recommend for anyone whose child is going to consider doing this.
Re: “having someone else pay for your school,” I highly encourage you to read this:
You may have to enter an email address to read the article. Note this was written several years ago, and a full ride or even partial scholarship is even more of a unicorn.
You can’t be serious, full rides and partial scholarships are not a unicorn, just because you or someone you know had no luck with it
Okay, maybe unicorn was a poor word to choose. What about albino lobster? My point is parents contemplating giving bicarb to a 14 year old because, after all, their kid is in the scholarship hunt need a dose of reality.
I didn’t consider US schools, nor would I have been recruited or a good candidate though a decent high school runner. My small number of friends who went to US schools did so on full rides, but that was in the early 80s.
Okay, maybe unicorn was a poor word to choose. What about albino lobster? My point is parents contemplating giving bicarb to a 14 year old because, after all, their kid is in the scholarship hunt need a dose of reality.
I didn’t consider US schools, nor would I have been recruited or a good candidate though a decent high school runner. My small number of friends who went to US schools did so on full rides, but that was in the early 80s.
And it’s still happening today, and bicarb is just another tool. I’ve been to two indoor races this season and have seen in person the number of high schoolers mixing bicarb. A couple well known that I’m not mentioning until they want to, but they both went on to win their distance events. In a 3200 if it’s worth 2 seconds that can be a lot of positions.
Sodium Bicarbonate can increase the risk for pancreatitis. Repeated pancreatitis leads to pancreatic cancer. Having diarrhea multiple times after racing disrupts your gut microbiome, which has a whole host of negative consequences long term. Is it worth it for the win? Every athlete and parent of an athlete, needs to ask themselves this question.
We don't yet know the long term consequences of how this will really turn out. Large populations of young athletes using sodium bicarbonate has not been researched. And youth absorb drugs and nutrients at higher levels than adults. As a sports dietitian, I would say proceed with caution. Emphasize solid nutrition and good health practices first.
If it comes down to scholarship money for college versus possible long term health consequences, maybe it would be better to emphasize good grades and academic scholarships.