What is the matter with my teammate?

well bear in mind that this kid is in gr 9.. or 10 but either way those times should easily translate into sub 20 5k.. I mean cam an

6/10

The getting boxxed in for a road 5k part isn't believable.

call it no wrote:

6/10

The getting boxxed in for a road 5k part isn't believable.

Sorry, it is actually true (that he said it). At a 5k this past spring. I unfortunately agree that I don't think it was 'true', of course, that he was actually boxed in. I didn't really know what to say to him in response so I just didn't say anything.

Thanks for all the advice from everyone. As far as I know he isn't having any home problems. He is an only kid who lives with his mom. As far as I know, and I've known him a long time, his dad has never been around. I personally sort of think his mom 'mothers' him too much - maybe that's the problem, I don't know. Like she always drives him to school and picks him up, even though it's only about a 5 minute walk away....

i say just start ignoring him. he knows you guys need him and you're listening to all of his stories.

once he gets absolutely no attention from anyone when gives his stories, he'll either walk away or get it together.

He could have a problem. I know of one who was a good 400M runner and pretty good 800M runner who stayed in the mid-20s on 5K. Did everything under the sun to hide a heart problem until caught. No way in heck to be a good 5K runner.

Your friend is being poorly coached and is paying the price. My guess is he is your best bet for a 4x400m spot and a good 800m. He has a higher percentage of fast fiber than most others on your XC team, needs more quality work, less steady paced running, and will fade dramatically if overtrained. You can also expect him to fair relatively poorly in warm conditions. Roughly a 95% chance he has not tapped his potential on the speed side -- this kid might be closer to a 52/156 runner if proper adjustments in his training schedule are made.

When he trains for XC, he should be training in a fashion somewhat akin to his best approach for the track season. My guess is he could fartlek better XC times than he has done with the standard approach. If I am coaching a kid like this I point him towards a 430 mile and make sure he does not overdo. More than anything, make sure he succeeds in his races; even 1 mile at the front followed by a 2 mile walk will do more for his morale than what he is currently experiencing. As for overdistance work he will do best with fartleks (example might be a 30' run with HR limits at 165/115 or no watch or measuring at all, cycling, and pool running.

As for his shuffling in, remember his fiber type is different and consider his gears are simply different. Look at an old tape of Johnny Gray in the 800m. You'll see two distinct stride patterns, one long and beautiful, the other

a shuffle. Your friend is basically in the same boat. As with Gray you'll have either great races or relatively poor ones, but like Gray, your friend needs to run as he feels best and that means faster gears will feel best. Eventually he will gain the stamina to run a decent XC time.

Get these goals in his head and he will begin running and racing much better:

24+ 200

54 400

<240 km

<430 1600

If you'd like some more help, email me at

dsrunner@juyno.com

consider showing him this thread, it may make him determined to prove us wrong. Or he might just get really mad

HS xc captain wrote:

We were all hoping that one of our sophomores would rise to the occasion and fill the gap. I played soccer with him growing up, and he was always the star - he would run up and down the field and pretty much score at will.

the quote above contains the problem. He was the star in youth soccer but everyone else caught up to him in high school. He's so used to being the star w/o having to work hard and he can't stomach the thought that kids he used to dominate on the soccer field are now better than him. Basically, to protect his ego he'd rather suck at running while deluding himself that he could do better if he tried than to actually try & be a decent but not star runner.

Maybe he doesn't have the desire to run cross country. Acyou know, all people who do not have the desire to run distances are losers. Micheal Jordan? Loser. Einstein? Loser. Gandhi? Big fat loser.

Actually, Gandhi liked to walk long distances. Long was relative according to Einstein and Michael Jordan chose to fly.

OK, so I ask him today what's wrong, why he is always walking, and he answers "I'm not walking.". No lie, that's what he says. And I've seen him walking at every practice. Not only that, but now he has his own little group of classmates that tag right along with him. I talked to the coach about it and he thinks he's just a quitter. I'm beginning to think so, too. I don't really like liars so I'm writing this guy off as a loss. Hopefully the coach can pull the other little group away from him.

He sounds like a hoser but let me throw in a possibility. It's my understanding (and experience, to endless chagrin) that heat stroke/heat exhaustion symptoms hang around forever. You can have dead legs, fatigue easily, etc for weeks or months afterward. Maybe this guy is not totally and completely telling tales about everything, maybe he did get overheated at a practice at some point and as a result his performance has gone to total crap, hence the walking, etc. Pushing himself to do even half the workout at this point would only be making it worse.

So why doesnt he just say, 'hey, something isnt right here?'If this was happening to you, if your body wasnt responding/performing how you thought it should, would you be totally honest about it with your captain/coach? Maybe, but maybe he doesnt have it in him to be.

However, it is not ok that he's got some of the other guys doing the same thing now. As captain, you of course know that it's up to you to motivate the other guys that are following hoser's lead.

Maybe suggest hoser take a week off. If he's just that, he'll jump at the opportunity to get out of workouts. If he's suffering from the after-effects of heat exhaustion, the time will help him get his game back, so to speak. Either way you have time to show the other guys that half-a**ing workouts isnt ok

Good Luck

why dont you go and find a different runner on the team, and do the same things to him and see how it works. Why are you so stuck on this kid?

Go find another kid, have him start running with the varsity team and see how he likes it, if it works and the kid dips under 20 (or however fast you want him) then great. If he pulls the same shit. Find another kid that's not on the varsity and do the same thing. This kid is obviously a cock goblin. Why worry about him?

I was [quote]forget him wrote:

why dont you go and find a different runner on the team, and do the same things to him and see how it works. Why are you so stuck on this kid?

quote]

I was hung up on him because, of all the potential 5th runners (and there aren't many), he really seemed the most athletic. I played soccer with this guy for years and he was a real stand out, loads better than me or anyone else. It was just youth soccer, up to age 12, but I swear the guy oould run up and down the soccer field (football field) all day and still blast them into the net. And I thought he was a decent middle distance freshman track runner, again better than any of the other guys we have to work with. It's just weird how bad he is at xc or distance. But I'm convinced at this point that he just has a bad attitude now that he is actually lying about it. And I have written him off at this point. Hopefully there is nothing physically wrong with him but it just doesn't add up....

you aren't teaching a dyslexic kid to read, you're looking for a runner to compete. quit babying him. you and your teammates need to create a culture that doesn't allow laziness. you're better off finding a smart kid who wants to pad his college apps. and having him run a 22 min 5k than having the lazy guy walk a 28 and spread his attitude to the younger group.

Sorry bro but the dudes just not a runner. For some reason a lot of people think that good soccer players make good runners; sometimes that's the case (i.e. El G) but often those skills don't translate. Running is all about talent if some has it you should be able to tell just watching them run or after one practice. As far as finding that elusive good 5th dude you're kinda stuck in HS with out the real ability to recruit. Your best bet would be to try and get the other 800m runners that don't run XC out for the team especially those with smooth strides, efficiency is very important. Also every HS team has one ore two very talented runners who are simply not motivated and continually under achieve, I'm sure you know who they are already. Try and get those guys to come to practice or stop drinking or what ever it is that makes them B squad when they should be A. You might be surprised and have a solid number 2 or 3 guy you didn't even know you had.

I can venture to bet his parents live like this as well. His whole life he he witnessed his mother and father complain about the most unimportant matters in life, thus conditioning him to behave this way as well.