Teen age runners and the marathon

No Senior year track season?

I'd be very cautious of this. What is her age/training age? Would you say she's physically developed enough to not put her health at risk? Is her goal to finish the marathon or to run well? You think she can 3:30 based off of what? If she can run 3:30 then I'd have to imagine her being able to run sub 40 in the 10k. Maybe she should look to continue running at a smaller school and then try to run a marathon post college. It would give her 4 or 5 more years to develop physically and as a runner in general. If she isn't looking to run competitively in after high school and you think she can handle the training and the race itself then Go ahead with it.

She does crew in the spring and has never run track.

Help her go for it.

I was a mediocre HS runner who had interest in running a marathon after my freshmen year. I trained for it by adding some miles and road races to my XC and track schedule throughout SO year. I targeted and finished the marathon in the summer before my junior year.

It made me stronger and faster at every distance. I was able to race well at the DII college level and for many years after that.

Thank you. These are the types of questions I hoped would be asked.

She is 17 now and has 2 1/2 years of aerobic activity behind her. She is physically mature. I believe 3:30 is possible based off her recent XC performances but it is just a number, not a goal or even discussed as something to aim for. I simply wanted to indicate what I feel her talent level would project (at best) over a marathon. She is looking to go to a D 3 school for college. She is realistic and open minded about maybe doing a marathon later in her life, post college.

My reason for posting is to “listen" to voices outside my own head plus I don’t know if this has ever been a topic here. As a coach, I am conservative and would likely advise her to wait but I want to hear what the LetsRun posters have to say.

Thanks again.

Isabelle’s Dad wrote:

... motivated young runner. ... who runs, nordic skis and participates in crew.

2 small pluses: It seems to be her own idea. And she is not *just* a runner, that's a big one.

Isabelle’s Dad wrote:

... asked me about running a marathon before she graduates.

1 big minus: Why the artificial deadline? Would she have the maturity to back off the training if it does not go well? e.g. boyfriend, schoolwork, part-time job, family and friends could all get in the way. Would she have the maturity to NOT start the race if she experienced any issues?

Isabelle’s Dad wrote:

Her plan, with my approval and guidance, is to start marathon training after her senior season of Cross Country and run her marathon in the spring of 2014.

Since you are an experienced marathoner yourself, you of course realize that it takes *years* of marathon training to run a decent marathon. Or perhaps, *years* of 10k training plus exceptional *talent*. I recommend an extremely conservative buildup: peak mileage no more than 5-10 mpw over her previous peak, workouts more like base training than marathon training. Run the marathon for fun / to finish, and with a well-designed recovery afterwards she should have no problems with her future running. The biggest danger for her is that EVERY beginner marathoner that I know of has (had) a secret ambitious goal that they don't (didn't) tell anybody about. Trying for the stretch goal is what kills people in the marathon. The biggest danger for you is that by agreeing to coach her marathon training, you are possibly ratifying not just her official training plan but also her secret plan. Tricky to negotiate with a teenager!

Great thoughts. Thanks. I just came from visiting a local coach with national credentials and his thoughts were similar to yours.

I know I am dealing with a teen so I always ask/emphasize - "be honest, tell me what is going on” and I never assume I get the whole story from anyone.

There is over a year before the race could happen just to put that out there again. Not a lot of time, I understand.

I don't see any dramas with it. I can think of 4 guys I know who ran teen marathons. All 4 are still running to some level, 3 now in their 50s and 1 in his 40s. They went on to run 2.10, 2.11 (60.02 HM.),2.22 and 2.26 so it didn't do them any harm,

I ran my first just after my 20th birthday, and still race regularly, I'm 53.

crew is such a gay sport

The only issue is whether she will be able to deal with an injury that might prohibit her from running the marathon. The injury issue is nothing associated with her age. It is just a fact that the injury risk is high for all first time marathoners and even the best marathoners get injured and DNS a race at some point in their career. If she seems grounded enough that you think she will be able to deal with it in addition to the ton of other crap high school kids already have to deal with, then let her go for it. If you think an injury would push her over the edge, then might want to tell her to wait for college. Of course, the ounce of prevention is talking with her frankly about the injury risk in a marathon build up and how disappointing it is to have to DNS.

The only issue is whether she will be able to deal with an injury that might prohibit her from running the marathon. The injury issue is nothing associated with her age. It is just a fact that the injury risk is high for all first time marathoners and even the best marathoners get injured and DNS a race at some point in their career. If she seems grounded enough that you think she will be able to deal with it in addition to the ton of other crap high school kids already have to deal with, then let her go for it. If you think an injury would push her over the edge, then might want to tell her to wait for college. Of course, the ounce of prevention is talking with her frankly about the injury risk in a marathon build up and how disappointing it is to have to DNS.

First, think of how many Kenyan/Ethiopian teenagers run marathons (and competitively, at that) and are fine. The body is most resilient when young, and if she is physically mature than there shouldn't be an issue. The only thing that would really hold me back from letting my athlete do it would be if they weren't physically developed. Seeing as how this isn't an issue, I say go for it.

Thanks everyone, well almost everyone. I hope this discussion continues for a while. I will be shutting down for the night with some good things to think about. Looking forward to tomorrow’s responses.

I ran my first marathon at the end of my sophomore year in college and my second midway through my junior year. Training for marathons made me much faster at standard track distances so I've never bought into this business of waiting to get older to run marathons. Of course she's a couple years younger than I was and maybe that makes a difference, but high school kids have run marathons, serious ones even, and been OK. Chuck Smead ran 2:23, I believe, while in high school and is still running pretty seriously now at 60 or 61. Garry Henry was 13 when he ran his first marathon.

The last time I visited with Lydiard was a month before he died and my oldest son was 12 and beginning to show some genuine interest in the sport. Arthur and I talked about his running future and he told me that he had twelve year old runners in New Zealand doing 20 mile runs. "Try," Arthur said in reference to my son, "to get him interested in how far he can run rather than how fast."

I'm not sure it's a good idea to deny someone a chance to do something they want to do simply because of their age. Maybe she'll become a fairly accomplished marathon runner. Maybe she'll lose interest soon and never do one. What I think matters most is that she has a knowledgeable adviser who can get her ready for this intelligently.

What is her motivation to do this?

High school girls are often drawn to track and running to lose weight and not to compete. Running/training for a marathon may feed into this. Just a thought.

It is interesting to note the psychological differences between young women drawn to mountain bike racing vs. the young women who are drawn to track/distance running. The two groups, in general, worlds apart.

This topic has been brought up many times. If you believe she is physically mature and is running enough miles during and after cross country, there should be no problem in running a marathon. When I was a sophomore and running 70 miles a week during cross country, I continued that for another month after the season ended and ran my first marathon in 3:07. I took a couple of weeks off and rested before I got ready for track. The next year as a junior, I was running 80 miles a week and a week after the State XC meet ran a 2:50. Took a couple weeks off with no problems. Senior year, same thing: 85 miles a week and a week later after State ran a 2:35 marathon and took a couple week off. Went on to run in college with no ill effects. An 18 year old is certainly mature enough to handle a marathon. You sound as if you know how to plan a proper training program. Good Luck.

I ran my first marathon the Labor Day of my freshman year in high school. I was running about 20 miles per week beforehand. I struggled mightily during xc, because my speed was gone. By mid October however, I was setting new practice at all distances. The points of my story are; I finished even with improper training, she will not. I did it before the season, she will not. My body bounced back stronger than ever, she will too. It was a pride filled moment for me (still is), it will be for her as well. Good luck.

*prs* not practice. Damn auto correct.

If she just wants to run a marathon for the experience then it's OK. But if she wants to excel in the marathon she's better off working on 10K-half marathon strength.

Same model that Rupp and Farah ar following. Do you think Salazar would have put Rupp in a marathon while in high school?