How should I train my 13 year old 4:46 1600 runner?

Sub 4:10 as a Freshman is a very lofty goal. The thing about maturing as a runner means putting on quite a bit of weight, even relative to muscle gain. I think that the best way to do it is conservatively. Grab a few books on the subject and follow the progression guidelines (like no more than 10-15% increase in mileage per week). Find him a coach who cares and is knowledgeable. My dad was a decent coach when I was that young, as he was a decent runner himself, but it's not an easy task to balance being a dad and being a coach.

This whole thing seems like a slippery slope to me. 36 seconds in two years in a mile is not something I have ever even heard of at those speeds. I think 10 seconds a year is incredible improvement, but stretching that out to 18 would be... tough. I think that there is nothing wrong with pushing a young athlete as hard as they are willing to be pushed, but at the same time, a good coach needs to slow his athlete's down when they're pushing beyond themselves.

Good luck to you and your son, but for his sake and yours, be reasonable. You'll have a more lasting success from a long and healthy career than you would from a single season of glory.

First of all, he's not a 4:43 1600m runner. He's a 4:44 miler.

Now, stop worrying about freshman year. I believe 4:10 would be a class record, or maybe a second off. No offense, but that's a dumb goal. Not only is it probably unattainable, but if you burn him out trying to get it you'll sacrifice the rest of his career.

Focus on long term. Work out his aerobic capacity and raw strength / speed, and save the really hard intervals for later. read up on lydiard / JK-- what they have to say is best for long term development of an athlete. Focus on enjoying running, absorbing training, and building up mileage and volume steadily without too many heavy intervals. Nobody will remember the 4:1x frosh miler (if he even gets there) who ran 4:2x his senior year. They will remember the 4:2x frosh miler who ran 4:0x his senior year.

aslan wrote:

First of all, he's not a 4:43 1600m runner. He's a 4:44 miler.

I'm sorry, He's not a 4:46 1600m runner, he's a 4:47 miler.

Is it this kid?

http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=1036179

Reported.

Why?

offended wrote:

Reported.

Let's report people who are seeking advice!

Wow that is beast! I think i might have seen him run before I was at a indoor track meet and seen a 13 year old run something close to that and made it look easy.

Military salut wrote:

He's in 7th grade, not physically mature- as in, he's ACTUALLY 13 years old physically. Want to get him at least sub 4:10 as a freshman without burning out. He's committed.

95% confident that this is a troll post. If not then submit for your consideration: the mere fact that he can run a 4:46 at 13 probably means that he is maturing faster than his peers, i.e., hitting puberty early. If this is the case he might be lucky to run a 4:40 mile by his sophomore year in HS and then burn out.

Our HS team was littered with sub 5 minute Jr. High superstars that couldn't break 4:30 later on. In fact our two best 2 milers (9:18/9:20) and best miler (4:08) didn't even start running until their sophomore/junior/sophomore years, respectively. Our college 5k record holder (sub 14) barely broke 4:40 in HS.

All this is to say, talent will rise to the top whether you push him now or later. I would take him off the track and just run him for fun of it until he gets to HS. No timing, no competition, nothing but running for the sake of running. Then let the chips fall where they may.

Yeah, that's what I'm gonna do. Good to keep it low key for now. We got bone X-ray scans because doctor was afraid he was growth hormone deficient, and his bone age is 13, so that's why I know he's not yet mature

Did all those sub 5 8th graders work hard in high school? i have a sub 5 8th grader and I know he'll be pretty disappointed if he can't eventually get below 4:20 by his senior year. He's somewhat physically mature but doesn't stand out among many of his 8th grade classmates. He started running in 7th grade and currently runs about 15 mpw. I'm curious what makes these kids not improve very much if they are putting in work in high school. As a freshman my son's future teammates typically run about 30 as freshmen and work up from there every year.

What does his training look like right now? What kind of mileage? What are his PR's for other distances?

michaelchamp2112 wrote:

What does his training look like right now? What kind of mileage? What are his PR's for other distances?

Training consists of intervals on track, like 6x600 at 1:45, 2x800, and easy runs with med ball and hill runs. He also ran 10:18 for the 3200, 17:00 for 5000m XC

forget about times.

you want to develop the aerobic engine.

you want to develop speed.

you want a variety of work.

you want to recover fully.

you want to hit it hard come age 19, not before.

cross train him a lot. hit the weights, see alsal for details. see lucas v for details on the cross training.

have a lot of fun with it.

If this is genuine, I have one piece of advice.

Sprint training once a week at least.

He's only 13, he needs to get faster and yes, I mean over 100-200. I don't care if he's running 800, mile or 5km, he needs sprint training at 13.

Also, why the focus on what he's running as a freshman? Surely what he's running aged 17-19 is more important.

The question you should be asking yourself is this: what sort of training should he be doing at age 13 to be able to be running really fast aged 16-17? Bear in mind I know 13yos (and not overly physically developed ones) who can run a 4.46 1600 off about 8-10 miles a week. There are a lot of factors at play when judging the talent of a 13yo.

Focus on the 100 and 200, a few 400's maybe, nothing longer. Make sure he has fun. If he can't run a 12.0 100 meter, he will never run 4:10. 11.5 would be a much more realistic goal if you are serious about a 4:10. Why be in such a hurry? Even if he does develop enough speed, it could be many years before he runs a 4:10.

8/10

I have to agree with the others who say to try and lower his 100/200 meter time. If you can get it low enough, you wont have to worry about that 4:10 mile being so close to a sprint. You can just work on other things more important. I would say during offseason to run medium on 4 of your runs. Then have 3 easy days. When I say medium, no faster than aerobic threshold. You could also do some hill sprints 2 times a week. Try to lower that 5k time down.

Tell me how mileage he is running.

michaelchamp2112 wrote:

I have to agree with the others who say to try and lower his 100/200 meter time. If you can get it low enough, you wont have to worry about that 4:10 mile being so close to a sprint. You can just work on other things more important. I would say during offseason to run medium on 4 of your runs. Then have 3 easy days. When I say medium, no faster than aerobic threshold. You could also do some hill sprints 2 times a week. Try to lower that 5k time down.

Tell me how mileage he is running.

He's running about 15-25 miles a week.

Thanks for the positive responses, I'm glad I have you guys for support.