So I'm a beginning coach here and looking for advice on what to say coaching-wise to my runners, well, during practice. I'm a marathoner myself but this is winter was my first season coaching a local afterschool club. We do speed/distance work on Mondays and Wednesdays. I have a group of 10 8th and 9th graders from different schools I coach exclusively. We have a pretty good rapport but I feel like I'm shit actually saying anything of value in practice. There is a another coach but she is super busy with the rest of the team.
So for example, we'll do a descending ladder (2x800, 2x600, 2x400 2x200) and I give them 3 minutes rest in between. They generally hit the targets (between 30-40 secs) or at least are not wildly off so I generally give some positive reinforcement or ask them how they feel. I think this is starting to sound like a broken record. I'm desperate for some quick, actionable bits of advice I can give them. I've tried to tell them tips on form (elbows in, chin up, don't cross arms) but have found form REALLY hard to change so much that I feel I shouldn't tell them anything about their form even if it's pretty bad. Often they'll ask me questions I have absolutely no answer to like how should I run the curves?
Sometimes we just chit chat about the weather, school, another sport or tell jokes which can generate a bit of conversation but obviously has nothing to do with running. Sometimes, and most awkwardly, we're just silent.
I feel a bit ridiculous with several sub-3:15 marathons under my belt but little to say to them that's applicable to track. (Granted, I haven't run track in 20 years and do little speedwork myself!)
Anyway, we have two weeks off until spring track and I'd like to kind of reboot myself as a coach and feel a bit more competent.
Any advice or resources would be appreciated.