Is this guy a sprinter or mid-distance runner?

He is neither a sprinter or a middle distance runner by Letsrun standards. He is destined to be a hobby jogger leading a life of mediocrity.

HardLoper wrote:

not a head coach wrote:

He likes sprinting a bit more than distance running

Then he's a sprinter. No way you can really tell what his potential is at every specialization at this point.

Isn't this true for almost all kids? It's pretty common to see kids race each other over short distances for bragging rights, but running many laps is a punishment.

I would say he's got the potential to move up in time, but even if he's to be a 400/800 or even a 1500 runner at a good level, you have to have well established speed anyway. It is better to develop his speed now and let him crush sprints for a while imo, as it's easier to develop stamina when you're older (raw mileage) than it is to suddenly get FAST once your already all grown and developed. Anyone can get really strong through mileage and a backlog of strength sessions, but few mid-distance runners (and usually the better ones) have the raw speed to run rapid 400s and 200s as well.

Don't worry about the intricacies at this stage though, let him enjoy the training and keep on getting faster, with the option to either add bulk and sprint at 15/16/17 or incorporate more strength work and move up to 800.

13 for 100 at 13 is good, even among the athletic kids playing sports.

7:00 for a mile is pathetic, for anyone.

So he's not built like a fridge. Neither are most 400 guys and a lot of 200 guys. And besides, most kids at 13 are barely starting legitimate puberty.

Let him play other sports, and do some sprinting (or any events) if he wants to. A season of XC in 9th grade will be pretty diagnostic as to whether he can run long.

I suspect you have the next Berian, aka the next next Solomon. Just slower.

Shut up everyone with the "Play other sports" nonsense. He is 13, not 8, if he is not a legit commodity in some "other sport" by now....its too late. He could take up golf I guess.

Back to the OP...as noted, 13.2/27 are decent times, 7:06 is horrid.

Train him as a speed based 800 runner for now and run XC in the fall even if just for the miles and general fitness.

Also 3x100 or whatever was stated is useless on every level. Honestly its hard to say based on those "workouts" what he might do. Do some actual work, again he is 13, not 8.

Aighthen wrote:

He is neither a sprinter or a middle distance runner by Letsrun standards. He is destined to be a hobby jogger leading a life of mediocrity.

Give him some spikes, and he'll beat Mo Farah in the 100.

my 13 yo daughter runs a 6:00 mile and she's not on a track team.

7:00 for a boy is "run fat boy run"

A 13.2 hand time can mean anywhere from 13.4 to 13.7. With blocks and spikes, he can probably improve about .5 seconds more. He would be at most, at a sub 13 with these advances. According to Mywebs track calculator, running a 7:06 mile would be the equivalent to running a 15.6 100m. Also given that he is a 13 year old, he would be very likely to make rapid improvements once his body develops.

A 63 400m time is equivalent to running a 13.1 in the 100m according to Mywebs track calculator. He should definitely do the 400m because he is better at it and it is much easier to improve in the 400m than it is in the 100m.

my 2 cents! wrote:

not a head coach wrote:

he has the body of a distance runner.

I'm not sure what that refers to, but I think it's safe to say that the kid is not overweight.

He's actually underweight (5'5", 107 lbs) with not much muscle, but that may be because he's going through a growth spurt.

If he's serious about sprinting:

(1) Don't worry about blocks until he's ready for a weight program (high school). There's a very good video on youtube with Carmelita Jeter doing 3 point starts. 3 point will be faster until he can do double weight squats at least.

(2) For pure sprints, 1-4 seconds is acceleration, 4-8 seconds is max velocity, 8-15 seconds is speed endurance, 15-30 seconds is special endurance, and 60+ 400 is not really anything that matters.

(3) 1 workout a week should be in the 20-50 meter range. You have to develop max velocity, but you have to be able to accelerate to max velocity before you can develop it. Workouts can be like 2X6X(20-30m) or 3-5 X 40-50m.

(4) A longer workout should be in the 15-20 second range, which would be 120-150m. The ability to develop ATP by glycolytic means tops in the 15-20 second range at max effort. If he's going to race then do a couple of workouts like 2-3X100 with 10-20 min rest.

(5) Rest periods for pure sprinting are on the order of 1 minute per 10 meters sprinted. Distance people don't understand this, and that is one reason they can't get fast.

Irrespective of his build, I think you need to accept that as someone who has been training three times a week, a 7:06 mile aged 13 indicates that he is not a natural MD talent.

But if he enjoys MD more, let him train as a MD kid and let him enjoy himself. Don't build him up to tell him he's great at MD because he's not, but the most important thing is that he enjoys running at whatever speed he is capable of.

As he's 13, he'll get faster no matter what happens across all distances for a few years yet, and you never know he might blossom into a superb MD runner.

There's a lad runs for my club who was running 5:21 1500m / 2:40 800m aged 12. Pretty mediocre, back of the pack etc etc. Aged 19 he's now run 16:07 for 5k and 77:30 for a half marathon, and is really enjoying running. He might not be a superstar, but he is way better than he was aged 12 relative to his peers.

Stocckbroker wrote:

Also 3x100 or whatever was stated is useless on every level.

coach d wrote:

If he's going to race then do a couple of workouts like 2-3X100 with 10-20 min rest.

Ah, the contradictory advice of letsrun!