How can I get kids to run in the summer?

When I was in HS my coach offered 500mi club t-shirts, and then a group of us started training and logging our miles. Sometimes it just takes a push.

Picking captains is one thing, but look for the actual leaders in the group and recruit them. It might not be the fastest kid, it could be the kid who is able to round everyone up and get them organized or the one who is invited people over for a movie night or something.

In the future, look to how you are building a sense of team and culture. What does it mean to be on the team? Find out what each person wants out of it. Keep in mind some kids may have summer jobs or play another sport in the summer. For them the training could be challenging.

I hear your concerns, but there are probably 2 guys in the entire nation who run 1000 miles in the 10-week summer and ZERO girls.

If you could get kids to run at least 60 mpw for 4-6 of those weeks and 70 for 2-4 of those and 80 in a couple big weeks or when they go to XC Camp you will be doing the best you can.

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The Overexplainer

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RE: How can I get kids to run in the summer?

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I hear your concerns, but there are probably 2 guys in the entire nation who run 1000 miles in the 10-week summer and ZERO girls.

If you could get kids to run at least 60 mpw for 4-6 of those weeks and 70 for 2-4 of those and 80 in a couple big weeks or when they go to XC Camp you will be doing the best you can.

^^^^^It depends on how you define summer. Without looking at the calendar June, July, and August is 12 weeks. So we are talking about 83 miles per week, which is less than 12 miles per day. However some coaches include part of May and September in the equation so it's even less than that for those kids. One coach I interview for a story claimed to have 8 kids commit to running 1000 mpw. Six of them made it and they finished second in the single class state meet as a small school of less than 80 graduates.

In an earlier post I admitted that not all of our area teams had that many miles, but the top teams do, at least in their top 7 guys.

For my team, since I do not coach track, a jump to 1000 miles would be to much of a jump no matter how you look at it.

I bet there are teams in your state that run 1000 miles during the summer and have T-shirts with that emblazoned on it!

The Overexplainer wrote:

I hear your concerns, but there are probably 2 guys in the entire nation who run 1000 miles in the 10-week summer and ZERO girls.

If you could get kids to run at least 60 mpw for 4-6 of those weeks and 70 for 2-4 of those and 80 in a couple big weeks or when they go to XC Camp you will be doing the best you can.

woah woah woah

even asking most HS kids to run 80mpw is too much.

You want these kids to have room to improve in college no?

And even if they don't want to run in college, no kid that isn't running in college is running a single 80 mile week.

30-45 mpw over the summer is the best way to go, but tell them to ease into it.

Obviously the returners that are dedicated will want to go more, and that requires discussion with a coach, plan what their mileage should look like.

Captains practices are key.

Seriously do some reading.

Like they can't have a good fun summer if they run a conversational 4-5 miles with their friends everyday?

To the OP- don't give up this easily.

And the coaches who succeed at what is "too tall an order"- those are the great coaches of HS XC.

Coaches who can get kids to run during the summer "those are the great coaches of HS XC."

That is true because it's more than X's and O's, it's about avoiding or getting along with football coaches, AD's, parents, kids, and people in general as well.

If you have the answers to those things...PLEASE share them!

It is all about people skills, I understand that. I certainly have not given up easily.

I mentioned earlier that the football team took over my track distance coaching position after we started to have great success in CC. One summer I spent hundreds of hours sitting on my couch calling kids to get them out for the team, we doubled the size of our team. We are now returning to form.

A lot of kids were hurt in track, and some of those kids tried to run in college but did not make it. The main reason that did not happen is they did not have consistent coaching in Track & Field.

What do you do if the Track coach has them doing hard interval training all season and only cuts down when the big meets come up?

I should mention that the football team goes to state every year!

I hate to say it but there's just no convincing kids to do anything. They have to want to do it themselves. Most don't want to. So they don't.

In my area there's a program where the coach could care less and doesn't see them until the first day of practice but 40+ guys are out every day in the summer. I know another very excellent coach who somehow has gotten his team or an individual to state every year, who is out there every day in the summer but only 1-4 guys at most show up.

If you want kids there talk to their parents. They'll only be there if they have to or they love it.

I have points on this from a couple of different perspectives. First of all, if the kids are happy with the status quo, they won't change their habits. If a kid was number four guy last year and got his varsity letter without training in the off-season and that is all he wants, he won't suddenly decide to train in the off-season just because the coach wants him to. He has to decide he wants more or feel like he is losing something if he doesn't.

Someone had mentioned meeting individually with the athletes to work with them on goals. That is a great way to figure out who really wants to put in the work and who doesn't. If they start talking about doing bigger and better things than what they've done in the past, then they are more open to working more to achieve those things. If they are satisfied with the status quo, they won't change.

If you get a couple of guys who decide they really want it, they will shake up the status quo. If your #4 guy hears that the #6 and #7 guys are training hard over the summer, #4 will either start working harder or you'll realize that he just isn't that motivated. By fall, the previous #4 guy will be your #6. It's better to not have to not have to count on a non-motivated guy to score for you.

About 20 years ago, our XC team won our conference but graduated numbers 1, 2, 3, and 7. In addition, our #4 decided that pot was more important than running and wasn't coming back out. Our best scenario at that point seemed to be a mid-range finish in the conference. However, we had one athlete who took it upon himself to make the team the best it could.

This athlete was a junior to be who had run around 19:00/11:15/5:10 as a frosh and 18:30/10:58/4:58 as a sophomore. After his freshman year, he said he wanted to be a state qualifier the next year. I gave him a reasonable plan and he barely ran a step over the summer. That fall, he was sixth man on our conference championship team. The next spring, after not getting the results he wanted that year, we talked about his goals. I have him a training plan again and he followed it to the letter, starting at 30 miles per week and working up to 50 by the end of the summer. That year, he ran 16:33 and was a state qualifier.

More importantly, he decided to step up and be a leader for the team. He inspired our top returner (#5) from the year before actually trained some over the summer for the first time in his career, dropping his best time from 17:30 to sub-17. Also, this leader recruited guys from the track team who hadn't run XC in the past. Every morning in the summer, he would leave his house at 7am and start picking up 4-5 guys to go running. Included in that was a freshman who was really hungry to win and wanted guidance. Our team ended up winning our conference again and just missed qualifying for state as a team (the three teams from our region were all top ten). At that point, the culture had been established for summer training.

Another option you may need to look at (although you probably don't want to) is to go to another school. Most coaches are very loyal to their schools (and especially the kids they coach). However, if you don't feel the conditions are right for you to build the kind of program you want, you have the right to leave. That doesn't mean hopping from one school to another every year or two.

I know a couple of coaches who were dealing with issues like yours. After a few years of being frustrated, one coach left for another school where he was able to coach both XC and track (he previous just coached track). Within five years, his XC team was top ten in the state and his track team was contending for the conference and regional championship every year. The other coach stayed at his school and five years later, he was still complaining about the same problems.

Good luck in improving your situation.

The Overexplainer wrote:

I hear your concerns, but there are probably 2 guys in the entire nation who run 1000 miles in the 10-week summer and ZERO girls.

If you could get kids to run at least 60 mpw for 4-6 of those weeks and 70 for 2-4 of those and 80 in a couple big weeks or when they go to XC Camp you will be doing the best you can.

I know of teams in the area that put incoming freshmen through 1000 mile summers.

Have your kids read this Juggernauts.

http://ny.milesplit.com/articles/33414/coogans-corner-juggernauts-book-review

Veteran Distance Coach,

Lots of things here based on your questions and situation.

1) While you can not coach in the summer, you should have the upperclassmen organize a daily run. Runs will be at 6:30 5 days a week at location X. It is not mandatory that you be there, but running is better with a group than alone. Stress to incoming freshmen that this is a great way to get to know the older runners and to assimilate into the high school.

2) You should hand out a proposed schedule of running for all levels -- freshmen or first-year runners do X, sophomores do Y, juniors and seniors do Z.

3) Stress that not only will they be much faster in the fall if they run in the summer, they have less risk of injury.

4) Know that no matter what you do, there will be some runners who will not train in the summer. You are starting from scratch here and need to have a culture change. That will take a little time, but you REALLY need to get the freshmen involved from June 1.

5) The track coaches are idiots. You should try as hard as you can to have an influence there. Even offer to volunteer a little to help them with their training philosophy.

6) The reason they get injured during track is in part due to the fact that they don't run in the winter. They need to be doing daily runs (some can take a day off each week if they need to) to strengthen their bodies to be able to handle the faster stuff.

Good luck.

Good thread. As a team captain, I am also trying to improve my team culture of summer training. We get tons of people by mid August, but few before then.

As far as that girl who doesn't want to run in college is concerned, let her do what she wants. It doesn't sound like she should be running right now even.

Fball doesn't start at the beginning of the school year, why should XC? When ARE you allowed to meet with them?

We always started the 2nd week of July, started school in late Aug.

My coach would bring water melon for after the daily run, some times he'd buy us ice cream, we'd meet at a pool and all go swimming afterwards... there are lots of things you can do to help make it fun (or as fun as running in the summer heat can be.)

#2 Handing them a training schedule independent of other people being around might be a good suggestion. I would think that you might have to give a few compliments or at least some advice at the same time.