Gymnastics. Build strength, coordination, and speed early on. Endurance can be built up later on. Coordination and speed built from an early age highly benefit runners. Obviously playing soccer would increase speed and coordination but playing soccer won’t increase strength as well.
Courtney Frerichs played soccer and did gymnastics through high school. Seems to have worked very well.
Make sure they have citizenship to a country with a crappy track team, but enough funding that they'd send anyone that meets the standard.
Bill Oregon wrote:
Be born in Kenya wrote:
If you're in America, forget it, you'll never be fast.
This^
American 10k record is 26:44 and the American mile record is 3:46 both were born and raised in America.
Obviously being from East Africa is not the best way to become an Olympian. There’s too much competition. You need to pick a country without much running success, but where there will be access to the necesssry things. I think Italy is a good candidate. Not many Italian distance runners, yet it is the home country of Canova, plus opportunities for high altitude training.
If they are born in Italy they can be an Italian citizen. Additionally, it would be very easy for them to be out playing soccer constantly, on a club or just in pickup games.
In addition to soccer do as much very easy running as they want and encourage them to play tag etc.
Have a very well balanced diet, take a vitamin or two, etc.
Eventually you will begin training them for real and should begin by building up the easy volume and getting them to handle a steady number of higher end, but totally aerobic runs. Enter them in races where they will have fun and acquire a joy for racing.
At some point you should either send them to the states to run in the NCAA- pick the school for the coach obviously (perhaps Wetmore would be good)- or have them train in a more serious club environment.
Hmm. wrote:
Enter them in races where they will have fun and acquire a joy for racing.
Yes. Just came home from nordic skiing race and there was these fathers that shouted loudly to 8-10 years old kids of them, like "go faster, accelerate!" etc. I noticed a girl who looked like she didn't want to be there. It just isn't fun if there is these overly intense parents shouting.
Other girl even said that "Dad, listen to me now!" twice and guess what, the daddy didn't answer anything and totally ignored her. The girl said something like "oh well, forget it then".
I’m not sure, but it probably depends on how much they weigh, and how high you need to raise them. Something to do with pulleys and levers, perhaps?
RIP: D3 All-American Frank Csorba - who ran 13:56 in March - dead
RENATO can you talk about the preparation of Emile Cairess 2:06
Great interview with Steve Cram - says Jakob has no chance of WRs this year
Hats off to my dad. He just ran a 1:42 Half Marathon and turns 75 in 2 months!
2024 College Track & Field Open Coaching Positions Discussion
Running for Bowerman Track Club used to be cool now its embarrassing