Need advice to improve 13 year-old in 3k

Add 3 miles per week until she’s doing 30 mpw

At the same easy pace?

I think you've been doing it right by keeping things low-pressure and just running together. Adding slightly more of the same running would be okay. When my daughter was around that age, one thing we did (on her initiative) was in effect low-volume informal fartlek. Doing "let's see how fast you can run from here to there" a few times during a run once a week or so might be a reasonable approach, as long as "here" and "there" are 100-400m apart or slightly longer. Don't bother recording the exact distance or time.

RunMan2020 wrote:

We currently run about 12-13 miles a week (4 runs), almost all at a fairly comfortable pace (about 8.5 to 9 mins per mile). We also do core exercises together with a 6 pound medicine ball 3-4 times a week.

This is more than adequate for her age. If she wants to do more, increase the mileage a bit, but don't push her.

Have her play soccer. It will give her the opportunity to run and also sprint while having fun with kids her own age. The benefits will translate to the track and also XC. She's 13 don't focus on running too much.

This is adequate wrote:

RunMan2020 wrote:

We currently run about 12-13 miles a week (4 runs), almost all at a fairly comfortable pace (about 8.5 to 9 mins per mile). We also do core exercises together with a 6 pound medicine ball 3-4 times a week.

This is more than adequate for her age. If she wants to do more, increase the mileage a bit, but don't push her.

100% correct

The only thing you should do is prevent her from running more than a few miles a week. You're taking the equivalent of an NFL pre-season game and going for the win.

30 mpw is a lot for a 13 year old. A little more mileage will probably help, but more than doubling current workload seems like a recipe for injury. I would probably try to get to running 5 days most weeks, still keeping it mostly easy running. If you add a 2-3 mile run, that would be a reasonable increase (from 13 to 16 mpw). Then if she's feeling good after 5-6 weeks, add a couple more miles here and there. If she's bored with easy running, then I like the suggestion above for adding informal fartleks into runs. If she's competitive, challenge her to try to beat you, "race you to the next telephone pole", etc. There are some drills you can do for turnover and form. If she's not already familiar with dynamic drills like A/B skips, butt kicks, etc., then google those and work on improving form not just going through the motions. As far as time goals, young runners will often improve just with more experience and getting more miles "in the bank". I would encourage her to try a bunch of different events: 200, 400, 800. Running the shorter, faster events will help improve form, speed, and turnover.

Coachy Coach wrote:

Add 3 miles per week until she’s doing 30 mpw

30 mpw might be a lot for some 13 year olds, but a lot depends on their activity level. I was not running per se at 13 but I am bet that I was running more than 30 mpw at 13 if I factor in free play, basketball and soccer (my last year of soccer).

To me the key is "Does the kid want to do it"?

I agree that it's individual and some kids can handle that and want to push themselves. But my main question is why start piling on mileage in middle school? Just because they can handle the workload doesn't mean that's the best training approach. Do you want to have/be the best 13 year old runner, or do you want to think about long term development? I love the idea of running around in other sports, biking, swimming, etc to develop fitness. But training 30 mpw is a very different from getting "30 mpw" from other activities like basketball, soccer, free play, etc.

Luv2Run wrote:

Bullet the Blue Sky wrote:

30 mpw is a lot for a 13 year old. A little more mileage will probably help, but more than doubling current workload seems like a recipe for injury.

30 mpw might be a lot for some 13 year olds, but a lot depends on their activity level. I was not running per se at 13 but I am bet that I was running more than 30 mpw at 13 if I factor in free play, basketball and soccer (my last year of soccer).

To me the key is "Does the kid want to do it"?