New Teen Runner - SERIOUS HELP NEEDED (Read 249 times)

You don't need a plan at your age, just get outdoors and run.

It will be hard when you start but you will quickly see huge improvements in a few weeks and you'll know your potential in a few months.

I was dead slow at school. I came last and third to last in our annual cross country and it wasn't even a team event, it was just for everyone in our grade. It was embarrassing.

But then I got a dog who could just run and run for ever? I used to "walk/run" with him off-leash)  3 times a day. Looking back I was probably walk/running 4 to 7 miles a day. Sometimes he'd run off and I'd have to sprint after him. I guess that was my speed-work 

Suddenly my performances improved. I wasn't great but at least I wasn't losing and I almost made the school track team at 400 meters.

So just run and who knows what can happen by August?

With all due respect, by this logic no one would ever need a coach or someone to advice them.  I think the biggest mistakes I ever made with running is when I first started.  I decided to run XC going into my Jr year.  My HS team didn't have summer practices/camps, so I just ran on my own. This was long before the internet and all the information/books about how to train. Looking back I sure wish I had someone to consult with simple things like "do a long run once/week. go easy on your easy days so you can go hard on your hard days."  Yes running is a simple sport, and we often over-think it, but you can learn and gain a lot by having a good coach.  If anything, it gets the OP immediately connected to the coach and other runners on the team.

 

I was assuming that coaching wouldn't be available before he tried out for the XC team. If it is, use it, but running is the first step.