Advice on Summer Running for Daughter in Middle School

If you want formal advice, hire a coach. Consult her first.

You best be taking her to altitude for a minimum of 2 months this summer! Long runs on Magnolia Rd twice a week, at a minimum. Pace won't matter so much at her age up there, just make sure she's moving smoothly for 90 minutes or more. Once a week she should be doing quarters, starting at 20 and building up to 40. The other weekly workout should be double threshold. The rest of the days will be easy running, 3-8 miles. Emphasis on easy, recovery will be compromised otherwise.

Good luck! Hope she has a successful xc season!

The Summer running at that age is no running. Let her spend her two months of summer just being a kid.

I think this sounds like a good approach.

Not looking to hire a coach, just looking for some general advice from the premier forum focused on the sport of running : LetsRun.com. I would think there would be some good advice to be found here.

As it stands, I will get some input from her current coach. She is also enrolled in 2 running summer camps, one for Cross Country and the other for Track, spaced evenly throughout the summer where she will receive professional instruction.

Looking for opinions across the running community is an additional source of information. The gist I get from your response is that I shouldn't be asking the questions of the community, but should proceed directly to a professional coach. I prefer to hear the opinions of many, including those who tell me that summer is for funning, not for running.

I had not considered that a change in altitude would be essentially "free miles", but unfortunately we will remain at sea level this summer!

I did find these altitude tents that could be used at home. Do you think this would work?:

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I don’t understand why so many runners seem to hate their own sport so much that they think kids shouldn’t be doing it. If your kid loved soccer and wanted to play all the time over the summer, would you tell them they couldn’t because they need to just be a kid? Obviously you shouldn’t force any sport on a kid, but if they want to do it, what are you protecting them from by stopping them?

I agree with you to some degree. At the same time, she has expressed that she would like to continue running and would like be prepared for next cross country season.

How would you approach balancing the need to be a kid with the desire of said child to be prepared for Cross Country? What would that look like to you?

I'm getting the same impression. Passive aggressive responses for simply asking the question "what is appropriate for a middle schooler" is somewhat bizarre for a running forum.

Running is not torture. Yes, it can be painful, but it is rewarding in so many ways. If my daughter has an interest, I want to foster it without stifling it.

Here's your answer. 😋

Looking up taco trucks in my area at this very moment. THANKS!!

Be sure to give her a nice break between track and summer training of couple of weeks. Kids are still growing at that age, and the break helps.

I also suggest some light band work to keep everything supporting the knees strong.

That is one of my main fears. She's still growing and needs her sleep and recovery. Maybe my best approach is to avoid any expectations of weekly mileage and let her call the shots when she feels like running, up to a max of, say, 20 miles.

I like the idea of a break between track and summer, so thanks for reminding me of that.

Thanks!

I would tell them they need to spend time going to the pool, hanging with their friends, and doing all kinds of "kid things" other than soccer (or dance, or softball, etc..)

If she wants to go running, great but there's a big difference between a kid wanting to go for a run and "training".

I agree. I coach middle school. MAX of 25 mpw. I would emphasize a consistency goal over a mileage goal (i.e., average X days a week). Do some running on grass if you can.

Strides several times a week are good. If she's extra motivated, channel that into some basic body-weight strength, mobility, and form drills (a skip, b skip, etc.). Long run of 5 miles should be plenty. If she's running 8:30-9 for an easy pace, that gets you to 45 minutes.

Your daughter should be down at the community pool making out with Spike

That should be plenty. I'm going to simply hope that you chose your username sarcastically. Crowd sourcing is probably never a good idea in this area. If you want a more appropriate perspective, reach out to the coach at the high school where she'll be going a year from now.

when i hear someone say their kid is "enrolled" in 2 different sports camps with a specific "spacing," the child did not make the bookings. pretending she did is laughable.

i played youth select soccer. to be fair, we would usually have some sort of day camp and a travel tournament in the summer. but really, most of the summer was off, from roughly memorial day to mid-august. we'd just pop up in the middle for a couple weeks for a camp and a trip. then back dormant. and we were the sort of team that won league, tournaments, went on to win state twice. not messing around.

we got to be kids most of the summer.

age 12 i had jack squat to do with the camp scheduling. with whether it was the cool coaches or the religious soccer camp. that was sorted out by the coach and parents.

our soccer team usually started 2 weeks before the season with practices. eased into the season. generally speaking the idea was for the practices to get you ready for the season. our first game or so at times was rough. but the idea was we faced 10 league games, possible 10-20 more tournament games. the season will get you into shape and it's a long haul. you peak towards the end.

last, are you trying to bake your kid's brains?

this girl wont be on the track or xc team after her sophomore year.