My 5th grade daughter and 7th grade son will be running the "400 meters" in their school's track meet in 4 1/2 weeks. I will also be one of the volunteer coaches. Any suggestions on training programs to maximize their times (but are age appropriate), ie 200 intervals, 400 intervals, 500 intervals etc? They are in OK shape now from playing basketball several times a week. We will have several track practices a week as a team, but I can sometimes take them out on non practice days for more conditioning. My daughter has her eye on the 5th grade girls league record of 1:10, so I would like to help by having her do the right conditioning. Thanks for the feedback
We're from the Peninsula Bay Area, Ca. 1:10 is the 5th grade girls record for the league. My daughter did 1:15 last year as a 4th grader and wants to take a shot at the 5th grade record.
As far as workouts for my 5th and 7th grader, I'm thinking of having them do some interval training, ie 200's and 400's (at this age, they'll probably be motivated to do this several times a week, if we're lucky). My knowledge of how to help train is based entirely on what I remember from running track in high school 30 years ago when we would run hard intervals over and over and over etc. almost everyday with almost no recovery days. I'm sure the knowledge and philosophies have evolved a lot since then, and there is more emphasis on also having recovery days. Any suggestions for the very novice coach on how to have grade school kids train (ie what to do, how many repetitions, how much recovery in between each repetition, how many days a week etc.) would be appreciated. Thanks.
I think the same CONCEPTS should probably apply to all athletes regardless of their age. I think the differences however will be in the duration of time spent on developing the various work and biomotor qualities. For example, younger athletes should still develop speed through acceleration development and maximum velocity sprint development but they should likewise spend an equal or greater amount of time the developing work capacity and beneficial anatomical adaptation that will establish a foundation for future training. Also, acheiving a high level of overall conditioning will likely play a larger role than developing any one biomotor quality in helping the novice athlete improve. Another point to consider is the different energy systems that athletes at various levels (novice to elite) will be running at for a given race. For example, just because your daughter is a 400m runner (which is essentially a sprint to those running less than 48 seconds) doesn't mean she should train like an elite level 400m runner. This is because in addition to the low training age, she'll be running the same distance in 70 seconds rather than 45. This means her same 400m race is actually closer to being a "middle distance" in metabolic and muscular / neuromuscular demand than a sprint race. As such, she should probably be complementing speed work (running < 50m) with lots of general conditioning, lactate and aerobic work.
Also, another question with regard to pacing during the race. At what % of a sprint should 5th -7th graders (age 10-13) run a 400m race. Many decades ago when I ran the 440y in high school, it was practically an all out sprint. My instincts tell me that for 5th-7th graders there needs to be more pacing, but I don't know what that should be, ie should they pace themselves at 80% of a sprint, 90% of a sprint, 95%, or what? Or is there another way that this should be looked at, for example start out in a sprint, slow the pace in the middle, and finish with a sprint. I want to be able to give the kids some good guidance. Thanks for the feedback.
Originally posted by DaGovernor
Should a runner that young (ages 8-10) train daily, 3 days a week. . . ? How often should they train?
I think they could train 5-6 days a week without much problem but it would probably be best to fool them into thinking some of those training days were actually games or playing around. When I worked with a middle school team a couple years back I'd have them play various forms of "tag" in the middle of the field about once a week. Depending on how the game was set up, the kids were basically doing a form of intensive tempo or acceleration / speed development without even knowing about it. Soccer is another good extensive / intensive tempo alternative. Workouts could likewise be done in the pool or on a bike to keep things fun. The younger the athlete, the better it probably is to keep things as general as possible.
As for pacing of the race, I would do as I mentioned previously and just look at the duration (rather than the distance) that is expected. Ask yourself how you would pace a 70 second run, it surely wouldn't be all out or even 95%.
Thanks for the feedback. Does anybody else have any suggestions on 400m race pace for a 5th grade girl, running in 70 seconds, eg should it be at 90% of a sprint.
Something happened to the posts so I'll paraphrase what I originally wrote.
I was asking you, aren't you afraid your daughter will eventually suffer from "too much too soon" syndrome, or burnout? Don't you think the training she is receiving at her age is too much for a young girl such as her? I ask this because I also have a daughter and she is 8, I am now introducing her to track and field.
Well she only runs track when track season is in. she doesn't run indoor track. she is an Outstanding basketball player,also a Volleyball player. she just began working out April 7th and will end in july and she won't touch a track again until next April
So I really don't worry I must also note she is 5'0 right now
But as far as your child goes I would bring her on slowly I have a 7 year old daughter also and she runs a couple 300's a week at (55-60) 200's at (40-45) and 50's and 30's hills and stairs
I also must tell you me and my wife ran Track in college me at Eastern Michigan her at L.S.U. so gene's play a part also
We are from Flint Michigan
Originally posted by Coach Mac
Well she only runs track when track season is in. she doesn't run indoor track. she is an Outstanding basketball player,also a Volleyball player. she just began working out April 7th and will end in july and she won't touch a track again until next April
So I really don't worry I must also note she is 5'0 right now
But as far as your child goes I would bring her on slowly I have a 7 year old daughter also and she runs a couple 300's a week at (55-60) 200's at (40-45) and 50's and 30's hills and stairs
I also must tell you me and my wife ran Track in college me at Eastern Michigan her at L.S.U. so gene's play a part also
We are from Flint Michigan
The 300s that your child runs in 55-60. . . at what percentage would you say they are done? What about the 200s in 40-45?
How interesting! I also ran for EMU! Hello to a fellow Eagle!
How's it going fellow Eagle? Well I am slash Huron also. What did you run at the greatest school in the great state of Michigan?
Those 200 and 300's are at 75-80 percent she is going to be an 800 meter runner as she gets older but at 7 she only runs the 200 and 400 meters. She is the State Primary Champion in the Long Jump with a leap of 8`7" she did this last year at age 6 so she will be a primary again this year. This will be her first season running in the bigger meets in the midwest.
I would advise you to take her to a local meet and just let her run. Why in your case she has track in her blood. All you have to do is pull it out of her. This will give you some leverage of what kind of workouts to give her.
I am the Owner of Team Michigan the number 1 Youth Track club in Michigan we have teams all over the State my Home team is in Flint. My goal is to just supervise the 20 Teams in the State but I do coach the team in Flint which is the largest at this point in the State. Detroit will be bigger than us before this seaon is over.
I am also the Head Girls track Coach at Atherton High School.
