your going to get a wide range of advice on this one from all over the spectrum. Now if she is going to be a 400/800m type of runner I do think she needs some type of aerobic running under her belt. At 12 years old though the question is where ya start. Personally I think cross country with the 5k distance is excellent for the 400/800m type runner. Especially for a young runner. But if no cross I would probably start off at 10 min of running and increase to no more than 30 min of running. This is mostly for someone who wants to do well in both 400 and 800m. And since you are not doing so much in terms of mileage you can have more hard days than some others I say at least 3. Make them tempo runs. Like if you are doing 30 min say 10 min easy 10 min hard 10 min easy or 10 min easy 15 min hard 5 m in easy. Strides after your runs are good too. Now you dont have to have 3 hard days you can have just one or two. You know the girl and you know what she can handle just have to play with it.
