Youth Running Coach for one-on-one?

[Anonymous]

I did search around but didn't see a corresponding answer.

DS just finished MS X Country and enjoyed it, and will participate in Track in the spring. I know a lot of folks poop on XC in this forum, but he likes it, and has the build for the sport, but hasn't had good instruction on what right looks like for gait, pacing, etc. The few programs he's been involved in are fine, but mostly have a neighborhood swim team feel of "just go swim laps and you'll get better" without breaking down and re-teaching good habits, mechanics, etc. (I've run plenty of races but my fundamentals are more textbook examples of what wrong looks like, and simply gut through. Just looking for somebody who's better equipped to teach this early on.)

Are there such a thing as one-on-one coaches for youth running?

[Anonymous]

Does your kid want a personal coach or is this something you want for him? At this age, I say just let them run. Build fitness and stamina and if he does it in high school, see what the coaching situation is like there.

[Anonymous]

You don't need a 1:1 for running. Most running shoe stores have running clubs with coaches. You do hills, track, long runs, timed, fartlets etc... as a group but your goals and abilities personalized.

[Anonymous]

My DS is in 6th and just finished up his second cross country season (MS starts in 5th here). He LOVES it and is quite fast with amazing endurance. He can't do outdoor track through school until 7th, so he's about to start his second season of indoor track through a local club. He focus on 800 and 1500 and it's really helped with his mechanics and understanding of pace, etc. He's not doing it for meets, but for the coaching. I recommend finding an indoor program he can join. Outside of that, DS runs 2-4 miles a day on his own in a 1 mile loop we made around our neighborhood.