Track and field ,best age to get serious

[vinoqueen]

My 12 year old daughter has started track and field which also incorporates cross country. She really enjoys it & seems to be middle of the pack after just starting. She really hopes to compete internationally one day & do track /field in college
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Anonymous]

Assuming 12 y/o is 7th grade, I think 7th or 8th grade is an appropriate time. Track is a spring sport so colleges look at junior year times for recruiting. Find a track club well-suited for the events that she runs and see how she likes it. Club track offers the best opportunities to improve prior to high school.

[Anonymous]

I am not an expert, but DS is 11 and in 6th grade. After doing 2 fall seasons of xc and loving it, while also running times that were mind blowing to me, he started club track for the indoor season about 6 weeks ago. We seem to have found the perfect fit for him and the coaches are fantastic. They have laid out a training plan for this season to start building towards later middle school and high school goals. He's training with them 3x a week and then doing long runs or peloton (in bad weather) on his own. I am glad we started this now, but he's the one really driving it and wanting more technical training to focus on technique as he grows.

[Anonymous]

my kid just ran x country for first time as a 17 year old (this past fall) and has D1 options 4 months later. I don’t think his success would have been different if he started at 17 or 10 - unlike a sport like wrestling, where most college wrestlers have been doing it since 1st grade

[Anonymous]

Sorry to if your kid is middle of the pack now, they aren't going to be competing internationally...that's just reality. Unless you or your husband were D1 athletes in a sport that required speed or stamina and also had this skill set.

[Anonymous]

Age does not matter in track and field

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:my kid just ran x country for first time as a 17 year old (this past fall) and has D1 options 4 months later. I don’t think his success would have been different if he started at 17 or 10 - unlike a sport like wrestling, where most college wrestlers have been doing it since 1st grade

it’s genetics - the 10,000 hour rule doesn’t apply to distance running

[Anonymous]

HS is when things start to get serious. Now I would work on speed and stamina.

From what I have seen- the fast kids are fast from the beginning. Training can help but a lot of it is genetics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:HS is when things start to get serious. Now I would work on speed and stamina.

From what I have seen- the fast kids are fast from the beginning. Training can help but a lot of it is genetics.

In general I think you are right. I ran a 9:15 2 mile as a 14 year old in the 70’s. Ran a 4:10 mile as a 15 year old. I didn’t think I was good but in hindsight I was fast - low mileage guy.

There are exceptions. An excellent local coach ran a 6 minute mile as a freshman but ended up being a 29 minute 10 guy in the ACC.

Don’t need to start early but let the sport take you where it will with a number of realistic interim goals.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:HS is when things start to get serious. Now I would work on speed and stamina.

From what I have seen- the fast kids are fast from the beginning. Training can help but a lot of it is genetics.

In general I think you are right. I ran a 9:15 2 mile as a 14 year old in the 70’s. Ran a 4:10 mile as a 15 year old. I didn’t think I was good but in hindsight I was fast - low mileage guy.

There are exceptions. An excellent local coach ran a 6 minute mile as a freshman but ended up being a 29 minute 10 guy in the ACC.

Don’t need to start early but let the sport take you where it will with a number of realistic interim goals.

you weren't trying very hard as a 14 year old. no amount of training makes you that good of an athlete in a year

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:HS is when things start to get serious. Now I would work on speed and stamina.

From what I have seen- the fast kids are fast from the beginning. Training can help but a lot of it is genetics.

In general I think you are right. I ran a 9:15 2 mile as a 14 year old in the 70’s. Ran a 4:10 mile as a 15 year old. I didn’t think I was good but in hindsight I was fast - low mileage guy.

There are exceptions. An excellent local coach ran a 6 minute mile as a freshman but ended up being a 29 minute 10 guy in the ACC.

Don’t need to start early but let the sport take you where it will with a number of realistic interim goals.

you weren't trying very hard as a 14 year old. no amount of training makes you that good of an athlete in a year

I ran a few races in 6th grade. Had talent. Was featured in Sports Illustrated, which I didn’t like. I did not run many miles, but was coached by a direct Igloi protege. Since you have no idea how good Igloi was and who he was, don’t make idiotic statements about not trying hard. You simply don’t know what you are talking about. Sorry to be so harsh.

[Anonymous]

Oh it’s my favorite poster who rambles.

[Anonymous]

I ran a few races in 6th grade. Had talent. Was featured in Sports Illustrated, which I didn’t like. I did not run many miles, but was coached by a direct Igloi protege. Since you have no idea how good Igloi was and who he was, don’t make idiotic statements about not trying hard. You simply don’t know what you are talking about. Sorry to be so harsh.

pls tell us more - it’s fascinating!

[Anonymous]

Agree that if your child is middle of the pack in their local track club, even if they just started, they will not be competing internationally. There is no need to set the bar so high. If they train hard and train right, they can be on their high school's track team running their strongest distance. Which is great. My best memories from high school were as a cross country and track team member, and my fasted 5k XC time was like 21 minutes and my fasted mile time was like, over 6 minutes. I was not a star. I ran JV races. But I was in amazing shape and made the best friendships of my life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I ran a few races in 6th grade. Had talent. Was featured in Sports Illustrated, which I didn’t like. I did not run many miles, but was coached by a direct Igloi protege. Since you have no idea how good Igloi was and who he was, don’t make idiotic statements about not trying hard. You simply don’t know what you are talking about. Sorry to be so harsh.

pls tell us more - it’s fascinating!

so rude