Are you n Virginia? There is a good camp run by Potomac River Running for HS cross country athletes.

Otherwise, my child gets workouts from online and follows friends on Strava to see different workouts. Also, cross training is really important- so some days the elliptical or biking or things like pilates/yoga or even Orange theory. Most of the kids don't have a lot of running experience before HS.

The HS coach has been ok with suggesting workouts. XC and track are very different.

Was in same boat with my DD a few years ago. Caveat emptor: even large public coaches - if they catch wind of private coaching - will get suddenly very territorial.

My take is to join running club first. Lots of great folks who can gently guide your athlete to faster times without injury.

You must look out for anorexia as well as- super common with female runners.

My DD is a senior now pondering running in college - it was a great organizing principle for her and got her a good looking prom date! lol Good luck to your DD.

I will add to the above to also focus on some strength work during the off season. Nothing crazy, you can use bands for most of it. A couple of sessions with a sports performance trainer could be helpful to ensure proper form and come up with a plan, but she could also find a lot of resources on YouTube.

Is she running winter track or just training for spring track right now? If she is training find her own she should mainly focus on easy runs of 3-5 miles 4 or 5 times a week. She can add a longer run of 6-8 miles on the weekend. No need for speed work in the winter. Get her a runners watch with a GPS and she can monitor her distance, pace and heart rate. Running is a simple sport. No need for camps or private coaching. Just enjoy running. Consistency is the key.

Hi there, there seem to be a lot of experienced running parents here, so seeking some advice. DD took up x-country/track for the first time this year and is really into it. The top runners at her school have been running for years and belong to run clubs or have done other programs, so they seem to know how to train. DD really wants to get better and has started doing lots of long runs on her own but doesn't seem to know how to incorporate recovery/injury-prevention or cross-training (and rejects any suggestion from DH or I that maybe she should look into it). She's at a giant public high school where there isn't bandwidth to support individual kids, so wonder if there are other resources I can direct DC to. Summer camps or run clubs where she can get more training advice? Good blogs or podcasts? Want to support her desire to improve and get to a higher level, but most importantly, want to make sure she is laying a sound foundation so she doesn't injure herself and is able to enjoy running for a long time. TIA!