OT: High School Track Advice

[Shelby65]

Son runs cross-country in fall and trains for distance accordingly. Wishes do to shorter relays/sprints in winter track, but the coach has him in the mile, again, training for distance. In spring, it will be the same: wants to sprint but will be assigned to distance events and practice with the team accordingly.

The more he trains for distance since that's where the coach (winter and spring) has him, he gets no speed training and will continue to fall further behind the sprint guys who weren't any faster initially but are faster now because they train for that and not for distance.

Is my son S-O-L ? To me, this isn't the same as a kid preferring LF to RF, or OT vs OG. The training for the speed vs distance events is different and his ability in each of these areas is diverging.

What can he do to break this cycle of regressing / exclusion from sprinting....

 

[RU205]

Does he want to run track after HS and if so, would he be a distance runner or sprinter?

 

[Cookie81]

Not that I am expert and I was Pole vaulter and javelin thrower but we had an excellent track coach named Tom Ulan (Rutgers 3x All American and Hall of Famer). He did have milers perform speed workouts down to repeated 220s) So even if you son is a distance person doing some speed should be helpful. To get there he should have a sit down talk with the coach and express his interest. The good thing about T&F it really comes downs to the numbers so he could earn a move to sprints. Coaches always need depth for relays so he may also earn a spot there.

 

[RUevolution36]

from what i've read...just get them new Nike's. instantly faster...no joke.

 

[DJ Spanky]

I was a sprinter in HS: 100, 200 and 1st leg of the mile relay. Which events does he want to do?

Your son will need to work on his own to get the strength for sprint events. Some recommendations:

• On the track, do 200 hard, jog 200 around to the starting point, rinse repeat. Do sets of 3 or 5.
• Find a nice long hill - do sprints 3/4 speed up the hill. Jog back down.
• In the gym, leg presses to help with explosiveness out of the blocks.
• Practice on starting blocks if he can, the start is important, especially on the hundred.
• Focus on maintaining the speed through the second half of the race, particularly the 200. His distance work will significantly help with that.
• Upper body strength associated with pumping the arms is an important component for sprinting. Wish I had known that when I was in HS.

 

[RUDead]

His issue is common in HS. Nobody wants to do the mile, so they just automatically put the cross country kids in the distance races. Echoing above, he needs to talk to the coach, and also train for the speed races on his own.

 

[gef21]

What are his times? Will he be a better sprinter for his team or no? I'm going to assume the coaches are putting him where he can help the team.

 

[Shelby65]

To answer several questions:
*doubtful a college talent, but that's three years away
*at the moment, not a better sprinter but because the coach has the long distance runners train as such.
*seems to be a 3 season cycle of distance training that increases the disparity between him and the kids who train to be sprinters

 

[knightfan7]

When my son was running HS Track in the mid 00's, he and anyone on the track team not playing a Fall sport trained with the XC team too. He started out with the 200 and 400 but switched to the 400IH and HJ after his Soph Yr.

 

[NickRU714]

Does he still want to run distance in Fall XC though?

Or does he want to drop from Fall XC distance and only sprint in Winter/Spring?

Seems like he is trying to thread the needle with a foot in both.

 

[LETSGORU91]

Son runs cross-country in fall and trains for distance accordingly. Wishes do to shorter relays/sprints in winter track, but the coach has him in the mile, again, training for distance. In spring, it will be the same: wants to sprint but will be assigned to distance events and practice with the team accordingly.

The more he trains for distance since that's where the coach (winter and spring) has him, he gets no speed training and will continue to fall further behind the sprint guys who weren't any faster initially but are faster now because they train for that and not for distance.

Is my son S-O-L ? To me, this isn't the same as a kid preferring LF to RF, or OT vs OG. The training for the speed vs distance events is different and his ability in each of these areas is diverging.

What can he do to break this cycle of regressing / exclusion from sprinting....

If the coach knows what he/she is doing, they have him in the right spot. It comes down to fast twitch and slow twitch muscles. Slow twitch muscles are all about endurance or lasting energy. Fast twitch muscles give you sudden bursts of energy but tire very quickly. Our spring track, high school coach (Mr. V @newell138!!! ) used to have the boys and girls run a 100 yard dash. The fastest of the bunch were the sprinters and the slowest were the distance runners. If your son is a decent cross country runner, he doesnt have many fast twitch muscles and probably isnt a sprinter. If he is a good distance runner with some power, I'd encourage him to run the intermediate distances (800 meter, mile, and possibly the 400 meter depending on his speed and strength). If he really wants the sprints, have him ask the coach to line up with the sprinters for a 50 or 100 meter dash. He will know what he has right then and there.

 

[rufancoe00]

Unless he.is. a pure slow twitch runner, As a miler, he should be doing it of speed work that translates for 400m and 800m as well.

 

[e5fdny]

I ran cross country and for the Spring switched to hurdlers.

That was fun.

 

[knightfan7]

I ran cross country and for the Spring switched to hurdlers.

That was fun.

I thought your Spring sport was chasing the honeys around the beach?

 

[e5fdny]

I thought your Spring sport was chasing the honeys around the beach?

We had some good looking girls who ran cross country in HS but the hurdlers were a different level.

😎

 

[ouchmyknee]

I was decent sprinter at the state level in high school and had the opportunity to run at RU. Your son will most likely need to (and should) do the speed work on his own. If he’s serious about track he should be doing some training on his own outside of the normal practices. Prob should do some 200s on 200s off. Some ladders coming down from a 400. And sets of 400s. When I was in high school my coach had this notion that our 4x400 team could compete with Camden in the states (we couldn’t). So he had us do this workout where were supposed to do something 4 400s in a row all under 70 seconds. It was the first and only time I ever puked at practice. We did 2 of the 400s under 60, then everyone died.

 

[tom1944]

Have him ask the coach to run the hurdles.

When Jackson had real good track teams (boys and girls) the coaches made all the kids run hurdles. Found some surprising talent and made all the kids better overall runners

 

[Shelby65]

All good info. I knew this site would have good tips. He was always one of fastest kids when younger. As stated, he was as fast as the sprinters when starting hs but not anymore due to the distance training the coaches have him doing for over a year.

And that training is exhausting...I don’t know how he could do speed training on his own in addition.

I guess he may have to consider giving up XC and spring track to hopefully be fast enough by next winter

 

[mikershoein]

Son runs cross-country in fall and trains for distance accordingly. Wishes do to shorter relays/sprints in winter track, but the coach has him in the mile, again, training for distance. In spring, it will be the same: wants to sprint but will be assigned to distance events and practice with the team accordingly.

The more he trains for distance since that's where the coach (winter and spring) has him, he gets no speed training and will continue to fall further behind the sprint guys who weren't any faster initially but are faster now because they train for that and not for distance.

Is my son S-O-L ? To me, this isn't the same as a kid preferring LF to RF, or OT vs OG. The training for the speed vs distance events is different and his ability in each of these areas is diverging.

What can he do to break this cycle of regressing / exclusion from sprinting....

Consider asking the coach to focus on middle distance (400,800, and sprint and distance medley relay) it will require the sprint workouts and development of a strong kick.

what kind of mile times/ xcountry times is your son posting so far? And what year is he?

 

[newell138]

Even if he is a miler or XC guy they should still be doing some speed work. Repeat 200s or ladders as suggested. I ran everything from 400 to XC, but mostly 800/mile at RU as well as XC
Curious to know his times even in 8th grade

also if he is only a freshman the coach should be trying him in any event he is interested in for obvious reasons. It took me 3 years to convince my coach to let me long jump. I jumped 19’11” on my first try for the win after winning the 2 mile and mile in a random dual meet I believe may have been against Jefferson HS. Unique triple

 

[LETSGORU91]

Even if he is a miler or XC guy they should still be doing some speed work. Repeat 200s or ladders as suggested. I ran everything from 400 to XC, but mostly 800/mile at RU as well as XC
Curious to know his times even in 8th grade

also if he is only a freshman the coach should be trying him in any event he is interested in for obvious reasons. It took me 3 years to convince my coach to let me long jump. I jumped 19’11” on my first try for the win after winning the 2 mile and mile in a random dual meet I believe may have been against Jefferson HS. Unique triple

Hmmm..I did the high jump in one or two meets just because. There is a possibility I won the high jump, javelin, mile and the two. I did compete in all four but the quad win might have been in a dream.

Also, I think we are on the same track in responses for the high schooler. Speed work will definitely help, no doubt. As far as sprint distances, you either have it, or you don't.

 

[knightfan7]

Even if he is a miler or XC guy they should still be doing some speed work. Repeat 200s or ladders as suggested. I ran everything from 400 to XC, but mostly 800/mile at RU as well as XC
Curious to know his times even in 8th grade

also if he is only a freshman the coach should be trying him in any event he is interested in for obvious reasons. It took me 3 years to convince my coach to let me long jump. I jumped 19’11” on my first try for the win after winning the 2 mile and mile in a random dual meet I believe may have been against Jefferson HS. Unique triple

SCIL? My son was on Pope John's track team.

 

[RU85inFla]

To answer several questions:
*doubtful a college talent, but that's three years away
*at the moment, not a better sprinter but because the coach has the long distance runners train as such.
*seems to be a 3 season cycle of distance training that increases the disparity between him and the kids who train to be sprinters

Just remember, if you hs athlete has not separated from the pack by late sophomore year, they are not playing sports in college. Coaches are deciding who to target based on sophomore info and recruiting them starting junior year. Given that, have your kid tell the coach he wants to sprint.

 

[newell138]

SCIL? My son was on Pope John's track team.

Morris Catholic. We were in the Skyline conference if I recall correctly

 

[knightfan7]

Morris Catholic. We were in the Skyline conference if I recall correctly

It came down to PJ and MC. His mom wanted Delbarton but I didn't feel like becoming a bank robber to pay for it.

 

[Rt18traffic]

Son runs cross-country in fall and trains for distance accordingly. Wishes do to shorter relays/sprints in winter track, but the coach has him in the mile, again, training for distance. In spring, it will be the same: wants to sprint but will be assigned to distance events and practice with the team accordingly.

The more he trains for distance since that's where the coach (winter and spring) has him, he gets no speed training and will continue to fall further behind the sprint guys who weren't any faster initially but are faster now because they train for that and not for distance.

Is my son S-O-L ? To me, this isn't the same as a kid preferring LF to RF, or OT vs OG. The training for the speed vs distance events is different and his ability in each of these areas is diverging.

What can he do to break this cycle of regressing / exclusion from sprinting....

I know it sounds simple, but your son having a conversation with the coach clearly stating his preference is where he needs to start. If your son is one of the stronger members of the distance team it probably won’t help, but there are a lot of kids who run XC and the 400. One thing I will say, is that having your son run speed work on his own is a recipe for injury, especially the workouts being suggested in this thread. You said what he is doing now is a lot. Adding repeat 200’s on his own presumably on weekends (probably Sundays if like most distance teams they practice 6 days a week), will not make him faster. They will just break him down. If, and this a big if, he wants to add anything to get faster, there are a couple of things he can add to what he does on his own. Strength training, if he isn’t doing it with the team, is the simplest add. Isometrics and plyometrics can help a lot as well. As a supplement to an existing program, isometrics are safer. If he is tired, adding plyometrics (box jumps as a simple example) are stressful. Every workout needs proper recovery - that is when adaptation occurs. The safest work outs for a distance runner to add, presuming he isn’t already doing them, are SHORT hills sprints and possibly 50m flys. The hill sprints shouldn’t be any longer then 6-8 seconds with full recovery. Max reps would be 2-4 reps. He can probably handle these inside his current weekly mileage. For flys, it’s the same thing: full recovery, 2 reps max (less is more). 150 in and outs (stride in for 50 meters, sprint fit 50 meters, decelerate/stride out for 50 meters) are all about speed and fast twitch development. These type of work outs usually feel good for a distance runner when they first start doing them because they are recruiting new muscle fiber. Just remember, runners, especially in HS, can generally only handle two “hard” work outs a week. If he starts adding a third on his own ( like an extra day of interval work), it is unlikely to get him the results he wants.

 

[HeavenUniv.]

Switch high schools if you have relatives in another town or don’t mind paying as an out of district kid.

 

[RUTBAY1]

I know it sounds simple, but your son having a conversation with the coach clearly stating his preference is where he needs to start. If your son is one of the stronger members of the distance team it probably won’t help, but there are a lot of kids who run XC and the 400. One thing I will say, is that having your son run speed work on his own is a recipe for injury, especially the workouts being suggested in this thread. You said what he is doing now is a lot. Adding repeat 200’s on his own presumably on weekends (probably Sundays if like most distance teams they practice 6 days a week), will not make him faster. They will just break him down. If, and this a big if, he wants to add anything to get faster, there are a couple of things he can add to what he does on his own. Strength training, if he isn’t doing it with the team, is the simplest add. Isometrics and plyometrics can help a lot as well. As a supplement to an existing program, isometrics are safer. If he is tired, adding plyometrics (box jumps as a simple example) are stressful. Every workout needs proper recovery - that is when adaptation occurs. The safest work outs for a distance runner to add, presuming he isn’t already doing them, are SHORT hills sprints and possibly 50m flys. The hill sprints shouldn’t be any longer then 6-8 seconds with full recovery. Max reps would be 2-4 reps. He can probably handle these inside his current weekly mileage. For flys, it’s the same thing: full recovery, 2 reps max (less is more). 150 in and outs (stride in for 50 meters, sprint fit 50 meters, decelerate/stride out for 50 meters) are all about speed and fast twitch development. These type of work outs usually feel good for a distance runner when they first start doing them because they are recruiting new muscle fiber. Just remember, runners, especially in HS, can generally only handle two “hard” work outs a week. If he starts adding a third on his own ( like an extra day of interval work), it is unlikely to get him the results he wants.

Good advice described above, and also in my opinion, upper body strength training is probably the biggest reason he is falling behind the other kids in sprints. Made my biggest jump from junior to senior year in the 400IH due to some research I did and added that to my training as an area of focus. 40 years later I still have the fastest recorded time at my HS.

Also not covered in the OP is whether the coach knows what he is doing. My coach was the School Board presidents son and has no business being the coach, it held me back significantly.

So what it really comes down to is whether your kid really is better off what he is doing now or whether he would be better off switching. If you trust the ability of the coach, that would go a long way toward making a decision. If he is right about that event your son will have the most success and your son wants to do what is best for the team he should concentrate on what the coach is telling him and not add significant supplementary training because it may hurt his performance in distance races.

That being said, If you’re son just doesn’t like distance running and will lose interest and eventually stop running, it doesn’t do anyone any good to keep him running distance even if that is his best position. Better to not place in sprints but enjoy his time on the team than to not participate at all.