Parents are constanly asking the burning question “How can I help my kid get faster”? Coach Dean Hebert over at the “Running World According To Dean” has answered this burning question and gives insight and help to the parent of a Cross Country Athlete .
Coach Dean shares, “Training and talent (genetics) will dictate how far his running will take him. The training is far more heavily weighted (pardon the pun) on what you do with your running not in the weight room”.
”Kids mature at such different rates that often competitions seem “unfair” with some so developed and some still looking like they belong in grade school or middle school (junior high school). Combine that with genetics (some kids simply won’t be big or tall or fast or whatever) and it becomes an interesting dilemma. However, the good news is that the answer is actually more straightforward than the problem.
The first thing to dissuade ourselves of is that a successful runner has certain dimensions. We know that runners tend to be leaner than other athletes. There is also a tendency for the longer distance runners to be lighter and slighter in stature; the middle distance runners tend to be a bit bigger and stronger; and sprinters tend to be the most bulky and powerful of runners. These are only a tendencies and do not dictate success – there are numerous exceptions within these generalizations”.
To read the entire article go to Youth Running: How can I help my teen runner get faster?
I saw you writing about youth cross country…you may want to watch this video about a young high school cross country runner…
She is very talented!
http://community.foxjox.com/kickapps/_Prep-Star-Lindsay-Flanagan/video/390474/8052.html