La Principessa, who is 12 and a seventh-grader, has decided to go out for cross-country this fall. She went to the first practice yesterday, and although it was very hot and muggy, she came home smiling and said she’d had a good time.
So now I’ve been sitting here Googling under things like “kids cross-country” and I’m finding both too much, and too little. There’s lots of info on how to coach your kid to winning an Olympic medal (which I’m not interested in), and lots of info on nutrition and shoes (which I already basically know), and lots and lots of information geared towards high school and adult runners, but there’s not much out there by way of Cliff’s Notes Tips for Parents of Rather Small Junior High School Girls.
My main concern, of course, is that she not hurt herself.
I already found http://www.kidsrunning.com/ and http://www.runnersworld.com/ and didn’t really see the “25 Words Or Less for Parents” version I need, and I don’t really have time to wade through the endless health drink and “How I did it” articles. The “advice” on the kidsrunning site seems to be of the “don’t worry, she’ll be fine” variety, and the “Beginning” advice at runnersworld seems to be of the “how to MAKE yourself run every day” variety. Neither of these is helpful. I’m looking for more medical-type advice, such as injuries, and as for “making yourself run every day”, pfui. :rolleyes: I tell her, “If it’s not fun, then don’t do it.”
Her coach’s advice so far has been only, “Try to run for six minutes, two or three times a week.”
Well, probably the best thing you can do to prevent injury is to wear the appropriate shoe.
So if you’ve gotten her a pair of running shoes recently, and feel comfortable with how they fit her [like if you got help from a specialty running store, rather than pulling them off the shelf at Foot Locker], that’s probably a great start.
Probably a good idea to stretch, although I’m awfully guilty of never doing that. But maybe you can search out some stretching exercises, and make sure she does those.
And make sure she’s adequately hydrated, especially if it’s hot and muggy.
And if she’s only running 6 minutes 2-3 times a week, that’s certainly not over training, which is an obvious recipe for injury. If you meant 60, I still don’t think that’s excessive. But make sure she listens to her body - if she’s tired, take a rest, run slower, don’t push it. I’d bet someone trying to do their best can tend to push too hard and run too fast or too often. If she keeps levelheaded about it, that will help too.
So no links, no concrete stuff, mostly common sense, some of which you probably already have. Hope I helped somewhat…
Former cross-country runner, with permanently trashed knees, checking in. It looks like you’ve been advised on the need for good running shoes; tell her also to avoid running on pavement if possible.
I never really found the runnersworld (and their associated websites) articles helpful. But the beginners forum (as opposed to the beginners website) used to be great. You might try asking for websites on the highschool forum. There might be some people there who have been running since junior high, and might have advice (how not to get injured, how not to overwork growing bodies, etc.) or pointers as to where to go.
I’ve been running competitively for 23 years, since 6th grade. I’ve also coached high school runners.
Unless her coach is a maniac, she’s unlikely to suffer any serious long-term injuries at this age. Part of the learning process as an athlete is discerning between the pain (discomfort) of training and the pain of injury. In my experience, most kids know when they are hurting and should stop. I highly recommend talking to the coach and asking about his/her coaching philosophy. Express your concerns. If her coach is any good at all, he/she will be delighted that you show interest and carefully explain how she approaches training.
