Youth Running: Coach Dean looks at how much to run and how hard

Carol, a reader with a daughter who runs asks:

I have an 11 year old daughter that started running 1 month ago when she was 10 years old. She is training for our state Nutmeg Games. She runs 4-8 miles every day. She runs 1 day on the road, 1 day of track work, 1 day tempo run and the other 4 at a pace of about 7:40 per mile. She runs local 5K and 8K races, but in school she runs the 800m and 1600m for track. Can you please tell me if there is anything that you think she should be doing? She is very competitive and wants to get a scholarship to High School and College if possible.

You pose an interesting situation with exciting possibilities. It is wonderful to see a youth who loves running and is motivated on her own. Let me first start with some observations and perspectives, and then I’ll offer you some thoughts on where to go from here.

1. Running 4-8 miles every day would mean 28-56 miles per week. I’ll assume that the average is between 4 and 8 so without knowing exact workouts I’ll assume she runs 35-40 miles per week. This is very high mileage for an 11 year old. For perspective: I have adult Boston Qualifying marathoners running 35-45 miles per week. I coach high school runners and only my most experienced upper-classmen will exceed 30 miles per week. Mileage is the second-most predictor of getting injured (behind number one: past history of injuries).

2. It is an unusual runner who can run every day. For the great majority of runners there should be at least one day off each week for recovery and allow training to take effect. Remember, you get stronger during recovery not during workouts. Workouts break muscle down. Recovery rebuilds.
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