And for the Younger Ones ...

Lots of young athletes get early success by training a lot on the roads and in short recovery stuff on the track. When Graeme Reid started running at the age of 14 there was another boy of the same age who won everything in distance racing. He was doing seven days a week at age 14. Graeme on three or four days a week a year later beat the chap out of sight in most races. The other boy had, because of his big mileage, developed a shorter stride with a lower knee lift and when it came to sprinting, either at the start of the race or at the finish, he just couldn't do it properly. It had also been true that he was winning races because he trained more often and when others caught up in distance, he had no chance. The story then is - don't do too much running training too young. Gradually build up your miles and sessions rather than bashing them up just because an opponent in another club is doing so, You can develop general fitness by things like helping round the house - if Mum suddenly finds that she has run out of beans or potatoes, offer to go and get them for her. Jog up to the shop and walk and jog back! If Dad needs the garden dug - volunteer willingly to do it! Girls are more flexible and have better joint mobility than boys so the boys have to do more - even 15 minutes last thing at night before bed - but girls should remember that as they get older if they don't do work on it, then they will lose this mobility. Boys have a better anaerobic capacity generally speaking than many girls (tonight's homework - look up anaerobic capacity on Google!) and if time is lost through illness or injury then girls lose that aerobic capacity more quickly than boys so they need to work on it.
So - don't train too much but train sensibly and have a generally active lifestyle away from athletics would seem to be the message! Maybe more next Wednesday!