800m & 1,500m athletics. Dd wants to be the next Keely Hodgkinson or Georgia Bell! What does mid distance entail?

[Recyclingmummy]

Dd has been gripped by the Olympics, she's 12 very tall & slim, she wants to try mid distance running with an athletics club.. What does it entail as regards training & is it tough? Keely Hodgkinson & Georgia Bell are great role models to young girls & have inspired dd to want to try mid distance athletics

Our local club has two track sessions per week. Then there are club meets, indoors and outdoors depending on the season. Definitelly less than our swimmer does but be prepared for the weekend meets. Go for a trial and see how it goes. We're currently having to take a break due to serious shin splint issues which happened after puberty.

I forgot, try out your local park runs on a Saturday too. Great way to put out feelers and local clubs often volunteer there too (ours do anyway!)

Thanks for the reply, she already does junior parkrun occasionally, times usually between 10 & 11 minutes. What would she need joining an athletics club with a track? (there's no info about gear on their website)

My dd does athletics, she trains three times a week but you can do more or less.

If you are in England you can find a club here.

www.englandathletics.org/find-a-club/

It's a great sport because there is something for everyone. We enjoy going to the competitions and watching all of the stuff going on.

She'll need herself, t-shirt, shorts, trainers that she can already run in and a water bottle. No need to get anything else until advised.

You don't need anything at the start. Just trainers and water. If she likes it you will buy spikes which are easy enough to get.

And that's it unless she gets in to pole vault in which case you will need a much bigger car and a massive roof rack.

Great thanks for the advice. She said she will do X country when school starts again next month.

I'm the membership secretary at our local athletic club.

Find your local club and ask if they have space with their junior middle distance group. They should let her do a taster session.

As above not much kit required, if she does compete then she'll see that most wear track spikes. (And nike pro shorts!)

There are very few 1500 m races for her age, most are 800m.

If she joins the club then they will register her with England Athletics. She can then enter Open meets as well as being selected to run for her club if they enter leagues etc.

Also, body shape changes - my daughter was a very good county standard middle distance runner.

Puberty hit and her body shape is now more suited to combined events.

That's great thanks a million! She'll definitely insist in the Nike pro shorts😂
800m would be good too, she is not naturally fast so feels mid distance might suit her better. She's very tall with long legs so I was trying to encourage her to try sprinting but she doesn't want to.

What does she do now @reenon?@@reenon? More heptathlon type events?

If you want to see what sort of times they were running at junior athlete then check out these links:

https://www.thepowerof10.info/athletes/profile.aspx?athleteid=525443

https://www.thepowerof10.info/athletes/profile.aspx?athleteid=17035

So for U15s it is
Shot
800m
75m Hurdles
High Jump
Long Jump

Check your council website for summer athletics camps.

There is a very good one round here at a council-run athletics track, including both track and field events, and a lot of the coaches are involved with the local club that trains there and are generous with advice and encouragement (plus the nuts and bolts of how to join the club, and other training opportunities for DC if the club nights don't suit). She'll get great opportunities to try out all sorts of events and distances.

No real kit needed except trainers (sports, not fashion), t-shirts, shorts or skorts, water bottle and track suit or other easy on/off layers when the weather cools down. Probably a light weight waterproof at some point as well.

I have a parkrun buddy who is a well-respected youth coach. One bit of advice he gave me for my sporty DC, and which has stuck with me, is that it's bad for DC to specialise too soon. So at your DD's age, keep up all the sports she likes, as well as seeking out opportunities for athletics

That gives great variety & your dd can specialise in her favourite if she wants as she gets older.
Dd would love to try some field events too.

That's so much ill definitely do that. I agree with your coach & all the other sports will benefit each other in some shape or form.

That is also England Athletics view as well. Sadly too many specialise at a young age.

I've taught a few teenagers who were running at a serious level for their age. Several nights per week and occasionally needed extensions for homework, but generally very happy, thriving kids. One got a scholarship to a US university.

XC is a great fun way to get involved in running but XC spikes are a must, as are a selection of spike lengths from 6mm to 12mm, not just to improve times but for safety, falls in normal trainers are common and painful.

Make sure they are specific XC ones, not track spikes, they often have weird sizing too, so finding a shop to try them on is useful.

Get her a lightweight rain jacket too, track & XC sessions can involve standing around in the rain....

800/1500 events require a strong aerobic system and both of the women you mention did XC running over the winter season as juniors, Laura Muir has long been a very successful XC runner.

The outdoor athletics season is coming to an end now, as the XC season kicks in by October.

At that age in a club they will do a bit of everything so I wouldn't worry about a club having middle distance. Go along for a trial night or so to see if she likes it - be prepared that there might be a wait list though.

That is amazing that one got to the USA. I think team gb will inspire many pre teens & teens into athletics!

Thanks so much. Her school has a competitive X country team that is open to all & all can compete so she's going to give it a go too.

Hope she has fun!

She has a trial at a local athletics club in September, she's very excited. The lovely lady I was emailing said they will be doing a lot of x country training in the winter season

Just one thing, if you become a Nike member on their website (its free) any shoes or spikes you order can be returned for a full refund, even if your DD uses them outside, the returns period is 60 days i think.

Asics also offer the same thing too.