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Homeschoolers - cross country running


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My daughter ended ballet lessons after 7 years and started running instead. I'm so thankful she is absolutely loving it! Phew!

 

She is training for her first 5k in the early fall, but she wants to start improving times after that and consider training for longer races. I looked up running clubs for youth in our area - AAU etc. They meet far away or had different agendas than what we were looking for. No homeschool running groups around either. We can't participate with public school teams in our state.

 

What if she registered as an individual with USATF and signed up for cross country open events on her own? Is that a problem? She subscribed to Runner's World and will research how to improve times on her own. Does sound like a good plan for a high school runner or does she absolutely need a coach?

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We travel 2 hrs round trip, 2x a weeks + meets for dd to train in an AAU club. They meet almost every night, but since we live so far away we only go twice a week and she trains at home the rest of the week. Our club is only active during the summer track season, so this is something we do for a limited amount of time. I really appreciate dd having the access to good coaches. We have a couple National Champions in our club and just regular kids that need something to do over the summer. It has been a wonderful exposure to the whole sport.

 

Also, if we hadn't joined the club dd would never have discovered her love for high jump. That is something she HAS to have a coach for. :D

 

I know I did not answer your actual question, but I thought I would share what we do. :001_smile:

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Yes she can run "on her own". When she goes to USATF events, she is "unattached". My boys run T+F and CC and that's how we do it. I don't know her level or aspirations or if she *really* needs a coach. Mine are young and we coach them.

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What if she registered as an individual with USATF and signed up for cross country open events on her own? Is that a problem?

 

 

We did that when the kids were younger (elementary age) and couldn't find a local team or club for them. It is much more motivating to run with others and have a good coach, but if that's not available then it is certainly doable on your own. One year my ds did quite well registered as an individual at a Natl Jr Olympics qualifier. The next year, a team from several hours away included him on their roster. He couldn't train with them, but they received the benefit of having another strong runner on their team, and he received the benefit of being able to place as both an individual and as a team.

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