Dear Lauren,

I’m a junior in high school this year.  I just started running last year and its been going really really well.  After a couple months I started winning races, and this year I won nearly all of my races in my state.  I have been looking on dyestat and talking to people and it seems like some of the fast high school runners race against college runners in open races.  I am bored with high school races and really think I need to do some of these open races to improve, but my coach won’t let me.  He doesn’t think I should travel to these races because I am “only in high school.”  I want to be really good, but I think my coach is holding me back too much.  What should I do?

 -Zibby2000

Alright Zibby2000, I have an answer you might not like.  In my opinion, it doesn’t matter if you are #1 in the country, it generally doesn’t make sense to skip steps in your development.  Now if your coach was really excited about it and the race was local, etc, then whatever.  No big deal really.  But if you think High School running has taught you everything it can teach you in less than two years as a runner, think again. 

While running against college kids could be a good challenge, its not worth fighting with your coach over it.  Your coach is your #2 most important resource, behind your desire and passion for running, so protect the relationship with your coach with your life.  He or she is a critical part of your current success, and that deserves some thought before you start thinking your coach is out to lunch.   Talk about the issue with your coach and really get a solid answer out of him or her.  Coach communication is crucial.

I would encourage you to master the level you are at right now.  If you think you mastered it, you haven’t.  There is a saying that goes, “the smarter you are, the less you know.”  That applies to running too.

You may have mastered racing as an athlete new to the sport with no expectations on you, but this season will have a new slant to it.  To be a great runner, you need to be able to run well under any circumstance.  This year has a lot to teach you.  You will need to learn to race well as a veteran.  You will need to be able to run with expectations on you.  You will need to learn to race when its not that exciting and instead generate your own excitement.  You will need to learn to be a leader…to bring along some of the younger girls on your team so that your whole team is stronger.  There are a million ways to improve other than by what the clock says, and it best to do so at the level appropriate to you.  Trust me. 

So lets find some new challenges!  So you win races now?  Try to be dominant!  Try to get your name in the paper so often that people can’t help but remember you when you go away to college!

It took me four years of gradual improvement to win my California State Title, so I can’t say I had the same problem as you in high school.  However, in college, I won NCAA’s in the 5k as a sophmore.  That’s the highest honor you can win in college and I still had two years left to go before graduating.  Some other fast runners left college early to go pro after having success like that.  For some of them it worked out fine, but others struggled as a result of skipping steps in their career. 

My coaches encouraged me to play out my time in college to its fullest.  They guided me to improve at my appropriate level in every way I could, and by the time I graduated I was really ready to pursue my Olympic Dreams as a pro runner.  I had truly experienced high school and College running and I don’t regret a thing.  It was so much fun I get goose bumps thinking about it. 

Skipping steps works for some people, but its not worth a fight, and frankly, I think its overrated :).  Best of luck with your running.

-L