Q: Will Puberty Make me Slower?
Hi Lauren,
I am a rising sophomore in high school and I run cross country. Last season I weighted 95 lbs and now I weigh 109. I am a very late grower and I needed some extra weight for my body to grow. Now that the new season is about to begin I’m worried I weigh too much to be as fast as I was/get better. What a fast way to lose weight? I need to drop about 5-7 lbs in a month!
-Lauren
A:
Hey Lauren,
As a freshman in high school, I was a late grower as well. I was 4 foot 10 and 78 lbs. Then I grew to 5’7 and 122 pounds by the end of sophomore year. I was running into things and completely uncoordinated for a while, but my body recovered. I went on to win state and get a college scholarship, and now I’m 50 pounds heavier than I was as a freshman and I’m the USA Champion.
I completely understand your spaz attack about the weight gain, but what you need to do is zoom out and look at your situation from a distance for a minute.
You needed to grow at some point. Every female athlete has to go through annoying body changes, and all body changes affect performance. You might perform better now that you are growing, so train hard with this new body and give yourself a chance to see the results.
But you’ve probably seen many high school girls run fast as freshman and then after puberty they slow down and it scares you. It scared me too. But there is no law that says puberty has to permanently slow you down. When it hits, the best thing you can do is be an ace with your nutrition, eating healthy foods so you become stronger as you grow, and then you will grow in all the right ways. This is tough to do since part of teenage culture is eating insane amounts of junk.
You might have a little dip in performance for a year while you adjust to the new you, but if you ride it out and train smart, your best performances will be right around the corner. By junior or senior year you will be killing your freshman times.
The fact that you are asking me this question shows that you are passionate about succeeding. Now you just have to put all that passion in the right direction. Remember that high school is just one stage. Each stage has its own set of rules for how to be the best at that level. In high school, sometimes it takes nothing more than one year of training and a little girl’s body to be the best, but that is just one small moment in a long life.
The best female athletes are grown women with women’s bodies, and they would mop the floor with a skinny high school girl. So embrace your growth spurt, putting your energy into helping yourself develop strong, lean muscles and incredible endurance so you can run with the best for many years to come. If I were you, I’d print a picture of a pro runner and put it on your wall so you can remember what a healthy strong body looks like. It makes more sense to aspire toward that than to try to go back in time!
Good luck this season,
Lauren
Hey, Lauren-the-Questioner –
Please take to heart the awesome advice of Lauren-the-Answerer! You’ve now got nearly 15 additional pounds of powerful muscle and bone! And I’ll bet it came w/ a few added inches of height, which will give you a longer, stronger stride! Embrace these changes, Girl; don’t fight your body. Maybe remember, too, that other girls your age are experiencing this stuff, too; it’s an equalizer of sorts.
I love Lauren’s idea about putting a photo of a strong, healthy runner on your wall. The picture on my bulletin board at work is of Lauren winning the 5k at USAs this year.
Brilliant. Lauren is right, Lauren 🙂 If you can, think of whatever you do right now as an investment in your running as a junior or senior. As Lauren said, you’ll need an adjustment phase while you get used to the new bod, but on the other side of that phase is an even stronger, more kick-a$$ you.
Slightly off-topic, but when I think of all the destructive messages we women, and especially teenagers, get about our bodies, who they belong to and what we should be doing with them to appeal to whom – this is just such an amazingly powerful message to the contrary. Sure, some things you can’t control, like the fact of your changing body, but you are the one in control of what you make of that body, and you can make of it what you want (strong, muscular and fast) in the pursuit of your goal to be the best runner you can be (and not, say, to fit some empty ideal we’re supposed to aspire to and think is sexy! ugh…ok enough, sorry…)
True dat Heather! I’ll never forget how liberating it was, halfway through my junior year in high school, when I chucked a “Seventeen” magazine in the trash and swore I’d never look at one again. It happened because I realized that every time I finished reading one, I felt like I wasn’t good enough, or pretty enough, or whatever. Anything that makes you feel bad deserves NO space in your brain, period. I relapsed and got into “In Style” sophomore year in college and had a similar chuck-it-in-the-garbage moment. Seems like its a constant fight to keep your confidence up in this world!
A question relevant and useful to me and great answer to solve it, thanks!
This is by far the most bomb diggity advice ever given. This question and answer should be required reading for all female high school athletes; heck it is probably good for all females.
As a long-time coach of high school girls and collegiate women, I think this is an outstanding response. I will definitely share this with my athletes this fall. Thanks Lauren!
Hey its lauren the questioner! thank you so much lauren the answerer for the advice! that was one of the greatest things ive ever heard! i feel i have so much power and better understanding of my body. Thank you everybody else for the other advice! Just want to say thank you soooooo much you have no idea!
I am a little sad at the moment because I slowed down so much as a Cross Country runner.
– In 7th grade (12), I ran 5K in 22 minutes, after having joined mid-season.
– In 8th grade (13), I didn’t participate in Cross Country all season but ran a 5K in 24-25 minutes.
– In 9th grade (14), I trained hard all season, improving, and finished by running 22 minutes again.
– In 10th grade (15), I trained all season and ran a 25 minute 5K (granted it was a very slow course and I held back because of nerves).
– Then this year, my junior year (16), I slowed down incredibly despite having trained all season. Beginning the season with a 24:30 minute 5K I slowed down to 25 minute 5Ks and 26 minute 5Ks and 27 minute 5Ks, finishing the season with a 28:50 minute 5K at the final competition (granted it was another slow course).
It was very difficult for me because I felt like I had tried my hardest. When running up the hills, my legs almost gave out and I felt nauseous at times, so when I saw my final time and placement, it was pretty discouraging.
Many have told me that it is because of the physiological changes in my body and puberty (I am a very late bloomer)… but does that really slow down a runner by more than 6 minutes? 🙁
I am also in the full ib, meaning that I have to function on very little sleep because of my workload. I usually do not get more sleep than 6 hours a night, and I have had days where I have run on 1.5 hours of sleep. I know its unhealthy, but I need to keep my grades up. I was pretty sure that this was also one of the reasons I slowed down, until another female runner on my team, who got the same amount of sleep and joined mid-season with little training ran a lot faster than I did.
I still want to continue with running because I am not a quitter, but with such results, I am embarrassed and do not see the point anymore.
I’m looking for words of wisdom, advice, and comfort to help me get through this difficult phase, and maybe some explanations for what happened.
I know that female long-distance runners may slow down during puberty, but I didn’t expect it to be by a whopping (almost) seven minutes.
Puberty is only part of the issue here. Hitting puberty is like going into battle, and sleep is your armor. Even with armor on, its still going to be a hell of a fight, but WITH GOOD ARMOR, you are more likely to make it through the battle in one piece.
Sleep is the only time you produce growth hormone, and growth hormone is absolutely crucial for your development, your recovery, and your health. Sleep affects your moods and your outlook on life. It affects whether the glass looks half empty or half full. It literally changes the quality of your life.
Even if you weren’t a runner, I’d tell you to get more sleep. I also had all AP classes by the end of high school, so I know how impossible it is to sleep 8 hours a night. But you’ve got to try your best to make up for it on the weekends by sleeping for 12 hours, and you’ve got to take a hard look at your time management skills during the school week and be honest with yourself so you can make the changes necessary to get more sleep.
When I was in your shoes, before I figured out how to manage time better, I procrastinated big projects, so I had to pull all-nighters once every couple weeks. I also talked on the phone and computer with my friends right after practice for a couple hours and didn’t really get started on my homework seriously until after dinner, causing me to stay up until 2 or 3am regularly.
The biggest change you can make to your lifestyle to help yourself get more sleep is to stop multi-tasking. When you work on homework, you’ve got to give it your full, 100% attention so that you get it done in 25% of the time. No cell phone, no facebook. Stick your phone in the refrigerator if you have to…be strict with yourself. Set standards for yourself and stick to them.
If you can’t make the changes to get more sleep, than you should do less training. If you can’t match the recovery to the training load, than you are just digging yourself into a hole. This is probably why your other sleepless friend who hasn’t trained as hard as you is racing better than you.
Finally, Leanne, here’s the last thing I’ll say about your question. I understand why you are upset, and you totally have a right to be. Being in high school and trying to be great at both school and sports is one of the hardest things to do on Earth. I’m not even exaggerating. It is an incredible amount of work and its just thrown on you all at once, and nobody is there to teach you how to balance it all properly…everyone just has to figure it out through trial and error. But if you prioritize one thing, make it sleep. If you are rested, you perform better at every other thing you do, and you get things done in less time. Trust me, its worth experimenting.
All the best,
Lauren
Thank you for the swift, thoughtful response.
Its really comforting to hear that someone has undergone a similar experience (with balancing school and sports) and to understand where the real problem lies. Now that the season has ended, I plan to take that extra time to prioritize sleep and figure this whole time management thing out. I’ll make sure to take your helpful advice with me as I (hopefully) get the hang of it.
Thanks again 🙂
Hi Leanne, I am in no way a professional athlete, but I’m pretty sure I can call myself a professional student (I’m in medical school). I did the whole school/sports thing through college and somewhat continue to do so as I run pretty consistently. To echo Lauren’s sentiment about sleep, I still consider sleep most important when I want to perform well in school, especially on a test. I’ve taken tests off little sleep and more sleep, and I always think better/perform better with sleep. I also like to get assignments done 2 days ahead if possible – ie if something is due Wed, I have the majority of it done on Mon night. It reduces a lot of stress for me. Being a top notch athlete and student is doable, it just takes a lot of planning and discipline. I would also recommend being very proactive in your education – go to your teachers before you get behind/do poorly. Know exactly what your teachers expects of an “A” student and then do that. I hope this helps you on the school side of things. Good luck!
Meggie, thanks for pitching in advice! I love it when people share tips on this site.
Hi there!! I just discovered your blog and love reading through it! I’m a runner too, not very fast though. I hadn’t played a sport since elementary school but last year (10th grade) i joined the cross country team. My times started out at about 27 minutes but i worked up to about 24 & 23 minute 5ks. I started to really like cross country. I kept up with my running (for the most part) during the off season and hoped to be faster by this year. I’m a junior now. Cross country started a few weeks ago and my 5k times are back in the 27 minutes even when I’m really pushing myself. Its just really discouraging 🙁 Even my dad says I’m a lot slower. I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong, is it possible to get slower even though I’m running more? Its not a diet thing- I’ve been eating gmo-free, organic foods and tons of veggies (no junk food) all my life. Should I include more cross training, push myself to run harder, ect?? Thank you so much!
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Hi Lauren,
I so enjoyed reading your response on this issue. I believe my daughter is going through this now. She’s not a long distance runner but a sprinter / middle distance runner with the 400 being her longest race. She has great times in the 200 and 400. This year has been a struggle for her though. She trains 3-4 days a week so it’s not her work ethic. I sense she’s frustrated and frankly scared by her body changing and what it could be doing to her times. The comments here will help her get some perspective and also encourage her as she deals with this temporary hurdle (excuse the pun 🙂 Thank you so much!!
I am a 12 year old girl in 7th gradeand I joined in the middle of cross-country season. I started of average having never trained besides in soccer, baseball, basketball, and football. I ended the season as the best runner on the varsity squad running 20 even. I just starte track an already qualified for states but I have been hearing how this whole puberty thing can really slow me down. I’m really nervous. I don’t always eat the healthiest but then again I’m a kid. What can I do to stay kid as fast?amd then faster
Hi Lauren,
I’m a high school sophomore struggeling with my 3 mile times. Last year as a Freshman I started out strong and then had issues with low Iron, but still managed to end the season with a PR of 18:30. Now my times are not consistent first race 19:24 second race 20:20. I’m frustrated because I train all week long with the other girls with no problem and then race day I can’t keep up. The last race I felt like my legs wouldn’t move.
I started puberty over 2 years ago can I possibly still be going threw this. I just want my training to pay off.
I’m very good with my diet, and try to get as much sleep as I can.