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My son recently had to take 10 days off from training due to soreness in his achillies tendon. He is 7 years old and qualified for the Florida AAU Junior Olympics in the 100, 200 and 400.

The meet is this weekend, June 24-27. I am concerned about the 10 day layoff, most of all for the 400 which is his best event. The time off will do good for his legs because they needed the rest, but I am concerned about his cardiovascular fitness for the 400 after not training for 10 days.

Should I be concerned or at 7 years old will his cardio fitness hold in tact?

Any comments would help and be appreciated.

Thanks

After two days fitness begins to drop. The primary concern should be the Achilles tendon and not the cardio fitness. If he is going to race, I would compete in only one event.

The worst thing that could possibly happen is that he will do more damage to the Achilles. It could detach or tear which is excruciating pain. A decision has to be made regarding the importance of a race versus the importance of his health.
He is young and has many more years to compete. What life lessons do you want to teach your son?

Coach Payan
www.CoachesEducation.com

Thanks for the reply George. One of the lessons I want to teach is overcoming adversity to acheive a goal. In life there will be obstacles and reaching his goal will have everything to do with how he handles the obstacles put before him.

Medically speaking, the doctor says that there's little chance of a tear occuring in this instance. The only challenge will be competing without pain. If he experiences performance affecting pain at any point, he will be pulled from all events.

Based on your advice, however, I think I will pull him from the 200 and keep him in the 100 and 400. The 100 semis come first and will allow me to determine whether or not he will be able compete in any of the other rounds for the 100 and 400. Any pain experienced there and I will sit him down.

Once again, thanks for you reply.