I’m a freshman and I just started running track, my first meet being on Monday. I had three meets this week, on Monday, Thursday, and today (Saturday). On Monday I got second for both of my heats in the 1600 and 800, which I and my mom were happy about. On Thursday, I did slightly worse, running four seconds slower in the 1600 (gettin 4th in my heat) but PRing in the 800 and getting 2nd place in my heat. My mom wasn’t happy about the 1600, saying I didn’t give it at all and I wasn’t taking it seriously. Today, however, was a lot worse. I am still extremely sore from Thursday, and to add on this wa any first varsity race. I ran the 4x800 and the 800, not doing that well (4x8 team came in second to last and I came in like 6th or 7th place for the 800). I pretty sure my times weren’t that much worse, if not better, but my mom was still angry/disappointed in me, saying I was doing my best, I wasn’t trying, I was just jogging, I wasn’t taking it seriously and I acted like it was just a game. She said I should at least be getting like 2nd in every race, and that I should just stop running because I’m not good at it. I know I’m not the best runner (my mile time is 6:29 and 800 is 2:50?) but I am getting better and this is my first year. My mom being there and criticizing everything I do just makes me feel worse and not enjoy the race. I want my mom to be there for me, but not be so hard on me. Can anyone help?
If you just started running track, you shouldn’t be expected to automatically be the best runner or to immediately be able to completely keep up with the grueling schedule. See if your mom understands that you’re just getting started and are getting better. It’s your freshman year. You have 3 more to keep improving.
I think it’s a shame your mom has unrealistic expectations and is giving you a hard time. You are very likely to keep getting better.
Try to put her comments aside and not engage with her on this issue. Continue with track if you enjoy it, have the time and have a good relationship with your coach and teammates - and there’s not another activity you would prefer.
I think you should tell your mom to shut her trap and learn how to run a 7 minute mile. It’s good to have high expectations, but win everything, really?
You’re doubling up events which is tough. Also your about at the midpoint of the season, so your body just might be fatigued. Don’t forget to get plenty of rest and eat a carb rich diet to keep your strength and energy up. Also re:Mom take her down to the track and race her around for a couple of laps. The winner gets to give advice.
“acted like it was just a game.”
Maybe you should remind her that it IS just a game.
Your league must suck
@LordBendtner what do you mean by that?
Thanks to everyone that replied, a lot of you gave good advice that I’ll try to follow.
@LordBendtner Says the girl who wears 5 pounds of makeup each day. Can you even run a 5K in less than an hour?
What is she basing that on? She doesn’t seem to know anything about T&F and I’m assuming that as a Freshman, you have no personal performance history to go on.
At my HS, Freshman weren’t even eligible for Junior Varsity; they had their own team. That’s often how the differences sort out simply because of individual maturation times. You can’t be expected to be competitive against all the other Varsity athletes right out of the gate. Some of them will have trained pre-season, to boot.
Give yourself some time to develop some performance history before your Mom starts making judgments about where you should and shouldn’t be.
Also, three meets in the first week seems very aggressive.
@neonerudite if she expects you to win each meet with those times
@Anish14 Haha that’s funny. No I run it in around 19 minutes and I’m not a girl.
Sorry she is acting this way… not sure what to tell you. If you ask her not to come to your meets, she might make you drop track altogether. But you are a freshman, for crying out loud. And no one wins all their races pretty much no matter what age they are. Is your dad in the picture? Can you ask him or an uncle or aunt to talk to her? It sounds like you have some real talent at this, and ought to continue it. But it would be better if you can get her to support you instead of railroad you.
I’d recommend you follow @Anish14’s advice and tell her to shut up and take her unrealistic expectations somewhere else.
You’re a freshman, so you have a lot to learn. Like how to make facial expressions so it looks like you are pushing hard while you are jogging - at least while you are running in the direction your mom can see.
Back when I was in high school, my best friend’s mom was on her case like that. I was so jealous that her mom even came to our meets, when my mom and dad were both working. But after our 3rd meet, my friend told me it was bothering her that her mom was too harsh on her. So we asked our team captain (a senior) if we should expect that to continue, or how should we deal with it? Our captain went up to her mom, and casually mentioned how amazed she was that she was doing this well as a freshman, how she and I were the hardest freshmen on the team, etc. and how much burnout our bodies get this early in the season, but thankfully Coach is preparing us for the states at the end of the year.
You might ask your Coach to have a word with your mom.
There’s nothing wrong with pushing your child to do her best, as long as its done with love.
And happy ending - my best friend and I came in second and third (respectively) in our state’s 800M Freshman Open.
Good luck to you!
No, don’t fake anything. Politely tell your mom, “Shut up”, and continue to improve. If you can get the captain to say something to you’re mom, go ahead, although that seems like a kiss-up to me. Use her as motivation (as in proving the woman who cannot run a mile in 10 minutes wrong) 
Obviously you can’t tell your Mom to shut up. Sorry she is being so unreasonable. Track is about strategy as much as it is about to performance. As a freshman you are competing against older kids who have more experience. You are also hitting mid-season when fatigue sets in and you may have over-trained. Sounds like you are doing well for a freshman. Hopefully there is a coach who you can talk to who maybe can then discretely talk to your Mom to mention how well you are doing. Since you are running Varsity the Coaches must be impressed.
@takeitallin That’s true, you don’t tell your mom to shut up, but you do under certain circumstances. There us nothing encouraging about what she is saying to OP, all negativity pointing out that he/she sucks and might as well quit.
Give your mom the business
Be careful you don’t push too hard at first. You need to ramp up gradually to be good at track and stay healthy. The 400 and 800 are particularly hard on young bodies. My Daughter, who is poretty talented, got shin splints, a hamstring tear, a stress fracture in her foot, and more, mostly from overtraining.
In short, your mom should shut up. It is very rare for a freshman to win the 800 anyway. That is a junior/seniors race,
Are you new to sports and your mom new to being a sports mom? Perhaps she could google how to be a supportive parent for kids sports.