So Lily, 6, wants to run with me. She has gone with me 2x so far and each has been pretty enjoyable, I must admit.
I'm not 100% sure her motivation for begging to come along; be it curiosity over what I'm doing when I'm out "there" or the cute clothes or the idea of just spending more time with me, I don't know and don't care.
At first I was hesitant to take her because I thought she would slow me way down or complain, plus I worried that maybe it wasn't healthy for kids her age to run such long distances, but a quick search of the internet solved that worry. (Of course everything you read on the internet is absolutely true! ;-))
The first time we did a test run of 1 mile. I forced her to do a warm-up walk and then let her go just to see what she would do.
See one thing you gotta understand about this kid is, she's smart. Not just the "my kids is so smart" kinda thing all parent says, but the kind where strangers comment about how amazed they are in the way she talks and her teacher is worried she doesn't have challenging enough work for her to do. So before our first outing I explained to her that we would need to build her endurance and start slow so she doesn't hurt her joints and end up with legs that feel like lead weights the next day. I showed her run/walk type plans on the internet and let her see what the recommendations are for herself so she wouldn't think I was just making it up.
Of course because she's 6, a female and too smart for her own good she had very strong opinions of her own and wanted to show me what she was capable of; so I let her. She ran the mile only stopping to walk twice very briefly and asked if we could keep going. I said no and she whined, but when I promised we'd go again soon and go longer, she quit.
The next day she was sore...which made me feel terrible for letting her, but I am glad she learned the lesson. She takes tumbling classes 2 days a week and has recess/gym at school, plus we go for walks with the dog, so she's no stranger to exercise, but this was something new to her body.
The second time we ventured out (5 days later) was much better. We did 1.58 miles doing run/walk intervals. I went back to the c25k plan for week 3 and used one of those as our guide. Once again she did great; no complaining, no slowing me way down or trying to out do me.
I'm not 100% sure her motivation for begging to come along; be it curiosity over what I'm doing when I'm out "there" or the cute clothes or the idea of just spending more time with me, I don't know and don't care.
At first I was hesitant to take her because I thought she would slow me way down or complain, plus I worried that maybe it wasn't healthy for kids her age to run such long distances, but a quick search of the internet solved that worry. (Of course everything you read on the internet is absolutely true! ;-))
The first time we did a test run of 1 mile. I forced her to do a warm-up walk and then let her go just to see what she would do.
See one thing you gotta understand about this kid is, she's smart. Not just the "my kids is so smart" kinda thing all parent says, but the kind where strangers comment about how amazed they are in the way she talks and her teacher is worried she doesn't have challenging enough work for her to do. So before our first outing I explained to her that we would need to build her endurance and start slow so she doesn't hurt her joints and end up with legs that feel like lead weights the next day. I showed her run/walk type plans on the internet and let her see what the recommendations are for herself so she wouldn't think I was just making it up.
Of course because she's 6, a female and too smart for her own good she had very strong opinions of her own and wanted to show me what she was capable of; so I let her. She ran the mile only stopping to walk twice very briefly and asked if we could keep going. I said no and she whined, but when I promised we'd go again soon and go longer, she quit.
The next day she was sore...which made me feel terrible for letting her, but I am glad she learned the lesson. She takes tumbling classes 2 days a week and has recess/gym at school, plus we go for walks with the dog, so she's no stranger to exercise, but this was something new to her body.
The second time we ventured out (5 days later) was much better. We did 1.58 miles doing run/walk intervals. I went back to the c25k plan for week 3 and used one of those as our guide. Once again she did great; no complaining, no slowing me way down or trying to out do me.
We talked during our workout together and made a plan to go 3x a week and work the rest of the way through the c25k program (yes I'm way ahead of week 3, but it won't hurt me to do some easy running) so that she would be ready to go for a 5k on April 13th. The plan is to do the Diva's 5k in Galveston, TX that day. It's the perfect run for my little diva and I to do together. Pink everything, feather boas, tiaras and not to mention Galveston is one of her most favorite places to go.
She is super excited and super motivated, plus I upped the ante and promised to buy her an iPod shuffle with headphones just like mine as a reward for her hard work. Don't get me wrong, the health benefits are the best reward but everyone likes to get a little something now and then.
Well it's time to go to the office. Got to run...
What do you think about letting kids run? Do you have kids and would you let them run with you? How far is too far for kids to run; 10 k, 1/2 marathon, full marathon?
She is super excited and super motivated, plus I upped the ante and promised to buy her an iPod shuffle with headphones just like mine as a reward for her hard work. Don't get me wrong, the health benefits are the best reward but everyone likes to get a little something now and then.
Well it's time to go to the office. Got to run...
What do you think about letting kids run? Do you have kids and would you let them run with you? How far is too far for kids to run; 10 k, 1/2 marathon, full marathon?