Running with the Kids

Summertime... and the livin' is easy. The perfect opportunity to spring a running program on my kids! Bwahahaha!

Some of the more skeptical of you are thinking, running? My kids would hate that. But surprise surprise, my kids loved it, although I did hear some whining at the first session. Very quickly their fitness improved and these pseudo family walk/runs became fun. Or maybe that had to do with the fact that we follow up each session with a walk to the mall for dinner.

Last summer I did the same program with the kids, a Learn to Run 10K. Or at least, I tried to do it. We managed about 8 sessions before September rolled around, then by coincidence, there was a 5K Run for the Cure and the kids were more than ready for it. They ran almost the whole way.

The kids did well at the 5K run. Well, at least my 5 year old did well. The 7 year old ran out of steam at the 3K mark when she realized her little sister was a better runner, and did an "I refuse to look like I'm trying" move. She had be coaxed to continue, and it was not a matter of being tired, but a matter of feeling like she was in control. This is how I read it, anyway. The end of the run was in a drizzle of rain.

This time around, both kids are loving the sessions, especially the youngest. I am not planning to have them eventually run 10K, which I think is too far for little kids. More like 5K at the most. Today I had a race with my youngest uphill. She weighs 38 pounds and I weigh 123. Despite my triathlon training, she had me working at 90% and redlining it at the end of the sprint. But I didn't give up, nope. I waited for her to tire out. She would easily outrun most of the adults in my triathlon clinic.

I highly recommend the training program. You start with 1 minute "runs" which are really just a very slow jog at talking pace, followed by a 2 minute walk. You repeat this 8 times. Easy peasy. In no time at all, y'all will be real runners.