taking the kids running

In article <[email hidden]>,

determined said:

My 9 yr old daughter I guess is catching the "running bug" and would like to
go with me on one of my runs. I figured I could take her out for a very
easy and slow mile or two, I don't want to overwhelm her! But I was
wondering if that was even safe, I mean for her developing
muscles/bones/joints. Do I need to be particularly careful about the
surface she runs on? And, she doesn't have "running" shoes. In fact, they
are fairly cheap. I don't really want to spend a bundle on shoes when her
feet are growing so fast. I totally love that she is interested in running,
because it took me until adulthood to have any interest in fitness. So I
would like to encourage her.

Any thoughts?

The ideal place for this is a track. You do your regular run at
regular pace, and your daughter runs and walks around to her level
of interest. -- With you explaining (and parenting) to her that when
she's walking she should be in an outer lane, and to look before
crossing the traffic.

The track, if it's a rubberized surface rather than cinder or asphalt, also
reduces the shoe issue.

But, if she's going to be running regularly and more than casual distance
(call it half mile), yes, she needs running shoes. Quite possibly even at
a lower level than that.

Her age isn't an issue on this, though the shoes are. The developing
muscles/bones/joints do _better_ if they're given regular exercise.
(If she's running 5 miles a day on pavement, there might be some
question. Some running around with mom, on the other hand, not much.)
--
Robert Grumbine http://www.radix.net/~bobg/ Science faqs and amateur activities notes and links.
Sagredo (Galileo Galilei) "You present these recondite matters with too much
evidence and ease; this great facility makes them less appreciated than they
would be had they been presented in a more abstruse manner." Two New Sciences

determined said:

My 9 yr old daughter I guess is catching the "running bug" and would like to
go with me on one of my runs. I figured I could take her out for a very
easy and slow mile or two, I don't want to overwhelm her! But I was
wondering if that was even safe, I mean for her developing
muscles/bones/joints. Do I need to be particularly careful about the
surface she runs on? And, she doesn't have "running" shoes. In fact, they
are fairly cheap. I don't really want to spend a bundle on shoes when her
feet are growing so fast. I totally love that she is interested in running,
because it took me until adulthood to have any interest in fitness. So I
would like to encourage her.

Any thoughts?

Let do as much or little as she wants. I might suggest that you do
your run and then go with her. Don't wear yourself out with her and
not be able to do your own workouts.

John

"determined" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

My 9 yr old daughter I guess is catching the "running bug" and
would like to go with me on one of my runs. I figured I could
take her out for a very easy and slow mile or two, I don't want
to overwhelm her! But I was wondering if that was even safe, I
mean for her developing muscles/bones/joints. Do I need to be
particularly careful about the surface she runs on? And, she
doesn't have "running" shoes. In fact, they are fairly cheap.
I don't really want to spend a bundle on shoes when her feet are
growing so fast. I totally love that she is interested in
running, because it took me until adulthood to have any interest
in fitness. So I would like to encourage her.

Any thoughts?

You should start her on ultras as soon as you can. A nice 50 miler
should be just about right.

"determined" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

My 9 yr old daughter I guess is catching the "running bug" and would like
to go with me on one of my runs. I figured I could take her out for a
very easy and slow mile or two, I don't want to overwhelm her! But I was
wondering if that was even safe, I mean for her developing
muscles/bones/joints. Do I need to be particularly careful about the
surface she runs on? And, she doesn't have "running" shoes. In fact,
they are fairly cheap. I don't really want to spend a bundle on shoes
when her feet are growing so fast. I totally love that she is interested
in running, because it took me until adulthood to have any interest in
fitness. So I would like to encourage her.

Good basic shoes, fun, and consistency are what is important. My kids love
their club track program as they play a lot of games so the practice hardly
seems difficult at all. The 1 mile (or 5K when they can do it) road races
are a lot of fun and kids love the high energy atmosphere. My high school
junior has been running with me since third grade and the only minor
soreness he has ever had was towards the end of high school track or cross
country seasons. My high school freshman is running even better times than
his brother at the same age (both lettered in track and CC as freshamn) and
has never been injured. They both are more tired when they go through
growth spurts but rest and good nutrition is important.

My little girl (7 years old) does club track and does the 200 meters to the
mile and enjoys it a lot though she likes soccer, baseball, basketball, and
dance more. Again, no injuries but there is plenty of rest between
activities.

Good luck.

Quoted message said:

Any thoughts?

Last year my kids were 7 and 5 (both boys) and both ran. You are
allowed to run on the Catholic school cross country teams if you are
in first grade. We literally had hundreds of kids that would run a one
mile course. Pretty entertaining sight to see hundreds of little kids
taking off from the starting line. I helped run with the kids from our
school and we encouraged parents to run with us to keep an eye on all
the kids. We met once or twice a week and then once the season started
we ran a mile race every Thursday. It was pretty hard to keep kids
motivated at that age when we were just starting out. Most of the kids
were out of shape and running a mile in the heat isn't their idea of
fun. By the end of the season though the kids were in shape and liked
running the races with their classmates. We primary ran in a park
setting on grass. If your daughter thinks she is really going to like
running then you need to buy are a $20 pair of running shoes. My sons
are involved in several other sports so we ran all summer with them at
the park. We told them that running would keep them in good shape for
soccer. We told them that it would make them fast on the filed and
they would score more goals. That was all the motivation they needed
to run regularly during the summer.

Lastly you may want to check if their are any running clubs in your
area. The running club in our area has races every month and there are
several other organizations in our area that sponser other races. Some
of these races have a 1/2 mile or 1 mile run for the kids to race in.
You definitely want your daughter to have fun when she is running. For
me, running is something that the whole family can do together and is
good for us.

Ahh yes........passing your insanity on to your children.

Very commendable.

"dimperio" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Last year my kids were 7 and 5 (both boys) and both ran. You are
allowed to run on the Catholic school cross country teams if you are
in first grade. We literally had hundreds of kids that would run a one
mile course. Pretty entertaining sight to see hundreds of little kids
taking off from the starting line. I helped run with the kids from our
school and we encouraged parents to run with us to keep an eye on all
the kids. We met once or twice a week and then once the season started
we ran a mile race every Thursday. It was pretty hard to keep kids
motivated at that age when we were just starting out. Most of the kids
were out of shape and running a mile in the heat isn't their idea of
fun. By the end of the season though the kids were in shape and liked
running the races with their classmates. We primary ran in a park
setting on grass. If your daughter thinks she is really going to like
running then you need to buy are a $20 pair of running shoes.

Where do you get $20 running shoes?

My sons

Quoted message said:

are involved in several other sports so we ran all summer with them at
the park. We told them that running would keep them in good shape for
soccer. We told them that it would make them fast on the filed and
they would score more goals. That was all the motivation they needed
to run regularly during the summer.

Lastly you may want to check if their are any running clubs in your
area. The running club in our area has races every month and there are
several other organizations in our area that sponser other races. Some
of these races have a 1/2 mile or 1 mile run for the kids to race in.
You definitely want your daughter to have fun when she is running. For
me, running is something that the whole family can do together and is
good for us.

Thanks for sharing!

"determined" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Where do you get $20 running shoes?

You don't get real ones for $20 but you can get good kids running shoes at
www.roadrunnersports.com.

Quoted message said:

determined said:

My 9 yr old daughter I guess is catching the "running bug" and would like to
go with me on one of my runs. I figured I could take her out for a very
easy and slow mile or two, I don't want to overwhelm her! But I was
wondering if that was even safe, I mean for her developing
muscles/bones/joints. Do I need to be particularly careful about the
surface she runs on? And, she doesn't have "running" shoes. In fact, they
are fairly cheap. I don't really want to spend a bundle on shoes when her
feet are growing so fast. I totally love that she is interested in running,
because it took me until adulthood to have any interest in fitness. So I
would like to encourage her.

Any thoughts?

At that age, kids have a really hard time pacing themselves. So you're
going to need a ton of patience. You'll probably find your DD wants to
speed up and go too fast. Then she'll burn herself out and get
frustrated because she can't go very far. You'll need to coach her to
slow waaaayyyy down, if she wants to complete a certain distance, like
a 1/2 mile or a mile. Are you sure you're the best qualified to do
that? Hee hee. :-)

My DD's are both great swimmers, but running was a challenge for
both. DD12 however is now the only kid in her class who can run an
entire mile without walking. Why? Because she listened to me when I
told her she could run as far as she wanted (she certainly has the
lungs), provided she only slow waaaayyyy down and pace herself. She
says everyone passes her initially, then she passes everyone else when
they've run out of breathe. :-)

During my last 5K, a 10 year old beat me. She was running with her
father. It was very cute. They were doing a combo walk/run. She was
right behind me when the finish line came into view. I heard her say
to her father, "Are we THERE yet???" In this really agonizing voice.
Then: "OH! THe finish line! I see it!!" And whooooooooossshhhhhhhhhh
she went right by me like a bat out of hell...

Just the other day I saw a mom and her DD running together. This mom
had a lot of patience. Her DD would run lickety split - all out - way
ahead of mom, leaving her in the dust. Then stop to catch her breathe
and wait for mom to catch up. Then bolt away she went again. Start and
stop, start and stop. They looked like they were having fun though!
(Well... okay, mom kinda had a pained "i'm enduring this"
expression).

Finally, our local Y runs a Learn to Run program specifically for
tween-age girls only. It's over the summer and by the end they compete
in a 5K.

jen

"shinypenny" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

determined said:

My 9 yr old daughter I guess is catching the "running bug" and would like
to
go with me on one of my runs. I figured I could take her out for a very
easy and slow mile or two, I don't want to overwhelm her! But I was
wondering if that was even safe, I mean for her developing
muscles/bones/joints. Do I need to be particularly careful about the
surface she runs on? And, she doesn't have "running" shoes. In fact,
they
are fairly cheap. I don't really want to spend a bundle on shoes when
her
feet are growing so fast. I totally love that she is interested in
running,
because it took me until adulthood to have any interest in fitness. So I
would like to encourage her.

Any thoughts?

At that age, kids have a really hard time pacing themselves. So you're
going to need a ton of patience. You'll probably find your DD wants to
speed up and go too fast. Then she'll burn herself out and get
frustrated because she can't go very far. You'll need to coach her to
slow waaaayyyy down, if she wants to complete a certain distance, like
a 1/2 mile or a mile. Are you sure you're the best qualified to do
that? Hee hee. :-)

LOL! Maybe it'll be good practice...

Quoted message said:

My DD's are both great swimmers, but running was a challenge for
both. DD12 however is now the only kid in her class who can run an
entire mile without walking. Why? Because she listened to me when I
told her she could run as far as she wanted (she certainly has the
lungs), provided she only slow waaaayyyy down and pace herself. She
says everyone passes her initially, then she passes everyone else when
they've run out of breathe. :-)

During my last 5K, a 10 year old beat me. She was running with her
father. It was very cute. They were doing a combo walk/run. She was
right behind me when the finish line came into view. I heard her say
to her father, "Are we THERE yet???" In this really agonizing voice.
Then: "OH! THe finish line! I see it!!" And whooooooooossshhhhhhhhhh
she went right by me like a bat out of hell...

Just the other day I saw a mom and her DD running together. This mom
had a lot of patience. Her DD would run lickety split - all out - way
ahead of mom, leaving her in the dust. Then stop to catch her breathe
and wait for mom to catch up. Then bolt away she went again. Start and
stop, start and stop. They looked like they were having fun though!
(Well... okay, mom kinda had a pained "i'm enduring this"
expression).

Finally, our local Y runs a Learn to Run program specifically for
tween-age girls only. It's over the summer and by the end they compete
in a 5K.

jen

Sounds like it will be a good family experience!