10 year old wants to join in - Beginners

Mij

16/08/2002 at 17:54

OK I'm typing this with my 10 year old son standing over my shoulder asking ... "can I do it too?"

So any advice on the best way to get your kids involved while still getting your own milage in, please?

Shreds

16/08/2002 at 19:01

MIJ, Have him ride his bike along while you are running.
Robin

Velociraptor

16/08/2002 at 23:41

Take your son and a stopwatch to the track and take turns at timing one another over 200 or 400 metres - it will be a speed session for you and a suitable running distance for the nipper.

Leave him behind when you do your long runs. They're not for children.

If you were in the West Midlands, I'd suggest linking him up with Kevin the Teenager, my 11-year-old daughter, who is also very keen to run.

Cheers, V-rap.

Mij

17/08/2002 at 12:50

Far west midlands - 6 miles on the English side of the border. I like the idea of doing joint speed sessions. He is very fit from swimming but has a running style which makes him look like a mobile windmill!

Dangly Spice

17/08/2002 at 18:49

I know several women who take their offspring out with them on bikes. One youngster carries his Mum's spare waterbottle and jacket in a bike pannier so he knows that he has to keep up!
There's also a lovely family group round our way - i often see Dad first, then kid on bike, then Mum pushing babyjogger with Dog trotting along behind. Dad and bike boy do 2 laps of the reservoir (10 miles) whilst Mum and the others do 5 miles.

Debbie Coates 2

05/07/2004 at 23:57

My 13 year old daughter comes running with me. She's a distance runner at school and is very into atheletics, plays football for the school, rounders, netball etc etc.

Sometimes when i am reall slow, she just walks beside me, but most of the time she runs.

We've had a great time since we started running togeather, at last I am finding time for her and for me, its a great bonding thing.

She's my coach :)

Staggers

06/07/2004 at 04:52

My 10 yo son has been with me once on a 3 mile plod, we did a 9/1 run/walk which he managed reasonably well. Like your son he's quite fit already from swimming, football and rugby, but lacks the stamina for distances yet. He has been with me on his bike before.

The current plan is for him to run with me on the shorter runs and come of his bike for longer ones.

One word about kids on bikes though. It might sound like a great idea, until he's busy waving to one of his friends and nearly rides into a tree!!! Not good when you're struggling breathe-wise and suddenly start laughing......

Bootlegger

06/07/2004 at 13:32

Hi

My boys come out on their bikes when I do a 4-5 mile run.

Youngest likes to cycle ahead and wait for us to catch up; eldest likes to cycle slowly next to me and have a chat. The dog comes too.

The boys were very helpful when I was doing hill repeats whilst trying to reach my max HR. They sat at the top of the hill writing down the HR's and shouting encouragement. They keep asking if they can do that again..it certainly got them interested!

Youngest (7yo) has been out for short jogs with me (I use these sessions as warm ups for longer runs) but he prefers cycling as it's faster.

Staggers, I have a similar story about a bike and a tree LOL :-))

BL

TriciaW

03/09/2004 at 20:51

I only started running three weeks ago and keep trying to persuade my kids - aged 10 and 8 - to come at weekends.

The best my 8 year old can manage is to sit on her bike in the middle of our local football pitch, shouting 'get those knees up' while I wheeze round the edge giving her dirty looks!

Not quite what I had in mind!

Tricia

20/03/2006 at 22:10

Well I am a 14 year old boy myself, and with enough steady training I have gotten up to being able to handle those long runs. I think that running with your family is a great bonding opportunity. It also gets children interested in athletics.

In my situation I go out on the weekends with my mum. She walks down the street, as I run ahead about 25m, and then trun around and run back to her. It gives me a better workout, and the postitions can be switched in your situation, so that you get the run that you want, and can still bring your son along, even if he isn't up to running as far as you are.

Enjoy your running! :-)

Dragon Breath

21/03/2006 at 08:47

My 8 year old daughter has been running with me for about three years. She ran her first 2k in Cardiff in Sept 2003 and enjoys training with me. We do her running, never more than 3k, as my warm up before I go off for my run on my own. She's not the fastest but she enjoys running with me and I think it has given her an appreciation of what it is to be healthy, she certainly sees food as fuel and understands why she can't have McDonalds more than once per week!

I never push her, I never make her do anything that she doesn't want to, if she says she doesn't want to go out then she doesn't have to. The trick with kids is to make sure that they enjoy it and not to make them work too hard. You need to be encouraging and you need to slow them down and teach them that it's all about endurance and not absolute speed. I hope that this will give her the foundation for a healthy life.

(When I say she isn't the fastest I mean over a long distance, she absolutely murders the other girls on school sports day!)

The Flying Fifer

21/03/2006 at 09:11

My 11 year old son has been running for a couple of years now. To begin with, he only did a mile or so.

As he's getting older (and taller-he's one of the long, lanky variety!), his endurance is improving, and he can do 3 miles with ease. We don't let him run further than that just yet. I'm a bit wary of overdoing things with him in a period of very active bone development.

There are often fun runs associated with adult races, and Junior Fifer has a great time doing them...he came 9th out of 60 at a 1 mile 5-15 year-olds race at the weekend, his best performance so far.

Also he runs at school at this time of year, as he's in the cross country team.

Ao I'd say go for it, if your son is keen. What better way to help him develop a healthy lifestyle!

The Flying Fifer

21/03/2006 at 09:34

I've just noticed the date on the start of this thread..that 10 year old will be 13 or 14 now!! Wonder if he did start running?

Minty4

21/03/2006 at 15:00

Was about to start a Forum called Fat Family .... (something, hadn't got to the rest of it) when I discovered this.

I've put on a ton of weight since giving up smoking in November. I'm trying to get it off by running. My 10 year old (happy birthday to him, 10 last Friday) wants to join me and I was wondering whether it's okay.

The whole family are built for comfort, not for speed, if you know what I mean and whilst we are never going to win speed medals, we have plenty of stamina (before moving here, we used to do bike rides of around 23 miles (when he was around 7). Bothersome thing is that we can be a bit lazy and so this running thing is quite new and will have profound benefits for us both (I hope). Son also needs to lose weight. Was wondering about entering him in a race and getting him in training for that so was interested to read other posts.

Anyone know of any suitable races coming up? We're far west midlands, near the welsh border (noticed another post saying 6 miles from the border and wondered where you are?). Possibly the Cardiff (Great Welsh Run?).

Annette Aguirre

29/12/2006 at 11:00

Have him ride his bike so that he can exercise too but fun for him

Tammy Pritchard

29/09/2007 at 19:53

I recently took up running to lose weight after giving up smoking, I average 4k three times a week. I have been inspired to get my son involved from reading this thread!

He loves his cycling and we are lucky enough to live next to a nature reserve so I asked him if he would like to be my jogging buddy next time I go out and he was made up with the idea. I would love for him to come running with me (he is a tad portly around the middle) but think running would scare him. Does any one have ideas of how I can gradualy introduce him to the concept?

GrumpySometimes

27/02/2008 at 14:02

My 10 and 11yr olds love coming running with me - and the dog too.

I'm still on a run/walk program so they easily fall in with what I'm doing, I just make sure my aim is for stamina not speed. I don't see why, with training and good footware, kids of this age shouldn't be able to run a 5k distance in fact my daughter and I are in training for a Race for Life 5k later this spring (neither of us have run for a few months). When she was 9 we would run, slowly, together for half an hour at a time too - she loved it.

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