Over the weekend, I picked up another couple of running partners. Ever since my first 5k, which I ran with our twelve year old, our eight and ten year old have been begging to run one with us.
On Saturday night, as I prepared to run, they insisted that they were going along. Since I mostly run in the neighborhood, I told them that they could do it, but that they’d have to run on their own along a very specific path that’s mostly within view of the house.
They agreed, so I suggested that they follow (what else?) the Couch-to-5k running program. I installed the C25K app on our ten year old’s iPod Touch and set it to Week Four, which is the same point where our twelve year old jumped into the program.
We’re nearing the end of swim season, so they’re already in pretty good cardiovascular shape. Nonetheless, I thought it would still be good to gradually introduce them to running. In the end, they did the workout together and loved it.
It’s hard to say how long it will take for the novelty to wear off, but for now they’re looking forward to running again tonight. There’s another local race in July, so we’ll probably shoot for that.
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As long as they are having fun then you are doing something right!
Sounds like a good way to get them into it. Don’t push them, don’t let them do too much, and make sure they are enjoying themselves.
Active 10 year olds are actually at about the best place possible for long distance running, so don’t be surprised if they chomp at the bit to go longer. It’s easy to get a great combination of enough structural integrety with bone and muscle mass before that growth spurt combined with the low body weight. I’ve known of a few 10 year olds that have run some pretty impressive marathons.