Running with 7 year old...

[rustywheels]

Completed w3r2 yesterday and my 7 year old daughter was desperate to come along. I was sceptical, however it sort of went like this...

Daddy, come on!

Daddy, why are we walking, shouldn't we be running?

Look Daddy, I can run backwards as fast as you can run forwards

Daddy, can you fix Spotify for me?

Daddy, what's for dinner (whilst skipping round me)?

Daddy, why is your face very red?

I was so distracted I hadn't realised I'd finished and actually ran the 5 minutes warm down in error!!!!

Oh, and for the stretches at the end she can literally bend double, and still talk all the way through it all. Morale of the story. Take a 7 year old with you. Total motivator!!

[Bazza1234 Graduate]

I really hate those 7 year olds at parkrun!

[AlMorr Ambassador Graduate in reply to Bazza1234]

Yes, and particularly the 7 to 10-year-olds who can run sub 30 minutes 5K runs without having to do any training whatsoever.

[Jogunlikely Graduate in reply to AlMorr]

My friend has one of those! 8 yrs old, first grown up parkrun and skips round in 26m25s!!!

In July i'm supposed to be doing Gung Ho with him. God help me

[AlMorr Ambassador Graduate in reply to Jogunlikely]

At that Santa 5K I mentioned earlier the starter said before the event began to tell parents of children under 10 year old who were taking part not to let the kids out of their site during the race knowing quite well that the kids could outrun their parents, not sure what did happen duting the race as there were quite a few youngsters coming in sub 30. 😊.

[Jogunlikely Graduate in reply to AlMorr]

Hee hee, i bet there were a number of puffing adults trying very hard to keep up with their little ones.

If you ask said 8yr old what they want to be when they grow the answer is "I am going to be an Olympic athlete, but i haven't decided which sport yet"

Got to love them.

[AlMorr Ambassador Graduate in reply to Jogunlikely]

There were some parents like that, perhaps some of those youngsters who at the moment can run a sub 30 minute 5k won't be able to do it when they are the parents of 8 year old children who can. 😊 Even by the time they are teenagers they may have lost the momentum of running at all, hope not, but it has happened in the past.

[Buddy34 Graduate]

Ha ha sounds like you've got a competitor

[uncle_wiggy Graduate]

😂 Great post! Enjoy every moment 😉

[AlMorr Ambassador Graduate]

that sounds so cute, but by the time you graduate she probably will be able to run a sub 30 minute 5K before you can, there are many under 10's who have done that on a regular basis.

[IannodaTruffe Mentor]

Welcome to the forum and well done on getting started.

This guide to the plan is essential reading healthunlocked.com/couchto5...

She will leave you standing in no time at all.

Enjoy your journey.

[rustywheels Graduate in reply to IannodaTruffe]

Thanks and thanks for the link, which I have just read. Very useful tips. I think she will be lapping me in a week or two!

[Stmw2017]

My ten year old comes with me, he is a fantastic distraction 👍🏻

[Blath]

Brilliant, one of the best posts, sounds like an enjoyable (time flies when your having fun) run.

[Ladysilvernight Graduate]

Haha my 7 year old is desperate to run with me to. So I compromised and took her to a junior park run. This worked in my favour as it was just before week 5 run 3 (20 min run) and we run the park run slowly but with out stopping in 14 mins but gave me the confidence to realise I’d definitely be able to do the 20 min run.

[rustywheels Graduate in reply to Ladysilvernight]

Thats my aim too. She is nervous of Parkrun but I've registered both of us (and my 11 year old), and week 5 sounds about right for junior parkrun. I'll take her down this weekend so she can just see what it's like. She will ace it!

[PurpleFlamingo2 Graduate]

Brilliant!!

[Granspeed Graduate]

Aw Lovely. 💕 And a lovely post about it too. 👏🏼

[Lavender1962 Graduate]

Great post! So cute. It had me chuckling. Your 7 year old sounds very active. It makes me nostalgic. My now 18 year old was much like that at that age.

[rustywheels Graduate]

Thanks for everyone's kind comments and warm welcome to the forum. Just completed W3R3 in the midst of storm Gareth. Loved it! Will keep you posted on progress and will also give you an insight into running with my 11 year old daughter (it's more fashion conscious than with a 7 year old!)

[Agentmay Graduate]

Took my teenage boys with me once, never again! They ran off in the end as I was going too slow 🤣