10 year old son wants to join in

[kezrou]

I am just about to start wk3 and my 10 year old has come out on a couple of the previous runs, he was brilliant and bouncing around the whole time, didn't seem to be hard for him at all. He wants to keep coming with me but I am unsure if this is suitable for him as obviously I do not want him to do any damage to his body. Any advice on whether this training is too insense for his young bones/muscles muchly appreciated. thanks

[Alaiyo Graduate]

Inviting your son to join you is sooo awesome on so many levels. First off, it addresses any childcare concerns while you run. It gives you bonding time together, and gets him moving. You get to model healthy behavior and set him up for an active life. You even get a running buddy. The list goes on and on.

I have never trained a child to run, so I looked up a couple things. According to this site, kids 10 and up can train for up to 10K, while 7-9 yr old can train for up to 5K. ( runnersworld.com/article/1,... )

More detailed info: runnersworld.com/article/0,...

Lots of schools have running programs for kids in grade school and up, so that part is fine. Your child may have different needs in terms of the progression of the program than you do though. At his age, it looks like he may be okay doing C25K, if he enjoys it, and if he isn't hurting. If he is in pain, or getting bored, you may want to modify his training based upon some of the child-specific running programs. One thing I saw in the articles, for kids, it is often "speed rather than endurance". So if he feels like taking off like a mad dervish for 60 seconds, walking a bit, and running again, that is probably normal. If you want to take him on your runs, perhaps set guidelines about not running ahead or behind out of sight, and let him do what he wants as far as pace and timing - if he happens to want to follow Laura's directions, even better, but not critical.

[kezrou]

Thank you so much for your reply it has set my mind at rest, He really does love it, even my 6 year old comes out with us but he comes along on his bike or scooter. They both can't wait until the next time we go out so I know they are enjoying it. Thanks again

[Alaiyo Graduate in reply to kezrou]

That is great news. It's great to have the 6 yo on scooter or bike. He may be a little young yet to do any serious training for running, although if he is interested (and you can figure out logistically how to do it), he is probably safe to train to run up to 1K or so. He may want to try, seeing as how his all-powerful big brother is doing it. If he really wants to try, just be sure to let him go at his own pace of walking and running, and have the scooter as backup when he tires.

[jomcc4 Graduate]

My 11 year old daughter comes with me most of the time. She loves to sprint off at the beginning of an running intervals and then she takes the walking real slow so I catch her up. She is like a little whippet and doesn't even have the good grace to get a glow or slight sheen to her face when we're done. She doesn't always come with me and certainly avoids rainy runs. If you both enjoy it, make the most of it. I'm sure he will be proud of you.

[kezrou]

Jomcc4 that made me laugh ''she doesn't have the good grace to get a glow'' as my son is the same, its so annoying, lol!! Thank you for your reply I will happily carry on with my little C25K buddy now.

[TJFlute]

My nine and a half year old daughter comes with me now and again, if I am doing a short run and I saw a few children run at the 5k parkrun in Eastbourne. I think it's brilliant. They tend to know when to stop and walk or if it's too much for them, in fact they're better at listening to their bodies than we are I think!

[AliB1 Graduate in reply to TJFlute]

there are lots of youngsters at the Bromley run...all way faster than me!

[Mirella Graduate]

Its great that he wants to run with you, is perfectly fine for him and has way too many benfits to list here. Its really only serious weight/resistance training that youngsters should avoid (unless supervised by a qualified trainer) as over developed muscles can cause bone damage but that is pretty extreme.

Good luck, you may be training a future Olympian!

[happierswimming Graduate]

took my grandchildren (12 and nearly 9 ) with me on wk5r2 this morning. They went off like trains but were too puffed to keep going for the required 8 minutes. Slow but steady Grandma managed it all

[TJFlute in reply to happierswimming]

That's wonderful x

[Greg_M Graduate]

My 13 year old has just completed it, proud dad!

Its great and I can't imagine there are any issues. He used to go to kiddie athletics club and we saw a junior x-country and there were some awesome runners there.

[TJFlute in reply to Greg_M]

Did he complete all nine weeks? Did you give him a graduate badge?

[kezrou]

Thank you all so much for your replies, I feel really happy about him coming with me now. He really does love it and is already bugging me about what time we can go out on our run tomorrow. I hope it does encourage him (and my 6yr old) to make regular exercise part of their lifes and not wait until 39 like me, oops

[GoogleMe Graduate]

It's lovely he wants to join you. I offered the podcast to my 12 yo when he started running when we were walking the dog. He was *so* cross "I know how to run!" I really think my 14 yo could usefully do it as he has a tendency to get a stitch whenever he runs and I think this would help him learn to pace himself.

[SarahR Graduate]

My 13 year old has been out training with me and just did Race for life with me in 33mins! ( not me- her !) She does not enjoy sports at school but seems to love the freedom of deciding to run for herself.....

[Miss_T_Ide Graduate]

My 11 year-old niece just did Race for Life in 24 mins 20 secs. I'm not challenging her to a race any time soon!

[kezrou]

Seems there are lots on young ones who enjoy running too. They seems to find it easy, hopefully I will one day!

[nicolaclaire]

I think its great to encourage kids to participate, i'll be taking my 2 boys on my weekend run the 12 year old needs to do exercise as he is like me has a tendancey to put on weight but my 10 year old has his dads skinny build and i know will spend a lot of the run waiting for me!!