That's my girl....

[poulet]

VERY thrilled this week when, out of the blue, eldest (12) announced she fancied having a go at this Couch to 5k running lark herself - especially when she asked if I'd go with her. I said I'd watch her rather than run as I'd just eaten, so we went up to the local playing field.

I started her off on week 2 (she's reasonably fit through dance and PE at school) - and it was quite funny watching her powering along - she's never done running for distance/stamina before - only relay and 400m style races, so she was practically sprinting.

Second time I ran with her to get her to keep pace with me. We're trying a week 3 next as she's not finding it a push at all yet. I think its probably better if she doesn't skip weeks once she finds a level that is do-able but more of a challenge, but I don't think it will be long before she's caught me up and we're doing the 30 minutes together.

I'm SO pleased to be doing this with my daughter - we've already had a lot of laughs together over it, and it's lovely to have something we can do together that we both enjoy, particularly now she's at the age when she'd pretty much always rather be with her mates than with her parents!

[AliB1 Graduate]

like a lot!

[Hidden]

well done to you and daughter - what a great thing for you to do together. Nice work

[Anonymous36 Graduate]

Aww that's lovely

[clairestanton Graduate]

aw how lovely enjoy x

[MrsMoose Graduate]

That's fantastic, makes you realise that we really can be an inspiration to our children! After months of raised eyebrows as I return red-faced & sweating from my runs my 13-year old is on the verge of joining me too.

[sheppy Graduate]

fabulous! i'm going to show my 20 year old student daughter your post and hope she takes the hint!!

[Joysmum Graduate]

I was really hoping that my daughter would do the same. I can only be envious of you!

[SarahR Graduate]

thats great! my 13year old ran Race for life with me after coming out on some of my runs- beat me hands down of course with a time of 33 mins !

[winged_trainers]

Great idea, and definitely something I'm sure lots of other people could find useful.

[newyorker570 Graduate]

Such a nice thing to do real bonding time

[groovychick54 Graduate]

That's great, my 17 year old daughter is starting too.

[Moley01 Graduate]

That's brilliant - this C25K gets infectious within families

[Nevertoolate Graduate]

How lovely for you and won't it be great when you graduate together? I started C25K with my twin sister (each in a different country mind). I graduated last Saturday but she had a dodgy knee so is about to do her graduate run this weekend. It's so encouraging having someone doing the same thing - even at a distance. She was encouraged by my enthusiasm and visa versa when things got tough. Have a great C25K!

[poulet Graduate]

Thanks for all the encouraging comments! Looking forward to my graduation run (it's my next one, probably some time over the weekend - just doing my bit for the olympics!) But I'll keep encouraging my daughter by going out with her as she builds her times up week by week. We're just working on Dad now....

[Legion Graduate]

That's brilliant, for both of you. My son (14) has expressed an interest in what I'm doing (especially in the prospect of doing a parkrun) and has made his own fitness schedule for the summer holidays, including running on alternate days. He's running very fast though, and isn't yet prepared to slow it down and work on stamina. The idea of doing a 5K is appealing though, as they don't get the chance to do anything like that at school. I hope the novelty doesn't wear off too soon, as I'm really looking forward to running together (hopefully starting next week, when I'm on week 5). Best of luck to both of you. Hopefully dad will get the hint soon!