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If you have children who run, (Read 270 times)

     

    Maybe you should let her do the 5k if that's what she wants, and offer to walk/run with her if she doesn't mind a parent coming along.  Just speculatin'.

     

    I may do that. If nothing else, maybe I can shake some information out of her. I presume that she likes a boy who she knows is running that race???

    jeffdonahue


      My kids (ages 10 and 11) sometimes want to run, sometimes not.  Every once in a while they want to do a 5K, but when I mention trying to get some runs in before the actual race (ie- a bit of training for it) they usually do it for a week or two then stop.  then they tend to forget about the race anyway and not do it.

       

      I would love it if they wanted to run with me more, but I dont push anything.

       

      But they are pretty active in soccer/basketball/baseball and my son does do XC at his grammar school in the Fall so I dont worry about fitness or health with them.

        My 10 yo daughter has liked running short, spontaneous races since she was 3 or 4. Last year she joined her grade school track team.  She signed up mainly because many of her best friends are on the team.  Although she is a good sprinter, she finished last or near last in every running event longer than the 400 (and she was sometimes shaky in the 400) because she hates to train/practice and has never built up much endurance.  Whatever...  It's whether she is having fun that counts.

        npaden


          My son is 6 and has done 4 or 5 1 mile fun runs starting around age 4.  He does some running and walking.  He sometimes makes his own obstacle courses.

           

          Here he is from one of his runs last year.  He is in the blue shirt climbing over the barricade.

           

          Sometimes he acts like he doesn't want to go run the races, and rarely does he like to practice running.  He usually finishes in the back 1/3rd of the pack, but with the fun runs they generally all get a ribbon or a medal and he really likes that.

           

          This picture at the start of that same race makes it all worth it.  Pure joy.

           

          Our local running club won't let any kid go over 1 mile until they are 7 years old and then only 2 miles (the club has several 2 mile races).  When they turn 10 they can run up to 4 mile races.  They aren't allowed to run 10K races until they are 13.

           

          Like others have said, don't push them too hard, they generally can figure out what they are capable of, you just might need to give them some incentive to try.

          Age: 50 Weight: 224 Height: 6'3" (Goal weight 195)

          Current PR's:  Mara 3:14:36* (2017); HM 1:36:13 (2017); 10K 43:59 (2014); 5K 21:12 (2016)

             

            There was a local triathlon that my little girls wanted to do.  But it turned out they had to join some national triathlon organization, there was a registration fee, and it would have been like 70 bucks.  For a couple of kids to run, bike, and swim like they do for free every day.

             ..... 

            One of the cool things I like about track is that you can't really buy success for kids.  Every year you'll see some kid who never ran before come out and blow away the kids who went to all the right camps and trainers.  Seems more fair to me than golf, tennis, lacrosse, and lots of other sports where you have to get in the system at an young age.  Of course, parents who do those programs think it's unfair for a kid who hasn't paid his dues to have success.

             

            I have 2 boys (19 & 9) and they both have physical disabilities (severe arthritis).  Youth triathlon (as well as 5k races and swim team) has been a tremendous help for them as they grow as individuals.  With team sports, they're 'forced' to compare themselves to others on their team.  They'd finish the season thinking they're the 8th best baseball player or whatever.  Through sports like triathlon, 5k races, and swim team, they've learned to race against themselves and their own ability and disability.

             

            Before you discount and speak to the 'negatives' of a given sport (such as triathlon), realize that there are kids like my son who benefit from sports like this.  He's able to brag about it his skills to his peers and speak with confidence rather then humbly walking around the school unable to speak about the soccer goals that couldn't happen or the home runs he couldn't hit.

             

            The 'riff-raff' are also people like us that work hard to put their kids in a positive environment.

            So, screw you and your response (even though you may not have meant it the way I interpreted it)

            Smile

             

            Regarding PSchaeffner's post, I fully understand and admire the 5k's for the reasons you mention.  It's great to see a smile on their face.

             

            Cheers,

            Brian

            Life Goals:

            #1: Do what I can do

            #2: Enjoy life

             

             


            Feeling the growl again

               

               

              The 'riff-raff' are also people like us that work hard to put their kids in a positive environment.

              So, screw you and your response (even though you may not have meant it the way I interpreted it)

              Smile

               

               

              " One of the cool things I like about track is that you can't really buy success for kids. Every year you'll see some kid who never ran before come out and blow away the kids who went to all the right camps and trainers. Seems more fair to me than golf, tennis, lacrosse, and lots of other sports where you have to get in the system at an young age. Of course, parents who do those programs think it's unfair for a kid who hasn't paid his dues to have success."

               

              It appears the post was referencing people who put their kids in sports where you CAN buy those advantages...and then DO buy them those advantages..not taking a blanket swipe at every parent who happened to have their kid in a triathlon.

               

              It is true that many of the sports listed are ones where a kid simply can't be competitive if their parents don't fund their way through the system.  I was not that good of a runner coming out of college and so I wanted to switch to triathlon...but I could not affort several thousand for the racing bike, nor hundreds/thousands more for swim coaching.  Not to mention the mandatory organization memberships simply to go do a single race.

               

              I'm happy for your sons for the joy they get from the sport and that you work hard to give them that opportunity.  From both an equipment and organizational perspective, though, it is one of those that does price out some people, especially if one wants to have the equipment to be competitive.

              "If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does.  There's your pep talk for today.  Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

               

              I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills

               

              DaBurger


                 

                I have 2 boys (19 & 9) and they both have physical disabilities (severe arthritis).  Youth triathlon (as well as 5k races and swim team) has been a tremendous help for them as they grow as individuals.  With team sports, they're 'forced' to compare themselves to others on their team.  They'd finish the season thinking they're the 8th best baseball player or whatever.  Through sports like triathlon, 5k races, and swim team, they've learned to race against themselves and their own ability and disability.

                 

                Before you discount and speak to the 'negatives' of a given sport (such as triathlon), realize that there are kids like my son who benefit from sports like this.  He's able to brag about it his skills to his peers and speak with confidence rather then humbly walking around the school unable to speak about the soccer goals that couldn't happen or the home runs he couldn't hit.

                 

                The 'riff-raff' are also people like us that work hard to put their kids in a positive environment.

                So, screw you and your response (even though you may not have meant it the way I interpreted it)

                Smile

                 

                Regarding PSchaeffner's post, I fully understand and admire the 5k's for the reasons you mention.  It's great to see a smile on their face.

                 

                Cheers,

                Brian

                 

                GC's not ragging on the benefits of a triathlon, he's just miffed at the high price point for entry, which seems to only serve to keep tri's more exclusive.  But I imagine there's probably more race insurance, facility reservations (pool or lake), and logistics in keeping transition zones straight that need to be taken into account (over a similar level of 5k).

                Know thyself.

                 

                   

                  " One of the cool things I like about track is that you can't really buy success for kids. Every year you'll see some kid who never ran before come out and blow away the kids who went to all the right camps and trainers. Seems more fair to me than golf, tennis, lacrosse, and lots of other sports where you have to get in the system at an young age. Of course, parents who do those programs think it's unfair for a kid who hasn't paid his dues to have success."

                   

                  It appears the post was referencing people who put their kids in sports where you CAN buy those advantages...and then DO buy them those advantages..not taking a blanket swipe at every parent who happened to have their kid in a triathlon.

                   

                  It is true that many of the sports listed are ones where a kid simply can't be competitive if their parents don't fund their way through the system.  I was not that good of a runner coming out of college and so I wanted to switch to triathlon...but I could not affort several thousand for the racing bike, nor hundreds/thousands more for swim coaching.  Not to mention the mandatory organization memberships simply to go do a single race.

                   

                  I'm happy for your sons for the joy they get from the sport and that you work hard to give them that opportunity.  From both an equipment and organizational perspective, though, it is one of those that does price out some people, especially if one wants to have the equipment to be competitive.

                  Sorry, I thought the theme of his message was anti triathlon and pro track & field. (3 of the 4 paragraphs spoke about the negative things he's seen in triathlon).  In all my days, I haven't seen any.  I also enjoy Track & Field.

                   

                  I guess I view youth triathlon very similar to how I view 5k racing.  If you treat youth triathlon as competitive, then you're missing what 98% of the rest of the families value in youth triathlon.

                  .... it's activity ....

                  If you treat running 5k's with your <10 year old as competitive, you're missing what 98% of the rest of the families with < 10 years olds participating in the event value in the 5k race.

                  .... it's activity ....

                   

                  Many years ago, my wife and I decided to raise our kids in a very active home.  "Active" is not equivalent to "competitive".  We compete in some events, and we're all occasionally competitive, but our goals are to remain "active" every day of every week throughout the year.

                  -Some days, "active" is defined as racing.

                  -Many days, it's training for a race.

                  -Some days, it's cross training (volleyball, basketball, street hockey, fishing) Smile

                  -Other days, "active" is defined as giving the body the necessary rest.

                   

                  Most adults aren't professional athletes.
                  Most kids won't be professional athletes.

                  Many adults were good at sports through highschool, but quit and became obese (with injured knees and likely a broken heart).

                  My goal as a parent is to provide an active environment for them to understand that the key to living life to its fullest is living an active life.

                  I want them to do what they can do.

                   

                  And that's why I love individual sports for myself (as their rolemodel) and for them as children.

                  Within my signature line, my #1 goal each and every year is to "Do what I can do".  That's a goal.  That's my goal (as an individual and as a parent).

                  Cheers,

                  Life Goals:

                  #1: Do what I can do

                  #2: Enjoy life

                   

                   


                  ultramarathon/triathlete

                    This picture at the start of that same race makes it all worth it.  Pure joy.

                     

                     

                    This is the kid I want my kids to turn into when they grow up a bit!  Talk about happy looking!  Want to bring your son to NYC to have him become a good role model for my 8 month twins?  lol

                     

                    I can't wait until my kids can run (walking would be pretty cool, even forward crawling at this point lol).  I won't push them into any sport but my wife and I joke that the acceptable sports our kids will be able to join are (in this order): cross country, track, swimming/diving, cycling, soccer, more cross country.

                    HTFU?  Why not!

                    USATF Coach

                    Empire Tri Club Coach
                    Gatorade Endurance Team


                    Feeling the growl again

                       

                      I guess I view youth triathlon very similar to how I view 5k racing.  If you treat youth triathlon as competitive, then you're missing what 98% of the rest of the families value in youth triathlon.

                      .... it's activity ....

                      If you treat running 5k's with your <10 year old as competitive, you're missing what 98% of the rest of the families with < 10 years olds participating in the event value in the 5k race.

                      .... it's activity ....

                       

                       

                      I totally agree with the bolded statement, as related to 5K or triathlon.

                       

                      Most kids are at least somewhat competitive.  At the very least, they don't want to be last and left out.  In any sport where equipment is a major factor in even basic performance...not just triathlon but also things like nordic skiing...it's hard to avoid the level of equipment they have impacting their experience.  So yeah, I totally agree it shouldn't just be about the competition.  But if being at least somewhere in the mix with the other kids helps keep the fun factor high (which I think is a valid assumption), it's easier to do that in sports that aren't equipment-heavy.

                       

                      Nordic skiing is a double whammy.  Not also is the level of your equipment important, but technique is HUGE.  You could throw hockey into that bucket too.  I don't care how big an engine you train into yourself or what equipment you have, if you weren't skiing at a very early age you will never catch up to the technique advantage of those who have done it since they could walk.  Lots of examples of this (IIRC Kenya or a similar country trying to put a runner into the winter Olympics in nordic skiing years back for one).

                      "If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does.  There's your pep talk for today.  Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

                       

                      I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills

                       


                      Baby bean!

                        Thanks for the replies. I'm happy to hear these stories.  I want him to enjoy it.   It will also be another incentive for me to go out.  Something we can do together.

                        Goals:
                        Finish C25K

                        I'm slower than a herd of turtles stampeding through peanut butter, but I run.

                        GC100k


                           GC's not ragging on the benefits of a triathlon, he's just miffed at the high price point for entry, which seems to only serve to keep tri's more exclusive. 

                           

                          That's exactly right.  Mostly it was the requirement that 5 yr olds have to join some national triathlon organization to do a fun event in the neighborhood.  I think triathlons are cool, but everything has to be so official and adult-run these days.

                           

                          But I'm a hypocrite.  We pay piles of money to have our girls in swimming.  They can't just swim, they have to be part of a thing where they have professional officials running the meets and have national rankings and stuff.  It's totally an adult-run, over-organized, buy your kids' success thing.  But my girls LOVE it and we fell into it step by step.

                           

                          I hate the adult-run, over-organized youth sports culture.  Years ago I read this book, "Just Let the Kids Play", by Bob Bigelow.  I 100% agree with his point, which is simply stated in the title.  I sent him an email and we ended up talking on the phone several times over the years.  I even had a youth-sports blog, read by about four people, for a couple years.

                           

                          My son loved baseball, but we didn't have the "commitment" to compete with the kids who had $300 bats and home batting cages where their fathers made them hit 200 balls a day.  In 6th rade, I just couldn't spend another beautiful fall day sitting inside in a gym and we pulled out of organized basketball.  My son got a skateboard and hung out with skater friends, who manage to develop skills without adults organizing them and making them do 100 kick-flips a day.

                           

                          We started exploring waterfalls in the forest and that led to us getting a deal with Backpacker Magazine to do GPS tracking of trails in our region (3 or 4 of ours appeared in the magazine).  This became a big-time hobby for my son and is now, at age 20, about the only thing he cares about.  He just got back from a month alone on foot in Montana and Wyoming (Yellowstone and nearby).  I suspect it will be a life-long hobby for him.

                           

                          One of my daughters wanted to do baseball or softball this year but she would have been in an age group with girls two years older who have been spending hours a day on it since they were born and I knew it would be brutal.  Plus I was going to be out of the country for two months and didn't want to put that burden on my wife.  So I got them involved in geocaching, which gets us outside doing something interesting.  They like it.

                           

                          They love love love swimming and I think we'll stick with it.  I wish it were cheaper and simpler, but  it's not.

                           

                          My generation played sports hours a day without adult supervision.  Just think of the athletes we could have produced if we had adults teaching us how to do it right from an early age.  All we got was (a partial list of athletes born within a year of me): Michael Jordan, Karl Malone, Patrick Ewing, Charles Barkley, Reggie White, Dan Marino, Roger Clemons, Carl Lewis, ...  Too bad.

                          catwhoorg


                          Labrat

                            As a slight counter to that, in our neighbourhood we do have a football (soccer) field and a paved bastketball court.

                             

                            Whenever I run past them, there are kids there playing on them. Pickup games on both fields, usually with a sub or two ready to switch in and out.

                             

                            The only times this is not true is when there is the official "flag football" or a soccer camp going on.

                             

                            Kids are out there freeplaying these sports, maybe not as many, maybe not everywhere.

                             

                            But the underlying thoughts I agree with. Too many rules, structures, too much competition and pushy parents. It was always like that, even in the UK growing up.

                            5K  20:23  (Vdot 48.7)   9/9/17

                            10K  44:06  (Vdot 46.3)  3/11/17

                            HM 1:33:48 (Vdot 48.6) 11/11/17

                            FM 4:13:43 (Vdot 35.4) 3/4/18

                             

                              ....

                              But I'm a hypocrite.  We pay piles of money to have our girls in swimming.  They can't just swim, they have to be part of a thing where they have professional officials running the meets and have national rankings and stuff.  It's totally an adult-run, over-organized, buy your kids' success thing.  But my girls LOVE it and we fell into it step by step.

                              .... 

                              They love love love swimming and I think we'll stick with it.  I wish it were cheaper and simpler, but  it's not.

                              Yes, USA Swimming has it's expenses as well Smile.

                              My youngest son swims with USA swimming, and enjoys it as well.

                              Similar to Nordic skiing or hockey (as Spaniel mentioned), the swimming technique is such that needs to be started at a very young age and be a life training lesson for those who'll eventually be competitive.  However, as with all sports, only a small portion make it to that level, and the rest of us are doing it for local or regional recreation or competition.  It's good activity.  That activity should be encouraged regardless of the sport or activity.  Whether it's organized (swimming / hockey) or unorganized (geo-trecking, skateboarding, hiking), activity is great for youth.

                               

                              (I think we're closer to being on the same page than my original response yesterday.  Sorry)

                              Cheers,

                              Life Goals:

                              #1: Do what I can do

                              #2: Enjoy life

                               

                               

                              jerseyrunner


                              Half Fanatic 12680

                                Don't have strong feelings on the subject but I did notice a couple of kids in a recent local 4 mile race that made me ponder. One kid was about 8-10 years old and was doing the typical kid thing -- running as fast as he could for a while and then just walking, completely wiped out. I saw him do this a couple of times and then lost sight of him after the second mile; I presume he just walked the last half if he finished at all. I felt sad for him that no one had prepared him how to run this kind of distance and there was no one there to pace him. If kids are going to race, they should be prepared. The event also offered a family friendly 1 mile run so that was a better option for kids to get race experience.

                                 

                                The other kid I noticed seemed to be about 3 years old and was in a jogging stroller pushed by a dad. It was a very hot and humid day so many local residents had hoses out to spray the runners. After running through one spray, the dad said "That was fun! Do you want to go back and do it again?" The kid declined but I thought that it was a great way to show a kid what it's all about -- fun. The dad cared more about having fun than his finish time.

                                 

                                 

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