My daughter has been running a little bit for 3 years now. It's mostly during the Summer, when the Annapolis Striders runs its Junior Striders program. Kids from 4 to 12 have some weekly track practices and monthly track events, which include various distances, culminating in a 1.1 mile run. The Striders also have a Kids Championship series that's a series of fun runs. The first for this year was a 1k. Sofia is 7, and she's a pretty good runner. (Like most kids at the events, they run faster and farther after the race, when they're playing. Sometimes a LOT faster.) Last night I asked Sofia if she'd like to run with me in the morning, and she said "Sure." So we ran/walked 1.25 miles. (Last year she did one event that wasn't a fun run--a one mile race where she ran the whole way and finished in 12:51.) (I'm digressing a lot, but it's only because I can't help bragging.) After our run/walk today, she said maybe she'd do 1,000 miles. Now, I know there are limits to how much you want a young child to run, and although there's much disagreement as to what that limit should be, I don't think too many people would be in favor of 20 miles per week for a 7-year-old. But a short family discussion later had us settling on Sofia being the charter menber of the 100 Mile Club. There are very few days when I'm not a prod papa, but today, I'm brimming.

Isn't it great when your kids want to run with you?? DD9 started running with me last fall, but she quickly got too fast for me, so now she runs with my husband. Her first 5k time was 28:40; a month later, she did her second in 27:23! When I asked her how hard it was for her on a scale of 1 to 10, she said, "Oh, about a 6." So I talked to several people and looked online to see how much she should be running. Everyone said be careful, and make sure she's having fun! One site I looked at said NO MORE than 3 times a week, 5 miles max at a time. From what I saw, I really don't think more than 15 miles a week is a good idea, but you will have to decide for yourself. I don't want my daughter burning out before high school! Her big brother, 15, can now run a mile in 4:43, two miles in 10:12, and 5k in 17:06. I think she has his talent, and I want to encourage it. Here is a link to a great site - this particular page is about a 7-year-old girl! Note in the answer that even a "premier" young runner is doing only 2-3 miles every other day - that's a lot less than 19.2 miles per week or 1000 miles per year. http://www.kidsrunning.com/ask/krask0303sevened.html Good lcuk and congratulations to your daughter!

BTW...Gig...what the heck are you doing on page 4??????? I will hang out at the next aid station and wait for you for a bit...but I am kind of keen on catching daytona306!

Well, you know that I'm not all that competitive, of course. I'm not really sure what's been going on, actually. It's just hard to get out on the weekdays. I've had great weekend workouts, but stuff keeps getting in the way of my after-work runs. Part of it is that my daughter and wife have been taking turns being sick. That tends to mess up my schedule. Talk about inconsiderate.