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My Son Wants To Run...I Don't Know Where To Start (Read 447 times)

    My son is in the 6th grade and wants to run cross country next year and wants to start running now. I'm going to buy him a pair of running shoes this evening and have him run with me this week. I have no idea how to get him started. I was going to start him with a mile run 2-3/week until he gets stronger. From there I don't know what to do. His cardio should increase fast since he is on the swim team during the summer. Can anyone point me in the right direction? I want to help my son without hurting him or having him hate the sport.

     

      My son is in the 6th grade and wants to run cross country next year and wants to start running now. I'm going to buy him a pair of running shoes this evening and have him run with me this week. I have no idea how to get him started. I was going to start him with a mile run 2-3/week until he gets stronger. From there I don't know what to do. His cardio should increase fast since he is on the swim team during the summer. Can anyone point me in the right direction? I want to help my son without hurting him or having him hate the sport.

       

      My son is in 6th grade as well and has recently started running. He didn't log the couple of months of running. He didn't log his first couple of months however here is his log if you want to check it out http://www.runningahead.com/logs/35029ad86ee944d48919d4a19d49711d

      He just took 7 minutes of his 5k last month.

       

      MT: Hist first month or so he ran 3- times a week no little than a mile but by the second week he got up to 2 miles. Is your son in any other types of sports?

      Your toughness is made up of equal parts persistence and experience. You don't so much outrun your opponents as outlast and outsmart them, and the toughest opponent of all is the one inside your head." - Joe Henderson

         

        My son is in 6th grade as well and has recently started running. He didn't log the couple of months of running. He didn't log his first couple of months however here is his log if you want to check it out http://www.runningahead.com/logs/35029ad86ee944d48919d4a19d49711d

        He just took 7 minutes of his 5k last month.

         

        MT: Hist first month or so he ran 3- times a week no little than a mile but by the second week he got up to 2 miles. Is your son in any other types of sports?

         

        He's on the swim team during the summer and plays basketball in the fall. I know a lot of kids are fit right out the box. I'm going to see how he handles a slow mile and go from there. At first, I don't want to have him run more than 2-3/per week unless he has some special talent and wants to run more. I'll ask him for feedback and make sure he trains safely.

         

           

          He's on the swim team during the summer and plays basketball in the fall. I know a lot of kids are fit right out the box. I'm going to see how he handles a slow mile and go from there. At first, I don't want to have him run more than 2-3/per week unless he has some special talent and wants to run more. I'll ask him for feedback and make sure he trains safely.

           

          Sounds like a good plan. He'll either fall in love or hate it. The nice thing is he has a father as a runner which is a huge bonus! Good luck to him!

          Your toughness is made up of equal parts persistence and experience. You don't so much outrun your opponents as outlast and outsmart them, and the toughest opponent of all is the one inside your head." - Joe Henderson

            I have a son (now grown) who started running in 1st grade and was a recruited college runner.  I know he is the exception, but we saw a lot of young runners for many years!  The key is to keep it fun.  As we know, running isn't always fun and gradually they learn the rewards of hard work and sticking with it even when it isn't that much fun.   One thing that impacted our son greatly was the availability of a wonderful youth track/cross country program with a coach who knew exactly how to develop young runners.  This was a year 'round program with track in the summer and cross country/road racing in fall and winter.  They competed in USATF meets and Hershey etc.  If you have anything like that, it would be helpful.  It was truly all levels of runners and the right coach can do wonders for your kid.    Our son wound up training with the high school varsity when he was in the 5th grade, which was an interesting social experiment but worked out somehow.      I would be glad to answer any questions you have, since my husband and I are both runners (son beat me for the first time when he was 9 and beat my husband when he was 11, and we were both top age group runners in the area) and we made it through the whole thing!

             

            A big problem for younf runners is going out too fast.  They usually learn this the hard way.  Middle school cross country involves a lot of vomiting at the finish line!

            Out there running since dinosaurs roamed the earth

             

            Jeff F


            Free Beer

              I suggest talking to the middle school/junior high cross country coach and ask him/her the same question.

              Chantilly75


                My son started running just to stay in shape for other sports when he was about 11/12 yrs.  We used the run/walk method, focusing more on how many minutes were spent running and how many minutes walking.  Then we gradually increased the number of minutes each week.

                He had proper running shoes  and running clothes and we entered some local 5 Km and 10 Km races just to make things interesting.  Distance should come before speed, but kids all want to run fast, then they get out of breath. Kids need to learn proper pacing and patience in order to keep running for a longer distance without getting out of breath. I found that pacing was a hard thing to teach him.

                "dancing on the path and singing, now you got away,

                you can reach the goals you set from now on, every day"

                Sonata Arctica

                 

                 

                 

                 

                 

                GabrielleB


                  I have twins. One cares nothing for running (save the odd Turkey Trot) while the other has run several 5Ks and ran 6th grade x-country this fall. Kids that age tend to keep relatively fit on their own through PE and other activities. She runs the odd beach run with me but not consistently. When she joined XC, she was properly trained to race and did well. Because of her other activities, I wasn't inclined to schedule runs or even track them. She seems to do just fine as do many other kids I see that age who run the odd 5K.  She runs in the low 8's. Not bad for an 11 year-old. As others have said, keep it fun. If your kid likes structure, then a running plan may be just the thing to track progress. If a log feels like work, I'm sure you can carefully monitor how fit your son is by checking with the coach, teachers, and by observation.

                   

                  It's a real treat to stand at the start line with my daughter! Good luck in raising the next generation. Smile