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GPS watch for 10 year old girl (Read 1630 times)

xor


     At the risk of being even more of a grumpy old curmudgeon than usual: He didn't run a marathon - he ran 26.2 miles over a month - it's not the same thing!

     

    Everyone who runs is going to reach 26.2 miles run in pretty short order - it doesn't mean they've all run a marathon...

     

    Sorry, but yeah you crossed the grumpy threshhold.

     

    There are loads and loads of kids races everywhere that do this 26.2 one mile at a time buildup.

     

    And the world continues to turn.

     

    If you think this somehow devalues what you have done or want to do, I suggest having a popsicle.

     

    I think they are cool because it teaches goals, milestones, planning/progress, and gets little squirts out there running regularly.  Which is WAY better than the "kids, we're gonna run 5 miles next week!" thing where we showed up for PE that day and all died (metaphorically) trying to magically do 5 miles with no training or context.

     

      My wife decided she wanted to do one. It is still 35 weeks out. My daughter runs regularly with me and her mom. It is kind of a family thing. She is very active with dance, cheering, and softball. As said before kids are techy and she is no exception. She is not being made to do anything.

       Atom, if you have a smart phone there are apps out there(run keeper for Iphone etc) that can be more fun than a Garmin like call out paces every so oftern and announce splits etc which can get old for a regular runner ( I get a bit annoyed with this when a neighbor I run with insists that he needs this info), but might be fun for a techie kid.  These apps are not as accurate as a Garmin but close enough for training.

      xhristopher


         At the risk of being even more of a grumpy old curmudgeon than usual: He didn't run a marathon - he ran 26.2 miles over a month - it's not the same thing!

         

        At the risk of being grump myself, I'll state the obvious. Everyone knows this and that wasn't the point. The point was to get kids and family excited about a healthy lifestyle...

         

        The boy's dad took it to heart and started jogging, lost some weight, and even jogged a 5K this spring.

        Scout7


          My daughter is starting to train for a HM.  I wanted to get her some sort of watch to help her out.  I have a Garmin Forerunner 305 and I like it.  I'm afraid that something like that it is just too big for her wrist.  Is there anything out there comparable in a smaller form factor?  I would like to keep cost down as well.

           

           

          A Timex Ironman watch.  Really, that's all you need.

           

          Kids can be as techy as all get-out, but so what?  Just because there's a device doesn't mean that A) it's all that useful, B) it's going to be all that interesting, and C) it's going to make a lick of difference in her interest or her training.

           

          It sounds to me like she enjoys the running because it's a FAMILY THING.  A Garmin will neither diminish nor increase that.  Also, if she's 10, I'm guessing at least one parent is along with her for the running, so she doesn't specifically need a Garmin.

           

          Get her a watch with a timer.  She'll be happy with it.

          MrH


            Unfortunately, 10 is a bit young to be on most XC teams.  In Minnesota, you can't join the team until 7th grade which would put the age around 12ish???

             

             

            There are plenty of youth club track and XC teams. And at her age she'd be running 3k, not 21k. And she might enjoy running on a team, wearing the singlet etc.

            The process is the goal.

            Men heap together the mistakes of their lives, and create a monster they call Destiny.

            Shoe


              Unfortunately? Until then there's the best training: soccer and softball and tag and kick the can and church basketball and frisbee and ride her bike and stuff like that for another year or two.

               

              I started running and did my first half when I was 13.  I had done soccer and softball before then; They didn't suit me as well and were generally negative experiences.  If I hadn't stumbled into running I probably would still hate physical activity - I hate all those games.  My parents were not runners and I had to stumble my own way into it.  I wish I had found it earlier; Maybe then I wouldn't have been an obese preteen.  I loved it then, and love it now, and would have loved it sooner.   I liked, and like, longer distances better than shorter; I suppose I should be happy my parents didn't really know the difference!

               

              I haven't seen much showing that running hurts children.  I mean, if they aren't being pushed by external influences but just being allowed to do what is enjoyable.  Most parents I see push their kids less in running than some of those other aforementioned sports, at least around my neighborhood.  (Swim team practice is already near daily at age 7 for my friend's kids)


              Feeling the growl again

                My wife decided she wanted to do one. It is still 35 weeks out. My daughter runs regularly with me and her mom. It is kind of a family thing. She is very active with dance, cheering, and softball. As said before kids are techy and she is no exception. She is not being made to do anything.

                 

                To balance what may be an over-interpretation of the intenet of my post, I am sure you are not forcing her to do it.  However I also remember being a fairly active kid of the same age and a full mile feeling like a long ways.  She may WANT to do it, and possibly even like some gadgetry, but in the end a HM is a heck of a distance to be a kid's first or near-first experience.  I hope she is doing some 5Ks/10Ks in the 35 weeks between now and then. 

                 

                Kids have a lot of enthusiasm and energy and, as a result, can wholeheartedly throw themselves into situations that may not be the best idea for them in the long term.  I worked my way from the mile to 5Ks and so forth...actually I'd been running for a decade before I ran a HM.  That may be extreme but I'm sure if a HM had been my first race or even in my first year of running I would not have taken to the sport as well in the long term.

                 

                As for the GPS I agree with Scout, I really think that is over-doing it at this phase, and there is no cheaper option than a couple hundred bucks that I am aware of.  I ran for 15 plus years before I got a GPS....it is a good tool but totally unnecessary.  Get her a watch with a timer and splits and make both her and your pocketbook happy.

                "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

                 


                Why is it sideways?

                  I suggest that cross-country or playing frisbee or soccer or something like that may be better for a 10 year old girl than running a half marathon with a Garmin and somehow this is controversial?

                   

                  Still grumpy.

                  L Train


                    Kick the can is stupid.

                     


                    Why is it sideways?

                      Kick the can is stupid.

                       

                      You crossed the line with that one.

                      xor


                        l only know about kick the can from The Twilight Zone.

                         

                        atomno2


                          

                          Thanks for all of the input and feed back.  I will not be getting GPS .  As long as she continues to like running, I am not going to stop her.  She ran her first 5K in the 3rd grade, and has run quite a few races since then.  This is something that she decided she wanted to do with her mom, and I don't see any issues with it.  There are several 5K and 10K races between now and then and she will run them. At any point it is no longer fun, she can and will stop.  Growing up I speed skated and the lessons I learned from that are worth more than words can say.  While running not skating, is very similar because there is a training cycle.  It teaches self motivation, acceptance of defeat, joy of winning, how to work hard, ect.  It also keeps her active and off of the couch.

                          Not that I am fast but--

                          Okay, here we go. Focus. Speed. I am speed. One winner, forty-two losers. I eat losers for breakfast. Breakfast? Maybe I should have had breakfast? Brekkie could be good for me. No, no, no, focus. Speed. Faster than fast, quicker than quick. I am Lightning.” — Lightning McQueen


                          Feeling the growl again

                            If she has already run shorter races and will be running more of various distances between now and then, best of luck and I hope she and mom have an enjoyable experience.

                            "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

                             


                            Best Present Ever

                              I ran a few late miles of a half marathon with a 10 year old girl and her mom.  The little girl seemed pretty happy and strong around mile 10 when I left them.  I was struck by it because my pretty fit 10 year old daughter is usually miserable by mile 2 of a 5k.  My daughter likes talking about running, wearing the race shirts, and talking about the races she's run.  The running part of running she's less excited about.  Hope your daughter has fun. 

                                I suggest that cross-country or playing frisbee or soccer or something like that may be better for a 10 year old girl than running a half marathon with a Garmin and somehow this is controversial?

                                Make sure you set the Forerunner 305's data recording setting to "1 second".  Otherwise, with all the changes of direction, her Garmin will never record an accurate distance (or splits) from kick-the-can data.

                                "I want you to pray as if everything depends on it, but I want you to prepare yourself as if everything depends on you."

                                -- Dick LeBeau

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