Running with Kids

Kids are amazing...

Yesterday I went to the track with my six year old son and one of his buddies. If you have read my blog you know that my son has now completed two 5k's and is working on his "Kids Marathon".

Most weekends my son goes with me to the track. He has been doing this for a while. He used to just play in the middle of the field with his football or soccer ball, but then one day he decided he wanted to start running too. We started with one lap. It took him a few times, but he finally made it around with out stopping or walking. I made a huge deal out of it and the next thing I knew he was running half a mile without walking. He has now finished his second season of Beginner Track and Field and really loves to run.

After spending a few hours playing at his friend's house he wanted to go to the track. I picked them both up and drove to the track. When we got there, my son tells his buddy that he has some "agility drills" he wants him to do first. So they run up and down the bleachers and then start doing high knees on the track. He got us all to do some push ups and crunches and then it was time to run a lap.

Peyton took off pretty fast so I stayed with his friend. He was pretty tired, but ran to where Peyton had stopped to do pull ups (there's a bar at the 200 meter mark). I could tell that Peyton was trying to make it fun for his friend. He got us both to do the pull ups then ran another 100 meters and did push ups (there were a few people on the track and I could tell that they were amazed that these little guys were doing this workout). They finished with a sprint to the finish line.

Peyton looked at his buddy and said, "Only one more lap for half a mile!". His buddy did not look excited to do another lap.

I stayed with him again and we finished the half mile. We all gave each other high fives and then went on the field to play soccer.

I worked on some skills with them and then just let them play. They did that for a while and then Peyton talked his friend into running two more laps so they would "have a whole mile". So after some more coaxing, his buddy got on the track and we started running. I would point out short distances and tell him we could run to that point and then walk for a while (he agreed). We started on the fourth and final lap and I told him that he was going to be able to tell his parents that he did a whole mile today! He looked pretty excited and even asked me if I would make him a marathon chart like Peyton's. How cool is that?

As we came around the last 100 meters, Peyton started cheering him on. Telling him to beat me to the end. So I did my best acting and "raced" him to the end. He crossed the finish line and was smiling like crazy. Peyton gave him a big high five and then they both walked over to the grass and fell on their backs (very funny scene).

Peyton was really excited that he had now completed twenty miles of his "marathon" and was happy that his buddy had completed his first mile. Right after we finished, the parents of Peyton's buddy showed up at the track. I told them about their son's accomplishment and they were really excited.

My son constantly amazes me. I know kids imitate their parents, but his love for running is just so cool. More than that, his encouragement to his buddy and his ability to show him that running is fun was absolutely incredible.

Nothing like a rest day, running with kids...

http://www.mooreonrunning.com/