In 2006, Amy Williamson just had her second daughter and was told she had high blood pressure. After losing 60 pounds, she now tackles half marathons and is signed up for her first full marathon in February 2024. She blogs at A Family Story.
After my weight loss, I started looking to challenge myself in ways I could not before. I completed a few half marathons with my kids cheering for my on the sidelines. And now I get to cheer for my kids on the sidelines as well. My oldest is now almost 7 and she has completed a few one-mile fun runs as well as two kid duathlons (a run, bike, run race). She is currently signed up to compete in her very first triathlon.
All these events she participates in have distances that are very attainable for her age. Her first duathlon was a half-mile run, 2-mile bike, and finished with a half-mile run. And as soon as my youngest daughter hits age 5, she will be racing right along with her sister.
Most of my running workouts now have a purpose towards my training – run a particular pace, run a predetermined distance. But the runs that do the most for me are the ones I run with my daughter. We have a great little lake within walking distance to our house that has a loop which is exactly half a mile around. We often set out with just the idea of run when we can, walk when we need to. Often times, my daughter pushes me with some sprinting thrown in, which I am not accustomed to.
Neither my daughter nor I are athletes, but running keeps us fit and in shape. The races she does give her a goal to work towards, just like I have my races and my goals. I do not push her in her training; we head out most of the time when she initiates it.
Look in your area for a local 5K race– most of them have a kid fun-run attached to it. And look into your local gym or personal trainers – they often set-up races for kids as well.
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