A Chip Off the Old Block

My 5 year old daughter is just like me.

But yet she's not.

Alright, so when it comes to running, she is just like I was when I was a kid - she hates it and she's going to let everybody around her know about it and make them miserable in the process. 

I asked her if she wanted to run the Lil' Pumpkins race with me again and she happily agreed.  I warned her that because she's older now she's going to have to run longer.  This year she'll be running 0.3 miles versus 100 yards.  She still wanted to do it so I registered her.  I promised her I'd take her out for a training run. 

After begging me all week to take her running, we finally made it out today, a day when Daddy could watch the baby. 

In the beginning, she was more than happy to get outside and run.

After a few short, warmups, really we are only running 0.3 of a mile, we headed to the road to run.

Reality set in at that point.

I don't think we ran 100 yards before she started complaining that she was itchy, she didn't want to run, that it was too hot.  She kept asking to stop. 

I told her we'd slow down but that we really needed to keep moving so she doesn't get knocked down by the other kids on race day.

With lots of encouraging, she finally made it to the "finish" line. 

She immediately asked if we could walk back and not run.

I compromised with her and we did intervals.  I told her we'd run to the stop sign and then walk and then run to the mailboxes and then walk.

By the time we made it home, she was running to the door to get away from mommy's crazy race training.

I'm MORE than HAPPY that a 12 mm was a comfortable, easy pace for me!

Now, my daughter has more energy than the Energizer bunny.  She's very active in dance and Girl Scouts.  Her favorite activity at school?  Playing outside.  She will run... when she wants to. 

But she's still a chip off the old block and hates running.  I wasn't nearly as active as she is at her age and now I'm paying for it. (I even wrote a blog post about it HERE.)  I'm fine with running not being her thing because she is so active.

What physical activities do you enjoy with your kids?  Leave me a comment below.  I want to know.