first family 5k

We did a charity walk/run today for people in need during the holidays.  The entry was either a toy or a new piece of warm clothing like a sweater or jacket.

My 6 year old son and I did some interval run/walk and finished the 5k.  It was his first one.  My wife walked it with some of her friends.

I was really glad to have them both out there exercising as well.

I'm trying to get the little guy hooked.  His biggest obstacle is wanting to quit, then it becomes effort to get him to finish.  But he did it today!!!

Scott

 Scott, that's awesome!  Get them started young and it will be an accepted way of life.  Kudos to you.

Duane

Very cool! What an awesome way to spend the morning!

awesome, man. great day with the family from the sound of it. i think i'm going to do something like this soon. maybe with my sister who is fit as a fiddle

damn her

all the "fatty and skinny" jokes i heard as a kid will never leave me lol

oh well, i just wanted to say its GREAT to have your 6 year old out there. never to early. i see parents bring their kids to the gym and the kids love it! great seeds to plant

That's awesome man.  I can't imagine getting my 7 year old through a 5K without me killing myself.  My hunch is that there would be a lot of complaining.  We did do 4 or 5 mile races though and the first one was one of the best days of my life.

that is really cool, i love working out/racing with family...

Awesome! Glad you had a great family experiece!

Well we had our first two training runs.
Run number one we tried intervals run for a minute, walk for 90 seconds.
We made 4 or 5 of these then he said his chest hurt. 

He was o.k. just out of breath, so I decided to back it off even more.

Run number 2 consisted of 3 laps around the block
"O.K. Buddy here is the deal, we run as far as you can, then walk the remainder of the circle.  When we get back to home we will run again and try to go further."

We did this 3 times without any complaining or problems.  I think this will be the ticket for him.
I need to take it very slow and be extra supportive or it will burn him out.

Tonight we are going to do 3 laps again.  Next week I will either add a lap or increase the run distance before the walks.

Anyone else have experience getting your kids to exercise?

Thanks

Scott