Age Appropriate Running for Parental Expectations

There are a few things that I can single out in our family that has made a significant difference to how we interact with each other. Those things of most importance are faith based for us, but after faith what shapes your family dynamics? For us, it has been running but the principle behind it is that we are all doing the same activity. We talk the same talk, get excited about the same things, have conversation points that keep lines of communication open, etc, etc.


If you are wanting to get your children involved and have a similar experience there are healthy and unhealthy ways to approach it. The biggest problem of course is putting too much pressure on your kids, or expecting too much out of them. It's hard to know what is appropriate and what is not. Runner's World wrote an article that we have referenced to help know as parents what our expectations should be. Here is the link, Runner's World Article - "Youth Movement"  Enjoy...

Find Your Child's Running Strengths

When I ran track I had much greater success when trailing my opponent for most of the race and then breaking out on the closing 100 meters and passing them at the end. When my daughter first started running I naively suggested she should do the same because that is what I did. I soon found out that she didn't have the same kick I did so I thought, "We need to improve her kick." She managed success but we could both tell she wasn't hitting her potential. I finally realized as a parent that she was different. She has a different muscle make up than I do so it was much more productive to develop a strategy based on her strengths rather than mine! Now, she takes advantage of her high levels of slow twitch muscles and goes out fast at the start and maintains that speed throughout the race, which has worked much better for her.  

Generally speaking there are three different types of runners. The differences are created by the types of muscle fibers in each person.

1. Sprinter - Those good at sprinting have higher levels of fast twitch muscle fibers which are more efficient when oxygen is scarce. Events that these runners excel at are usually 400, 200, and 100 meter races. 
2. Mid-Distance - These runners have a good mix between fast and slow twitch fibers. They may find they are not exceptional at short or long distances but excel at mid-distance races. These mainly include the 800 and mile, but they can also find success in the 400 and 2-mile.
3. Long Distance - On the other end of the spectrum you have long distance runners who have higher levels of slow twitch fibers which use oxygen more efficiently. Events that these runners excel in are the 2-mile and cross country races. They can also see success in the mile but start to see a decline in success with the 800. 

The article listed below says, "Our muscle fiber type may influence what sports we are naturally good at or whether we are fast or strong. Olympic athletes tend to fall into sports that match their genetic makeup. Olympic sprinters have been shown to possess about 80 percent fast twitch fibers, while those who excel in marathons tend to have 80 percent slow twitch fibers."

More detail and resources

www.sportsmedicine.about.com/MuscleFiberTypes

Become a Passionate Parent

I know you've seen those parents who are yelling to their kids as they race down the track and thought, "I'm embarrassed for you..." Before we pass too much judgement let's look at a couple of things. First of all, I don't think there is anything wrong with having passion behind your kids activities. In fact, that is what I encourage. The important thing is to channel that passion into productive mentoring that will help your child reach their potential. There will be other postings on the blog that will address how we can effectively channel that passion as a parent, but for now let's agree that passion and excitement is a good thing. 

I sometimes wonder if some parents who want to pursue their own interest rather than giving time to their children rationalize their actions by telling themselves, "I don't want to be a crazy parent so I give my child space and they drive their own interest." While general principles of this thinking are good it can also be a cop-out of a disinterested parent. 

If we channel our passion into mentoring principles, children feel the energy you bring and will feed off that to push themselves beyond their comfort zone. If you become a lecturer and are constantly critical of their work you will contribute to their burn out. Mentoring principles put you in a position of creating learning environments, asking effective questions, and letting them discover the answer themselves. Becoming a passionate parent will not only help your child be more successful, it will also provide you with years of satisfaction. 

Are Regional and National Races Worth It?

We faced the impending question about how serious we were going to get with running when our daughter wanted to make a trip across the United States and run with a local club in the USATF Jr. Olympic Cross Country National Championship. It was the beginning of December and our Christmas expenses seemed tough enough to handle. A parent in the group said, "It's just a race, is this really worth it?" It's a question all parents ask themselves and eventually have to answer.

We decided to try out the experience and in the process learned some valuable lessons. The first lesson was that, YES, it is worth it. Here are the top 3 reasons why it is worth sending your child and burdening the family with some additional expenses.

1) Running at a larger than normal event with the best of the best is a great confidence boost to your child's self-esteem. Once they run in these events they feel as if they are no longer an average runner. That boost in confidence is worth every penny.

2) More than likely they will discover they are better than they thought they were and that momentum will help them in their running season. If your child realizes they are not as good as they thought they were then that is a positive too since it will help them adjust their expectations to a more realistic level. From there they can start to build themselves up again as they reach more obtainable goals.

3) Your child will realize they are not wierd. They love to run and probably eat heathier than their friends and work out more than their friends which can bring the unwanted spotlight on them. Friends can get jealous and start making little remarks. When your child attends these events they meet others who have similar goals and ambitions which creates a nice comodery you often times can't find at home.

By the way, the club team our daughter ran on ended up winning the National Championship for Sophomores and Juniors. This drawing was done by the girls on the airplane ride home. Even though they go to different high schools they still keep in touch with each other and occasionally do long runs together. 

You Know You're a Parent of a Runner If...

10) You find your kid(s) stretching while standing in line.

9) You schedule vacations around running or running events.

8) Your child has more running clothes than school clothes.

7) Your child happily runs 3-miles but seems exhausted when asked to do 10-minutes of chores.

6) Your child wants new running shoes before school shoes.

5) Your child's old running shoes are their school shoes.

4) You find yourself telling your child to have a treat now and then.

3) Your new supply of bread suddenly disappears.

2) Your family budget includes an amount for running stuff.

1) Someone once told you that running was an inexpensive sport.