Posts Tagged with: "Kids"

TBR Jr. has been itching to run for the longest time. In fact, he quit all other sports last year—football, swimming, and baseball—saying that all he wanted to do was run.

For the past months, I had been searching for a kid’s run club for my boy to join so he could run with other kids his age. Unfortunately, the only club I found—one at his school led by my old running coach—recruited only one interested participant: my son!

Fearful that running with an adult thrice a week would bore my son to death (no offense, Coach!) and turn him off from the sport that I’m hoping he’ll love as much as I do, I never enrolled him.  I opted instead to sign him up with the best running coach for this 8-year-old boy: his mother! Uhm, yes, that’s me!

So, last December, we had our very first training session: 2km walk/run around Ayala Alabang. It was an informal coach-mommy assessment of his form and endurance without him knowing; I kept it fun and light, just the way he likes it.

Oh boy. There was a lot of room for improvement: he bounced and tiptoed with each step, his arms were flailing, and, as with any boy his age, he started off too fast. After a few intervals, I was able to slow him down a bit and teach him about pacing. But, as soon as we crossed the 1 minute mark of running, he would ask in between breaths: “Can we just walk again?!”

With the busyness of the season, that was our last run. And, all throughout the Holiday break, TBR Jr., sounding like a true running addict who’d been bitten by the bug, would repeatedly ask me: “When are we going to run again?!”

On the first day of this new year, we finally found time to run. Plan was for TBR Jr. and I to run, while hubby and Li’l Miss Bull Runner would bike.

– Right before our run on New Year’s Day. The kids are alive and perky.  I just woke up from a 2-hour nap (is it not obvious?) and I was lethargic due to the excessive eating (the weight gain is pretty evident too. Argh!) –

I set my Garmin to an interval workout: 1 min 30 sec run with 1 min walking intervals, 8 repeats. With one punch on the start button, we were off.

By some miracle, my boy had remembered everything I taught him weeks ago. His form had improved, he ran at a good, steady pace, and even as we ran past the 1:30 mark, he was doing completely fine! Awesome!

Unfortunately, by the 3rd set, Li’l Miss competitive and aggressive Bull Runner started wailing. She didn’t like the fact that she was getting left behind. And so, our runs took on a much slower pace to accompany Li’l BR on her bike who, for reasons unknown to us all, did not stop crying for the next 20 minutes.

Amidst the background of my daughter’s bawling, my son and I did finish our 8 sets and ran extra to cover the full 2k. My son was smiling. And so was this mommy-coach.

Little Miss TBR crept up on me while I was working on the laptop, “Mama, when will we run?” Confused, I ask her what run she was talking about. She replied that I told her and Kuya about a race we were all going to join together, that I said it was that day, and that she wanted to wear her new running shirt already (the one I bought on the 1st day that Runnr opened, an excellent local athletic brand for kids called Equipe). All this she blurts out in a whiny tone, like she was ready to burst into tears out of exasperation with her seemingly forgetful mother.

“Oh, the Mommy Milkshake Marathon?” I did recall telling her about this in passing a week or so ago. The MMM is an annual fun run my sister organizes, not a major race, but an advocacy run for breastfeeding mommies and families. The past two years, I ran along with my son and nephew. (Click here for Year 1 and Year 2)  This year, I told Little Miss Bull Runner last week that she could join us already. She cheered “Yes!” complete with the elbow into the stomach action, like she clinched a deal.

Well, I explained to her very slowly, “It’s still in September. You have to sleep many more times before we run.” But to Little Miss Bull Runner, “next month” and “later” or “tomorrow” or “next century” are pretty much synonymous. So, she starts to make her awa face, the one that gets her Papa all the time, the same face that’s about to let out a loud shriek due to anger.

To save me from another tantrum, I excitedly asked her “Do you want to just wear your running shirt and then I’ll take your picture?” This got her. She smiled and agreed with enthusiasm. She chose her bottom (a floral skirt!), asked me to pull her hair up into a ponytail, and searched for Lucy (her partner-in-crime puppy who never gets left behind) then she hammed it up in front of the cam.

Here are upcoming child-friendly races that you can run with your children:

AUGUST 30: Looney Tunes Active Fun Run, SM Mall of Asia, 3k/ 5k. Reg fee: P300/ P500 for 3k+5k until Aug. 15; P350 until Aug 16; P500 onsite. Register at Nike Bonifacio High Street.  Visit LOONEY TUNES ACTIVE RUN WEBSITE.  (I heard even their directional signs at the race will be moving Looney Tunes characters!)

SEPTEMBER 5 (moved from Aug. 9): Mommy Milkshake Marathon, a fun run for breastfeeding, Bonifacio Global City.  Call 780-9898.  More details to follow.