I used to run many years ago when I was 16 but had an accident which kept me from running for about 12 months and I never got back into it. Ive now decided to start getting back to running and as abit of help ive asked my 12 year old daughter to come along with me. Im overweight but my daughter is as slim as anything. Anyway we run every other day with weekends off but we just dont seem to be getting anywhere after 3 weeks of trying. we start off by running 2 minutes and then walk for 1 minute then we run again but my daughter can only manage 1:30 and then we rest again and for the rest of the work out she can only manage running 1 lampost distance then walking to the next one then running to the next etc. we end up doing 1.2miles in 16 minutes. weve got proper light weight running shoes etc but im starting to get frustrated as I dont feel were really comming along. So does anyone have any advice for a real beginner and a young daughter who I just cant seem to push anymore than she is already doing.

thanks in advance.

My advice would be .....

A) Don't beat yourself up about it, you will improve over time
B) Slow down, almost to walking pace if need be, I'm guessing that you both could walk 2 miles easily, just aim to get around and don't keep an eye on the time at all.
C) Don't lose the faith, join a running club, or as I do run with a mate or a couple of mates who will encourage you through the early stages.

Good luck

G.

I'm sure it'll come along in its own time. Have you tried power walking in between instead of slow walking you might feel that you're doing more. I do that when i'm going on a longer than normal run and feel tired instead of slowing down too much and it also works your upper body too.I'm no expert but it works for me. I think its great that your daughter is doing it too, my son has mentioned it he's only nine though but i might give it a go soon.

Take it easy and enjoy it, that's the important bit....
Keep us posted with your progress.
Good luck.....

Hi Technium

Welcome to the forum.

Like the others have said don't be too harsh on yourself it has only been 3 weeks, if your daughter doesn't always have the enthusiasm to run, maybe she could come out with you on her bike perhaps every other run, that way it gives you an opportunity to perhaps run for a minute longer and less recovery periods, that way you don't feel guilty pushing her and you're not stopping her coming out with you either, plus she is still getting exercise?

My sisters 3 kids are all under the age of seven and she takes them round the block after every run she does, they love it.


TT

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A loser is not the one who runs last in the race. It's the one who sits and watches and who has never tried to run.
Bird in Boots Oh what have I done FLM09

I totally agree with all of that.

Joining jogscotland and then a running club helped me improve so much. You just have to keep plugging away and build up the mileage slowly.

Hi its early days on you journey,what i'd do in your position is run ahead of your daughter and keep turning back to meet her,you've just got to keep your chin up and stay motivated it'll all came together in time,take care. M

Ok I thought I would do abit of an update.

Ive downloaded a couch to 5k training schedule from coolrunnings and sat down with my daughter to discuss the schedule and see if we can stick to it.

Weve just started it yesterday but we also did day one on Friday just as a tester to see how well we would do.

anyway she seemed fine, for those who hasnt seen it basically the 1st week we run for 60 seconds, walk for 90 and repeat 8 times for a total of 20 minutes and we do that every other day.

Next week it gets abit harder so im hoping she will be fine when the going gets a little tougher. Weve also tried slowing down abit more to enable her to breath a little easier and also trying to get her to concentrate on her breathing whch seems to be ok at the moment.

I will keep coming back to let you know how we get on.

thanks for the advice.

Good luck, hope it works for you both !

Excellent sounds similar to the training programme that got me started. Its pretty cool that she's running with you I don't think I would have run with my Dad when I was her age.

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Getting ready for the GNR

Ok well heres another update.

Were onto week 4 now and yesterday was the following schedule -

Run 3 Minutes
Walk 90 seconds
Run 5 Minutes
Walk 2:30 Minutes
Run 3 Minutes
Walk 90 Seconds
Run 5 Minutes

Well we both managed the first 3 Minutes fine, the 90 second rest time didnt seem long enough before our 5 minute run but we both suprised ourselves by doing the full 5 minutes (cor its a long way isnt it lol) then we had the 2:30 minutes rest which we needed before doing the next 3 minutes which again we managed to do but by this time we must have been glowing as I could feel the heat coming from my daughters head and me being alot fatter I mean un fitter than she is im sure I was just as hot! Anyway after that final rest we had the last 5 minutes which were really hard especially the last 2 minutes but we done it, yay and the sense of achievement when we got back and regained conciousness was fantastic. Ok for all you long runners its not much but to me and my daughter it was a half marathon

Anyway will keep you informed, thanks for listening.

That's good going so far...well done!
Keep it up.

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It's finally happened.....

Well what a change since your post at the beginning of July you seem to be on the right track Congratulations.

Big improvement in a short space of time - well done.

ok heres another update.

We are now running a massive 28 minutes with no breaks and running 2.6 miles in that time which I dont believe is too bad a pace.

I feel fitter in myself, ive lost 8 pound in weight but still probably about 2 stone over weight so plenty of running still to do.

We have 1 more week of running (30 minute runs with no stopping) left to do of the "couch to 5k challenge" so now im wondering if anyone has any other training schedules to take me/us to the next step as I find its easier if were following some kind of schedule.

So any links would be appreciated.

thanks