I run 2 miles with my 9 year old. Too much/too little? She is aiming to

get into the sprint team.? I started running with my 9 year old daughter in September 2007 by running a minute, walking a minute. She now runs 2 miles, 3 days a week. She often gets a stitch but usually manages to run through it as I tell her to steady her breathing. Am I being too hard on her? She is doing the running to get into the school sprint and relay team like her sister. She is fast but not fast enough. The teams will be picked in April and I'm wondering now what else I can do to help her. Should I take her to the park and do short sprint intervals. Any advice would be great. Thanks. Donna

You arnt puching her to hard...if anything your teaching her to work for what she wants...pushing her would be 6-7 days a week....your just being a supportive mom..n one wants to see there child fail

You arnt puching her to hard...if anything your teaching her to work for what she wants...pushing her would be 6-7 days a week....your just being a supportive mom..n one wants to see there child fail

yes way too much for such a little girl, you are pushing her tooo much you should be ashamed of yourselfher bones havent propally developed just yet,

Are you sure your name isnt Ian Beale? and its your son your running with not your daughter?

Maybe you should speak to her PE teacher for advice?

I think that's way excessive. Our cross country run at school was 1/4 mile and that's when we were 13-14yrs old. How the heck is running for two miles going to prepare you for the sprint? Complete lunacy.

this aint much but i hope it helps.

try walking 2 or 3 miles a day for a week or so. then when she manages to do it without getting too tired get her to run it every otherday, also talk to a gym where she can get all the training she needs, exersise bike, treadmill, then when she is ready get her to run round a park a few times against her sister and friends to see where she comes, if she beats her sister you will know shes ready to join the sprint team!

best of luck to both your daughters, draffy

Is she aiming to get on the sprint team or are you aiming for her? I don't know any 9 yr old kids that like to run 2 miles 3 times a week. I guess you could give her some HGH if you're not satisfied with her performance.

A good idea, and I think that she should be able to cope with that. However you are training her for long distance rather than sprinting.

You have 2 types of muscles in you - fast and slow, Slow ones are used inlong runs, over a few hundred meters and the fast ones for sprinting - she is training the slow muscles and that will affect her sprint speed. To get her to sprint faster you need to practice sprinting and running fast. Try running at the most 1000m (2/3 mile) at the most and do it quickly. Better would be to do intervals, spring 200m then rest to recover and repeat.

To be a good sprinter you need to practice sprinting.

If she enjoys the long distance then you could persuade her to try for the longer runs, these are less glamorous - fewer peolpe in school do them and she will have as much chance making the team there as well


One word of caution though, make sure that she is enjoying whatever she does and you arnt pushing her too hard into something shedoesnt want to do

are you pushing her or does she really enjoy this ? and your going to say she really enjoys it = i thought so...
well the next day that your suppose to run then then dont mention it to her and dont go !!! and if she doesnt say anything then your pushing her ! if she askes why arnt we going running then go for it ! welldone you ! but at her age you should be speaking to a personal trainer about that distance.

You should really take this up with her doctor. Children's bones and muscles aren't generally developed enough to do this kind of activity. Parents that "encourage" their children to weight train etc often end up doing irreversible damage.

I have to mirror some of what has been said here though. As a mother of 3 and very active in my kids schools, I can't imagine a child who "wants" to run so much. My kids are passionate about music and still getting them to practise is a chore. It does sound as if YOU want her to be on the team or she feels that you would be more interested in her IF she says that this is what she wants.

Take it down a peg. Talk to your daughter about why she wants to be on the team and you may find out that she feels that that is what is expected of her. Talk to your doctor and her gym teacher and get advice there.

best wishes.

Sprinting you say. Squats would probably be better for that type of competition than that extra half a mile.

you should ask her yourself - i mean is she running this much because you want her to or because she wants to? Personally I think that that's too much for a 9 year old girl, but you should really get your daughters opinion on whether she wants to do this or not.