Running with a 10 year old |
Thursday, 19 September 2013 22:15 |
September 20th 2013
Luca and I ran the City to Bay Fun Run last weekend - the biggest fun run here in Adelaide, with over 40 000 participants this year. I posted on my facebook page (Running for Jodi Lee), and thought I would share it here as well.
Luca and I had an interesting run on Sunday in the City to Bay Fun Run. Over 40 000 people took part, which is a logistical challenge at the best of times, and is handled here in Adelaide to give a smooth run to the elites out the front, but make it tough for those of us non elites who would like to post a good time (for us) and qualify for the only starting corral - a sub 60 minute 12km. Fortunately, despite ducking and weaving through thousands of other runners, Luca (aged 10) managed to finish in 59:23, earning one of those 'cage' starts for next year. He's looking forward to really trying for a PB!
Having said that, what was most interesting about the run, is that by the time we had a couple of km under our belts in the run, he was pretty uncomfortable. The pace *should* have been manageable for him, but he was feeling tight in his chest, he was bobbing his head around, he was slapping his feet on the ground. I was giving him some cues to help - 'quiet feet', 'relax your belly so you can breathe', 'keep your head still - it's too heavy to wobble around'. We slowed down and let our running buddies go. He still struggled. When we got to a couple of more obvious downhill sections, I suggested this was a good way to get a bit more speed for no extra energy demand. He screwed up his face and whimpered a little. He set the pace here, not me. As we passed the 7km mark, clogged with walking traffic, I told him we were now on target for a 62 minute finish time, still better than last year, but not what he wanted. That was the cue he needed! He was so crossed he 'kicked a cup' on the ground (!), and took off, running almost a minute faster per km. At the 8km mark, I let him know we were back on track, but that it would be close. We could settle a little as we still had 4k to go, but we needed to keep moving. The switch had flicked however, and he maintained the pace really well, with nary a scowl the rest of the way.
He also finished 10 secs ahead of me, because he can out sprint me in the final 300m or so of the run. I came across this article this morning, and it made me reflect on what had worked for Luca, what had worked for me in the 12 hr run a couple of months ago, what training I did to prepare for such a long run on a loop course, my training over the last 3 years, going ever further, and the advice I give to patients and to women approaching labour every day.
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The Cancer Council came out this week and announced that there is no safe level of alcohol consumption, and that alcohol should be considered to be as carcinogenic as smoking and asbestos are. As well as being highly associated with throat and mouth cancers, it is now found to correlate highly with breast and bowel cancers. Perhaps it should not be so surprising that a substance that can so alter mood and ability, even at very mild levels should turn out to be in fact, not good for us.
This story, an editorial from the British Journal of Sports Medicine earlier this year has some amazing targets - it ties in with our look at sitting and health, and is about developing healthcare systems that support exercise - recognise it as being as vital a measure of our health as is blood sugar levels or blood pressure. It recommends 150 minutes of physical activity per week for adults as a minimum. 30 mins on 5 days. For children, it is 420 mins / week - 60 minutes every day. How close are you?
This is another article on inactivity / obesity and health from Sports Medicine Australia, highlighting the link between an inactive childhood and a lifetime of battling depression. It is food for thought (!) these days where there seems to be much paranoia about safety of children away from their parents watchful eyes, and therefore a tendency to want to keep them closely under watch instead of encouraging more activity and indeed risk taking behaviours. The ability to judge situations for risk and to be able to take appropriate risks builds self esteem and resilience. Not much to do with bowel cancer awareness, but close to my heart as well.
Another article on sitting
This one is in really simple terms - if you walk 30 mins (as recommended) and sleep 8 hours, most of us still have 15.5 hours per day not moving. You cannot sit all day behind a screen, then drive your car and sit and watch tv with out it being bad for you. A good read.