Running at night with kids

Totally off topic, sorry FP :rofl:

We used to XC through the woods in winter. Me and my mates used to fuck around and not take it seriously. One day we said sod it lets do this properly and really went for it. Teacher at the end basically said we were shit and must have been mucking about again. Gave up on all of it at that point.

The being good vs enjoying it is interesting. My dad played cricket, wanted us to play. I played in my brothers team who were all two years older. I was a decent swing bowler, could move the ball a lot and would get 2-4 wickets per game. But I really didnt enjoy it at all.

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haha no worries. Interesting topic anyway because she’s already asking when she can run a 10km race. (8km is our longest distance non stop running, 13km walking and we’ve run 10km about 4 times with a stop at the coffee shop at 7km in).

I’m just hoping she enjoys all aspects of running, be it in a race, on the trails, mixing it up at night. She doesn’t mind cold or rain but doesn’t like starting in the rain if she can help it.

She likes medals but she absolutely beams when the ‘grown ups’ ask her about her race. At Burnham PR there is a very long section of out and and back, so you can see who is leading etc. The lead woman did a bit of a double take on her way back and shouted some encouragement and then came up to LO in the car park afterwards and talked to for a couple of minutes about how well she did. She loves that recognition more than anything I can say to her.

I’m pretty sure my role just extends to getting her to the race and paying for breakfast afterwards. :laughing:

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So is this an outlier? I mean I know that LO isn’t the fastest but she’s hardly bloody slow.

At parkrun on Saturday, there was a total of 109 women overall and LO came 19th and I think the winning female time came 7th OA with a 19.24.

Very appropriate timing for this article, obviously I know the riders and their parents well. Meet the parents: what’s it like raising cycling’s future stars?

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Thanks for that, very interesting. One of the points raised was the effect and consideration for non racing siblings. We don’t have that issue but it’s an important one.

The other biggie is education and homework. Mrs FP puts an enormous amount of work in here to prepare the extra work that LO does at home and her patience, planning and commitment saw us get through homeschooling without a single tantrum.

Just getting one run a week for LO whilst ensuring she has time for playing, studying, music etc is hard. At the moment is just a case of ‘fill her world with experiences’ and see what happens.

Getting it right is hard but because in the end, you just want a kid that’s happy, healthy and looks at you with love, rather than resentment.

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I guess many parents probably think about what they want for their kids & how they can point them towards a happy and successful adult life.

For some, professional sport / music etc might be that golden ticket to a lifestyle the parents could only dream of. But I’m guessing a lot of plates get thrown against the wall, and only a few don’t break?

Wife & I just want our kids to have a good shot at happy adult lives, to be well adjusted & to feel confident that they can do things if they put their mind to it. I hope they stay healthy and do some sort of exercise. If they find an activity that they feel passionate about, I hope they can do it but keep it in balance with the rest of their lives, whatever that may look like.

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Another fantastic interview was on Real Science of Sport podcase last week Episode 23 here about youth participation and development in sports. Its “science” so must be true :wink: but it mentions a lot about LTAD, academies (mainly football clubs) broken plates and dragging kids out of fun club environments into stressful performance pathways with huge costs in time (travel) and the usual monetary extras associated with it. One of the best podcasts on youth development I’ve listened to; as you all know I’m quite involved in youth sport so read and listen to a lot on the topic.

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Good point. I’m becoming more aware lately that LO doesn’t have siblings and there are only two other kids up our street (sisters) that go to private school. So outside of school and a few play dates, she doesn’t have a whole lot of interaction with other kids.

That’s why I thought the Winchester AC might be good for her, to have some fun running or field sports with others. They don’t take kids until Year 4 so no immediate decision to be made but I’m wary of throwing her into a pressurised environment.

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clubs are hugely rewarding, generally fun (unless its the wrong club) , playing with other kids outside of their direct circle so learn to mix in different environments with different backgrounds. You still get morons; some coaches, other parents but the overall result is generally positive.

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Back to the original question, what do reckon on this? Might have to adjust it to fit her but could be better than something annoying on her head?

https://lumefit.co.uk/chest-light/

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I have this chest lamp, its light comfortable and easily adjustable (my wife uses it too). It holds a decent charge with an indicator to let you know before you set out how much is left in the battery. Standard micro USB charger.
The front beam is bright white light and can be adjusted vertically, the back battery pack has a red safety light. Will try it on my daughter tomorrow morning to see if it adjusts - she is 8 years old

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Brilliant info, thank you very much. Would be great to hear if it fits your daughter. (it does say men,women,kids in the blurb but that could mean anything!)

We had a really positive experience taking our eldest son to wadac (when in year 4). Coaches/people who were involved were a nice bunch and my wife ended up joining the coaching and loved it. Check their website and get name onto waiting list ASAP (was after Easter holiday in year 3 I think) as demand is high and fills up fast.

We only stopped as eldest is a good little footballer and doing quite well which takes up a lot of time. He would happily go back again if he gets the time free to go.

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Great to hear, thanks mate :+1:t2:

Doesn’t fit snug when fully tightened in, still a fair bit of slack.

Ah ok, thanks @Spina. I think I will order anyway and might see if we can do something with the slack. I’m kind of keen to try it for myself also.

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Hair bobble around a chunk of the elastic to tighten it up and you’ll be all good.

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More layers of clothes, or a pillow tucked down her front?

(Happy to help)

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Don’t encourage her Mother, who already thinks we shouldn’t be running unless we have the equivalent of an 30cm thick puffer jacket on!

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