We’re STREAKING!!!

by

Unless it’s your first time reading my blog, seeing me tweet , skimming my repetitive ever exciting instagram feed, hanging with me on the book of the face or TALKING TO ME EVER—you know Im not a runner.

I love the promise of the run (it looks BADASS to just snag shoes, canine and GO!) yet Ive never found a mental happy running place.

Which is also reason number ONE many of you were shocked I joined Roni on her Run Streak when we were in Portland:

exactly a mile? EXACTLY enough for me.

exactly a mile? EXACTLY enough for me.

Roni invited me, Roni mentioned she was determined to keep up her streak, I was already MizUpAtCrack, I happily tagged along.

She chatted as we ran (I was reminded running uses completely different muscles.  I was a silent, winded misfit) & by the end of our jaunt I realized a mile might be my perfect distance.

A short, non-training for ANYTHING distance and DONE.

Because the thing is the Tornado has become oddly interested in the run as of late.

She’s taken to saying to me in that inimitable seven-year-old offhanded fashion:

Mama I really want to run with you.

To which I always think in my imitable forty-four year old fashion:

Homegirl, if you think I run and youre just not SEEING it you’re a nutball.

Yet what she’d say still stuck in my cranium.

Given my philosophy of “if I think something more than once it’s time to ACT” I felt a pang of mama-obligation to encourage her running curiosity.

Short of begging Roni to move in, I also knew Id had to come up with a way to make it fun for *ME.*

First I shared with her my idea (lets run *together.*  you plan where & how we do it.).

Next we made a chart to keep track of how we did with our streak:

chart & photo credit: Tornado

chart & photo credit: Tornado

She then decided we needed rules:

yay number four!

yay number four!

And the very next morning we were off.

We misfits gotta match!

We misfits gotta match!

I let her be the expert and she mapped our route/routine.

She announced we’d run to the playground, do push ups, pull ups, run a lap screaming at the top of our lungs, one time across monkey bars and run back home.

In the name of being fully present I left my camera/phone at home–but thats pretty much how it all happened, too.

we left, ran, pushed, dipped, shrieked, bar’ed, stretched (last minute playground addition), & we ran/walked home.

Im fairly certain she was surprised how tired she was afterward (I wont lie—I was tired too), but she re-found her exuberance when it was time to make a tally mark on our chart.

Later that day she spontaneously said to me:

Thank you mama for the running with me. It was like the most fun I ever had.

How long will we maintain our streak? As long as she’s interested and views it as PLAY.

Now, however, Ill at least have an answer when she asks MAMA WHEN YOU GONNA RUN?

Tomorrow.

With you.

  • Have you participated in a run streak? How long did *you* maintain it?
  • Have you run with a little person? How long did *they* find it entertaining?

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Comments

  2. I once went with my daughter, but the streak ended there. Hers is still going though and this was years ago lol

  4. This is GREAT!!! I AM a runner and I cannot wait for my boys to be old enough to ask me to come on my runs…or do anything physical with them. I love that you ran to the park and did a lap “screaming” – now THAT is fun!!! What a great mom you are. Streak on!

  5. I love it! Those are rules every person should follow. This kind of reminds me of a Friends episode. Phoebe ran like a kid – arms and legs all over the place. She looked funny but was having a blast. Why not? 🙂

    • The mix up of running and exercise is great. Too many times we believe that they have to be separated.

      I have never done a run streak however, I did participate in a month-long run challenge. We competed to see how many miles we could get in the month. It kept running fun and I believe that is the point right?

  6. this is awesome! i did the runner’s world run streak last year that was supposed to go from memorial day to labor day but i kept it going til november… 100+ days 🙂 🙂 have fun!!

  8. I wish I’d known you when my kids were little. You have such a brilliant approach to everything. No streaking for me. I get too caught up in the rules and forget to listen to my body. P.S. I was hoping rule 3 was “scratch before you run.”

  9. I think the best is you let her choose how it will all go.
    You are empowering her!!!

  11. I KNOW. it made me pause and reflect on all the child rearing stuffs which say KIDS WANT BOUNDARIES SO THEY FEEL SAFE.
    I made no even…hints at the fact we’d need rules. ALL HER IDEA.

  15. LOVE!!!!!!!! I loved she put #4 too & so wanted to do it with you!! She made it fun too – your way of living – learn by example & doing.. she is learning to have fun while she gets healthy & she does not even view it as a way to get healthy – just being with mom & having fun! 🙂

    I started running in my 20’s as a challenge & a challenge to myself to do 5Ks. Never a fan of cardio but this body type of mine has to do it, it was like the lesser of all cardio evils for me… I still can’t believe I am still doing it & it is still the lesser of all cardio evils although I do mix it up with with Ellip & StepMill. I hate the Lifecycle & trying not to do that until & of I have to! 😉

    Although….. in my old age, trying to figure out how to do the intensity I need with my cardio that I do in the gym now without doing it all there.. my feet will not let me do outside running too much…

    OK, I digress with your questions.. LOVE that Tornado initiated & made it fun!

  17. “if I think something more than once it’s time to ACT” <— what a great philosophy. That has me thinking about a lot of things now.

    I run for fun and the moment I feel like it is no more fun (errr…when I lost my running mojo)…I step back before going at it again.

    I've learned that if I feel like I have to, then I won't want to.

  19. So cute! I love it. I ran a half last March, and I fell very out of love with running while training for it. Although I really enjoyed the race, running long distance isn’t necessarily for me. I’m with you on the one mile and done!

  23. This is fantastic. I love that you are willing and able to do so many things with your daughter…These are all little memories that will stay with her forever. And that is…priceless.
    Personally I love running, but I realize it may be some strange imbalance brought on by too much time in the research lab 😛

    The stick figures on the chart are adorable BTW 🙂

  24. You and the Tornado look like runners and you are runners!!!!
    I love that she made sure it was fun – your run does sound like fun for sure!!!
    And, it made me teary when she said it was the most fun ever – I hope that I’m present enough with my boys to always be part of their most fun ever moments!!

  25. Not a runner but I do have exercise streaks dutifully noted in my planner/diary.

    Am I the only one who’ll be a little bit sad when the Tornado learns to spell? I know it’s inevitable, but something truly precious will be lost….

  27. A 10-year-old girl and her mom joined our running club this season – it’s been so fun watching her run (and leave the rest of us in the dust, lol). Love that the Tornado planned out your run and that you were so willing to go along with it (as we know running is not your favorite thing). 🙂

  29. Awww, I love this! And what a fun run! 🙂 I wish my daughter liked to run but nope. She hates moving at all. I have to get really creative to help her get some exercise in.

  32. Maybe there is a running club where she can run with others in a safe environment?

    Tell her that if she has to have you with her to run, she will have to have you with her when she starts dating!

    I’m not not sure what you mean by a run streak, but I’ve run over 100,000 miles by now. Only very occasionally with someone as cute as the Tornado!

  33. Im just superGRATEFUL she wants to do with me and hang with me 🙂 I know how fleeting this all is–and should be!–but Im loving age 7.

    • Yeah, seven IS a great age for kids. Young yet with the ability to communicate so well! You know I was just kidding about going on the date…

  35. Running streak, no. Exercising many days in a row streak — yes. This one tries for every day but Sunday, i need a day off.

  36. I’ve been a coach with Girls on the Run and have done a lot of running with elementary school-aged girls. I found that most of them preferred running in fast spurts (i.e. run to the next block and then walk a block and then run again) over running slower and longer. I think the spurts helped to break up longer distances and made running more entertaining for them.
    I like your daughter’s plan of running to get somewhere (i.e. the playground) – that’s a great idea!

  39. YAY for streaking!! 🙂

    Kenzer’s running her 2nd 5k with me on the 17th. I’m really excited. Running with the mini-me’s make the time go by.

  40. I love the Tornado’s spelling!

    I have ran with both my daughters, ages 7 and 9. The 7 year old gets tired but ran a 5K in about 35 minutes. The 9 year old in 31 minutes. They both love it, but I let THEM set the pace.

    Our school has a running club which I think is a wonderful initiative, which I volunteer for.

  42. Awe!!! Welcome to the club. I will have to thank tornado if I ever get to meet her. 😉 I’ve streaked once and it lasted 30 days.

    You guys are making memories to last a lifetime. Beautiful!

  43. Well I love going for a run with my 7 year old daughter. It is the best time for both of us to bond as she will soon grow up and wouldn’t want to be seen with her father in front of other kids because it would look uncool 🙂

  44. That is excellent she has an interest in running and exercising at such a young age. I have never understood why people love running. I have never been that person. When I was in middle school I had a brief streak that I thought running would be cool. I bought shoes. Ran the neighborhood. Never wore those shoes to run again–okay except in gym class.

  46. Love the chart and goals. What a fun activity. We all need to make sure kids get up and go. Too many sedentary kids in America.

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