So in the recent past she has been able complete 1 mile in 9:30. The cramps/ side stitch is new?

Try running in the AM with her. I always get cramps if I run in the afternoon for some reason; morning is fine. I do not know why that occurs.

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maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

yeah this is new she can run the mile with no problems shes even done 1 1/2 a few times but like tigerchik posted it is usually at night when we run, if we go earlier it doesn't happen. I didn't even think of that. weird???

That is interesting. I was wondering if maybe she is too tired in the evening from her other activities of the day.

maybe, she cried almost the whole way home on the walk. She has set her goals so high and shes not meeting them so shes devistated. She told me she loves to run with me, but she feels like shes not good enough to be running with me, that she sucks at running and shes not perfect. i explained all the normal dad stuff and she felt better by the time we got home but man what do you do.
I told her we needed to take a break from training for little while and just run for fun, if shes hurt or outta breath, we walk.

But i had another plan of doing a 3 mile (SLOW) run/walk with her to show her she can do it, and convince her like I told her last night that she is awesome, and one of only a handful of kids that could run a mile at all.

I think she really needs a good motivational talking too or a confident fun run to boost her back up so she doesn't ditch running all together.

I told her also that I hurt on every run,every single one. i hurt during and after that maybe its just our bone structure or muscle mass? I'm not sure.

were going to try and do another short run tonight before dark this time but if we dont do that we may try to do the 3 mile walk run tomorrow.

If you are saying that if you go running with her in the morning things are fine, it sounds like its her activities during the day that are causing her (along with a few other things) to not do well in the afternoon. I don't think you have to do a TC and knock out 5 miles before 5am (Dang I wish I could) but try running tomorrow morning vice tonight as it seems like tonight won't be all that different than your previous experiences, and if shes good to go, you got yourself a plan, typically races aren't in the afternoon anyways.

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When someone pulls laws out of their @$$, all we end up with are laws that smell like sh!t. -Skippy

OK I'm all for kids being active, and goal setting and such, but maybe she's putting too much pressure on herself. If her legs hurt sometimes, it's because she's GROWING. Growing pains are not a myth, right?

Maybe give it a rest for a bit, and get her trying something different for a week or two, like ice skating, or swimming or PLAYING. It might not be the running that she loves, but the time she spends with you... so go spend some daddy-daughter time NOT running. Take her to a movie.

She's 9 - full of drama. Heck my 6yo is too. ;-)

AP

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"How bad could it be?" - SimpleS

It could be that she is eating too much during the afternoon or eating too soon before your evening runs. Evenings kill me...about the only things I can eat for HOURS before running are bread w/ pb, a banana, or a powerbar. When I eat a real lunch, even at noon/1 p.m. I feel really shitty running at 6 p.m.

Some good advice. I would add stop running the mile and stop timing her. Take the pressure off her and stop her putting pressure on yourself.

Run a different route, shorter but do laps, longer but don't push it. Put the enjoyment back into it before thinking about times.

Pick a subject to talk about and have her speak to you whilst running. It helps moderate breathing and will prevent hyperventilation.

Just break it up and make it different so she can relax.

one she's 9 which means she still in elementary school.... what time does she eat lunch? What time does she have a snack? Is she allowed to carry a water bottle with her in school?
My daughter is a gymnasts.. and we had to make sure she ate properly and drank ALL day long.. you cannot make up for dehydration by just drinking 30 minutes before you go run...
Try making sure she's drinking ALL day long and like other poster said... stop timing...

yeah she doesnt drink enough I'm certain. She carries water to school but she only drinks at recess and lunch and she eats a good lunch followed by a snack at 3pm. we then eat at 5:30 -6:45pm and run around 7:30pm.

I talked with her tonight and were going to take a break and do some soccer stuff, she has a game tomorrow and then we have a pig picken at 3 so i thought we might ride our MB bikes on the beach before hand. Its just me and her tomorrow,her mom broke her foot so shes got me all day long! we might even get in a short swim before the ocean gets to cold.

That's great to hear, please keep up in the loop... remember it's more about her spending time WITH YOU than hitting some timed goal... Enjoy the time, before you know it she'll be 18 and heading off to college...

AP

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"How bad could it be?" - SimpleS

Pain, tiredness, emotional, times getting worse....... It sounds like overtraining and I think she should really back off a bit. I think it's GREAT that she's active and fit, but maybe tomorrow instead of soccer, then MTBing, then swimming ..... you could take her to the movies or for an icecream or something?? She's just 9, she's got the rest of her life to be disappointed in herself ;)

remember it's more about her spending time WITH YOU than hitting some timed goal... Enjoy the time

I'll second that

we had a great day, got up at 7 and did the soccer thing came home and cooked some brownies together then made breakfast for mom(hurt foot) let our food settle and hit the bikes around 11. went right to the store and got water - diet coke and about 4 different kinds of candies.we rode straight to water front and grabbed a swing. we sat and pigged out on candy and water and i showed her how fun diet coke and sugared candy is. She sat in bird poop so i had to spray her bike shirt down, but shes a lady so i couldn't take it off to clean it. After about an hour of sugar and swinging we got back on the bike and went down to a wood boat show, and hit the pier going out to the intercoastal. sat and talked for a few and decided we needed to find some rocking chairs.

we jumped back on the bike and rode to the state ferry that goes from southport to carolina beach and sat and rocked and talked to all the tourist going onto the ferry. we were there till 2:45 UH-OH pig picken in 15 minutes, jumped back on the bike rushed home took showers and made it with 30 seconds to spare.

We tore up some good ol fashioned carolina bbq and ribs with slaw and hush puppies and made a huge mess. She ran and played with friends and i got some grown-up time.

we were both in the bed early last night we were worn out. but man what a day! Here are some picutres we took while riding around.

That's AWESOME! What a great day ;-)

AP

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"How bad could it be?" - SimpleS

She sat in bird poop

ah, good times!
Seriously that's awesome! Fast mile times are great, but having fun hanging out all day with your dad is better. In 10 years she'll forget about her mile times (unless she gets a college track scholarship) but will remember days like this one for the rest of her life.

Is this for real? If it is then the title of the thread says it all....Dad needs help.

This child is 9 years old. Nine. Let her be a kid.

I'm sure she tells you she wants to do these things but that's just her trying to tell Dad what he wants to hear. Nine year old kids shouldn't be worried about PB's and getting a run, bike and swim in for their workouts.

Put the watch away and do something else. Kids will find their own place, you can't find it for them despite how much you might want it.

this is by her choice, her school started the timing issue with Project Fitness, and whats wrong with a kid wanting to better herself. We do other stuff this just happens to be her favorite thing to do.

Theres an article in Runners World about a kid that has already competed in 4 Full Ironman races and a bunch of sprints and olympics, but hes only 16.

She sees her dad training and is already an active kid and it affords us spending some time together. She doesnt run every night. But she can tell if shes not running good or is hurt.

She is also 6 year student of dance,ballette, Acro, and Point, she also plays soccer and softball, all of which i also help with. running is as much her passion as the others.

And I promise you when she makes the decision to take on her first triathlon I'll be there with her too. She tried last year but me and my wife decided she wasnt ready for them.

I've also got kids (6, 8) who are learning to run with me. I use a "learn to run 10k" program, but I have no intention of finishing it and I think just a few km is enough. We don't have any goal in mind, no PBs, just getting to a higher fitness level where they can run continuously for a short time. The kids at the school recently did a charity run, and only 10% of the kids could "run" more than 500 m without stopping and gasping for breath. The kids recently did a run/walk of 5 km for charity. Many adults could not even do that. But I digress.

I would suggest going for a run right BEFORE dinner. That is when we do it. Don't take any water either, unless you're going for a run over an hour in duration. Otherwise, you're asking for trouble. I don't know of any athletes who eat dinner then an hour later, go for a hard run. For myself, I cannot run on a full stomach at any speed without getting a stitch if I have eaten a meal within the previous 3-4 hours.

Even better, do your run first thing in the morning before you eat breakfast. You would have enough glycogen stores to do a good run at that time, without having to eat anything. You'd have to put her to bed earlier, but if it works better for you than before dinner, that's the way it is for you.

When I was a kid I played sports about 300 days a year and developed OCD. Too much activity is not always good. You should be teaching her to not compare herself to others and go at her own pace and enjoy the activities. Not create artificial time goals that will either get her injured or upset. Also stretching should be done after the workout, not before.

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Ride Scoozy Electric Bicycles
http://www.RideScoozy.com

thought i''d dig this up to update everyone, my daughter took a big break from running until a fun mile poped up in our area, we didnt train we only took our dogs for short runs a few nights a week,no schedule,no timing. She finished the 1 mile fun run in 8 flat without me running with her. 2 months later shes invited to run a race with Girls on the Run program right in the middle of softball season, she does her own pacing and running schedule and i go only as a run partner, she places 11th in the race with a time of 31 minutes, i was stoked, almost no training and a 31 minute finish in her first 5k. We celebrated like she took first.
Fast foward to last weekend for the freedom run, 91* out she finishes with a time of 34:08 which to me is still awesome and her mom was amazed at her time since it was so hot. We hung out for a friend of ours who always finishes first or second overall in 5ks to get her trophey & to our suprise my daughter took 1st in her age group. 6-13 year olds.

So i guess the stepping back and letting her find her groove and her style running and leaving the watch at home did really help.

just wanted to give thanks for the help.

That is awesome, I am so happy you posted an update.

Keep smiling (for some reason I picture you with a huge grin on your face when you were posting this)...

AP

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"How bad could it be?" - SimpleS

Fantastic! Tell her congratulations.

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clm
Nashville, TN
https://twitter.com/ironclm | http://ironclm.typepad.com

There is nothing wrong with a kid wanting to 'better herself' BUT be very cautious about what you say and how you say things. Young girls are very impressionable and sometimes we hear one thing that can cause us a load of pain.

I was and still am very close with my dad (he actually finished Ironman Louisville last year with me) but if I look back to several times as a youth there are 2 comments he doesnt remember saying that truly changed my life (we have discussed these and we're on the page, have come to understanding, etc etc) but were part of why I (in my opinion) developed a body image disorder.

Support your daughters love of running and maybe ride your bike next to her one day. If she has vocalised that she feels too slow to run with you maybe get her mom or a friend to go to the track and jog. Let her enjoy running for the sake of running. These are years that can make and break her relationship with excercise and activity and we want our kids to grow up loving to move!

I think its great you are seeking input on this and looking out for your daughter...but remember men and women communicate differently even from a young age. listen to her when she tells you things and when she cries...If you've ever read Men are from Mars and women are from Venus dont be a 'fixer'. Just listen, explain to her what you just heard her say, and validate those feelings and leave it at that.

Good luck and happy running.

Oh i've noticed I have a 17 year old son who I can get verbal with and he'll dig deeper when i tried this one time during softball season with my daughter she almost cried, i had to appologize again and again and rethink things for sure.
During runs now i almost always talk about controling her breathing, and she almost always talks about how if she sets her mind to something she know she can accomplish it. Shes always very posative thinking.

i always appreciate post letting me know i'm being too hard or suggestions on what to try next, she has a triathlon in August and our pool just came today so i'll let her mom take over coaching for now.

but if this tells you anything, we keep our race numbers as momentos and on hers she wrote 1st place in my age group, on mine she wrote 63 out of 91 racers,YOU ROCK DAD,thanks for running with me.

Wow yeah she's nine......more of the ferry/ice cream/bike rides/hanging out on rocking chairs and less running under daddy's stopwatch IMO.

As a former coach of young female athletes from middle-school age to collegiate, I can perhaps offer a little perspective. Young women (as do many young men) get a crazy barrage of pressure from early on. The drive for approval from dad and mom is intense especially at this age. While it will be be partially replaced by the drive for approval from teachers, peers and coach(es), right now it's still mostly you and mom. Maybe this running thing is all her doing, it's just as likely not. Kids are sharper than we give them credit for and they are naturally tuned to pick up on what gets our attention. You may feel like its just supporting her own drives but look at how you reacted and celebrated with her. I wouldn't say it was a bad thing at all but certainly a major reinforcing behavior. She's going to key in on that. Did you respond the same way when she made a cool art project she was proud of or got an "A" in a challenging subject? Maybe you did/do, I don't know. Just suggesting you look at it and consider it. I guess if it were me I'd tread lightly in this area. Motivation in sport is a nebulous thing. Some kids don't have it, others do and I don't think it really means much of anything in the grand scheme of things. My advice: don't try to create it with a parental reward system. Also make sure you are offering lots of love and support regardless of what her interests are and how successful she is in them. Encourage her to work hard, sure and to stay with things she starts of course but keep it age appropriate. Kids who had very high family pressure to excel from early on don't often turn out the way you'd expect IME. That is the ones who's parents tied a lot of affection and approval up in success and winning often rebelled against it by, you guessed it....failing and losing. And when I say that I mean actively choosing to get involved in a whole host of things you definitely don't want your kid doing. The most successful, happiest and most balanced kids came from families that offered lots of love, support and validation for whoever the kid was.

I am not going to go into any of the health related issues that can crop up for young female runners, they are well known and could fill pages. If your kid really does love running and makes a go of it in a couple of years, make sure you and your wife are aware of self image/weight and health concerns that impact female athletes. Some coaches you'll encounter either don't know or don't care that much.

Anyway, that's just some of my observation as a coach of over a decade. I'll let you know when my daughter turns 9 if I've managed to keep her out of "fun runs" :) . You know your kid and yourself enough to ask these good questions and I am sure you'll find the path. Good luck.