Last year when I was running Matt was really interested. By the time spring rolled around he'd follow me for a couple of blocks (with Mike walking) and then they'd go to the park, I'd do my run and meet them at the park. It worked nicely.
Now that Matt is a year older, and wiser, he has decided it's not fair that Mommy gets to go for a run while he stays home. In some ways he's adopted an attitude that Chloe is the baby so he should do grown up things ... like go for a run.
In all honesty, what I enjoy about running is the solidarity. I love listening to music, tuning out any concerns I have and just enjoying the run. Sometimes I plan things in my head. Sometimes not. But, I kind of enjoy the kid break, especially now that I'm around them 24/7. So I wasn't totally keen on Matt joining me.
However, after watching Bob Greene on the Rachael Ray show, and thinking I should encourage this desire to run, I got changed into a running outfit, left my ipod on the table and invited Matt to join me.
He was so excited! (I wish I had that kind of enthusiasm for running)
Instead of my normal running route we went to the local highschool and went to the track. It's a wonderful track. It's springy and new and pretty easy to run on. My rationale was that a) if Matt fell it would be a softer landing than pavement and 2) you can pick your distance. I had visions of getting a kilometre in and Matt wanting me to carry him home. So, the track was perfect.
To be honest, I wasn't terribly hopeful that it would be a fun time. Was I ever wrong. We had a blast.
First of all, Matt is a serious runner. He's 4 years old and has endurance. We both ran 3 laps which is about 1.2 kilometres. So, for me it was a pretty short run. But, he ran the whole time. And he wasn't tired after. No heavy breathing. He was just bored of it.
The whole thing was fun though. We were racing each other and changing lanes. And skipping. Backwards! Of course we had the moment where we had to yell jokes to each other as loud as we could. And we did a lap while singing "It's a Small World." Fun.
I can't say it was the best workout ever. But, the time was good. We chatted on our walk over and back. And I realized all over again that I have a pretty cool kid.
And I'm guessing if we keep this up he'll have no problem going for real runs for me (as long as I don't make them too boring)!
