Call Federal Marathon Jr. Training Guide #2
Greetings runners and families! We are about seven weeks away from the third-annual Call Federal Marathon Jr. on October 25 at Byrd Park, so hopefully your children are signed up and are already doing some training to prepare. If not, that’s okay too – there’s plenty of time to do both before the big day.
In the first installment of the training guide, we went over some general race information and tips for training, and in round two we’ll build on that with a few more ideas. And hopefully your junior runners have been getting their activity both at home and at school now that it’s back in session (and thank goodness for that, am I right?!?!).
Since it’s still fairly early in the training process for the event, the running distances will vary based on endurance and ability levels, so let’s look at what the overall structure should be. First and foremost, it’s important to remember that getting out and getting active with your child is the best way you can encourage them as they pursue physical fitness. It is a great way to spend some time together with none of the distractions such as TV and cell phones. Moreover, by getting out and being active with your child you are serving as a role model for them.
Any training session can start with a dynamic warm-up and then some kind of game that involves movement to get the muscles warm. Ideas for dynamic warm-up activities include walking lunges, leg swings, skipping, side shuffle, or jumping jacks. If you have a group of kids, the game can be something like sharks and minnows; if it’s a smaller number, a quick game of tag could work as well. After the warm up and game, then it’s on to the actual run.
Again, the distances your child is running will vary at this point, but after the run itself, it’s important to include a cool down and stretch, as well as some short training tips and encouragement to cap off the workout. The cool down and stretching portion can look something like this:
- 3 to 5 minutes of brisk walking
- 5 to 10 minutes of stretches, hold each pose for 10-20 seconds
- Quad stretch (grab right ankle with right hand)
- Hamstring stretch (Place right heel out in front and keep leg straight, bend left leg like you are sitting down)
- Butterfly (seated, put soles of your shoes together, gently press down on thighs)
- Arms (reach up to the sky, hands can be touching or not, then out to the sides)
This is just a general outline of the basic structure, so of course it can be modified to fit into different routines. Now that we’ve got that down, in future guides we’ll discuss more specific distance suggestions, running games, and cross training activities. Until then, happy running! And don’t forget that registration is open for the Call Federal Marathon Jr. on October 25th!
