The Get Ready to Run At Home Program will help guide you as you instruct your child about running and developing healthy habits. The lessons are designed to be covered over the next four weeks. Be sure to tailor the lessons to the ages and skill levels of your child.

Begin by explaining the Program will be a fun, exciting and rewarding experience. The Program will introduce them to the benefits of running and assist them with making healthy lifestyle choices that will benefit them for the rest of their lives.

Using the hard copy Participation Form provided upon registration, record both of your child's practice run times and the completion of the four lessons. This information will be used to complete the online Participation Form. The Participation Form must be completed each week, in order to receive the t-shirt and medal.

Get a Hold of Your Goal! And Move Your Shoes!

Setting and achieving goals in life increases motivation, helps to keep you accountable, helps you to see your progress, and gives you a great feeling of accomplishment when you reach them. Goal setting must be realistic and something you can actually do. Goal setting can be used in all areas of life including running. Running is one of the easiest ways to exercise. All you have to do is move your shoes.

Getting Started

The proper way to complete a running program is to include a warm-up, running portion, cool down and stretching.

Find Your Form and Pace Don’t Race!

Good running form allows you to run more efficiently, preserve more energy, increase your speed, and gives you an overall enjoyable running experience. Let’s review the basic elements of proper running form.

• Head: Look straight ahead. Try not to look down at the ground or all around.
• Shoulders: Relax the shoulders. Make sure you are not clenching or tightening in this area.
• Stomach (core): Tighten your tummy.
• Arms and Hands: Bend arms at the elbow and swing arms from hips to chest. Keep hands relaxed and slightly cupped.
• Knees and Feet: Keep knees soft and feet facing forward.
• Run Tall: Keep the body tall and not slumped, leaning slightly forward.

Learning to pace or control your speed is important for being able to cover long distances. The goal is to run faster over a shorter distance and run at a slightly slower, controlled pace for a longer distance. In this lesson you will learn about different paces.

Mind Your Mind!

Preparing not only your body, but also your mind, can help you succeed in activities and events, including running. The messages we give ourselves are called self-talk. Positive self-talk helps us build confidence. Anytime you have negative or bad thoughts, replace them with positive thoughts.

Share examples of positive self-talk:

• I am strong!
• I am smart!
• I can do it!
• I feel good!
• I am going to do my best!

Be Strong and Run Along!

Eating healthy and staying hydrated is important when running or participating in any physical activity. Water helps to regulate our body temperature. It is recommended to drink 8 to 10 eight-ounce cups daily. For this week, monitor your child’s water in-take to see if they are meeting the recommended guidelines.

Just like cars need gas (fuel), our children’s bodies need fuel (food) to keep them going. The better the fuel, the better we run. Using the MyPlate poster, explain how our bodies need healthy food to be fueled properly. A healthy plate consists of five food groups: dairy, grain, fruit, vegetables and protein. Half of our plate should be fruits and vegetables. Explain that some foods are not as healthy and should only be eaten sometimes and in small amounts. If we eat “sometimes” food, we should remember to balance it out with fun physical activity like running, walking or riding your bike.

Discuss examples of each food group with your child.