Athlete in the family

Since it was, yet again, a lovely spring day, Miles and I went for a jog this afternoon. He's been asking to accompany me, and since I'm pretty slow for an adult, I figured he could probably match pace pretty well. I think we'll let him join me next time I sign up for a 5k.

Recall from my earlier posts: I don't mean a "run". I do indeed mean a "jog": a slow shuffle barely faster than walking; probably in the 12 minute mile range.

But I just checked my map, and we went 3.4 miles, only pausing at the occasional traffic signal. That's pretty far for a five year old, and for his leg length, a pretty decent pace. I'm very proud of him! A few times on the way home, he'd suggest stopping to sit on a bench, or say he hoped a light would be red so we could stop. But no complaining, and he had no problem "towing" me up hills or "sprinting" so we could make it across a street before the light turned red.

We played games counting squirrels and birds and American flags, and just chatted about this and that - it was easily the most enjoyable run of that length I've had. He's good company!

The only down side - and this was actually kind of cute - is that he wants to hold my hand the whole way. Which messes up my rhythm and feels a bit awkward, so I tried to talk him into just holding hands as we crossed streets and not on the in-between bits.