I said to her, "Blythe, all they do at Cross Country Kids is run. You're going to spend 45 minutes running. Do you really want to do that?"
"Yes!" she replied. "Mom, you get a t-shirt and a necklace and you can collect charms! I totally want to do it!"
Ah! Blythe didn't want to run so much, she wanted a t-shirt and a necklace. I think this is the same draw that lures people into running marathons--they're going to get a t-shirt and a "necklace" with a finisher medal attached. She's so young to be falling victim to this sort of enticement. I went into the school, filled out papers, and let her go run.
These past few weeks have been something of a battle. On the days when I went to help as a parent volunteer and actually ran with Blythe, she would run. Other days, she would whine about having to go and not want to run at all (she had the t-shirt and necklace, so why bother to run?). I made her do it anyway.
Today was the last day and the kids ran around the big field several times. I stood in the corner farthest from the start and called out encouragement to the kids as they came by. Blythe did pretty well, making it around the field three times in the 45 minutes they had. She ran/walked with Lilly Bradford and I could tell they were very chatty. Isn't that the best part of exercising with a friend? You get to talk the whole time. I was impressed that Blythe joined the club and stuck with it (with some urging), and that she seemed to have a good time.
Here is the last lap. The girls would alternate walking/running between the trees. Run walk run walk.
She looks like she's having a good time.
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