How can he run 2 miles under 17 minutes?

Question

My son is 9 years old, he will be 10 in august. He is been in Taekwondo since he turned 4. He has been brown senor for past year. I kept him from testing because I thought he was to young to spar 3 brown belts and run 2 mile or 8 laps around the track loop.
He knows his weapons and all the moves by heart.Should I keep him from testing another year.He is always scared when he has to spar in class. Don't get me wrong ,No one hurts him. He also has a special fiber glass helmet that I ordered for him.
Any ways , I need a plan . Should he sprint the first lap? Should he wear special bottom padded sneakers? Should he eat or drink something to give him energy? Should he take a pain reliever before running ,so he won't feel pain? Please help me to help him. He worked very hard to get here, but he has a disadvantage been young. He doesn't have the strenght of a teenage boy.His bones haven't developed yet.

Answer 1

Let him try running. I wouldn't let him run 2 miles for time yet. Let him run 2 laps. See how he feels. If he feels ok, let him try 4 laps. If he feels ok and he ran it in about 8 minutes, let him see if he can do the 2 miles. Otherwise, don't let him get caught up in trying to get this belt.

Answer 2

He's a little young to push yet, and that's a pretty tough pace for a 10 year old. But if his heart is really set on it, take him to the track and have him run a half mile, not as hard as he can, but at a good pace.

If he can do it in under 3:30 and is not dead, then try a mile. If he can do that in under 8:00 and not be dead, then he should be able to do 2 miles.

Otherwise, he'll have to do some running to work his way up to it. Start by having him run 1 mile, twice, with a rest in between. Set an initial target of 9:00 per mile. When he can do that, cut it down to 8:30 per mile. Once he can do that, he can start practicing the 2 mile run until he gets the time down to his goal.

Be sure to buy him good running shoes for this. Take him to a running store and have him fitted for good shoes. It might be a little more expensive, but you don't want to take a chance on screwing up his knees and hips at his age.

Answer 3

2 miles in 17 mins. is not a good time at all, for any age. So don't act like your son is the fastest, most athletic person on earth. 17/2 = 8.5. Taking eight and a half minutes to run a mile is a bad time, even for a 9 year old. He doesn't need any special training from you, any special sneakers, or a workout plan. There are millions of 9 year olds faster than him. He is not fast at all, and you just need to face the facts. If you expect him to get some sort of scholarship to a D1, D2, or even a D3 school, keep dreaming. I ran a mile in 7:40 as a nine year old, and I wasn't even a runner back then. You need to stop babying him, buying him "special" fiberglass helmets, and let him do what he wants, or else he'll end up like you, not knowing what to do, and asking people on yahoo answers for parenting advice.

Answer 4

It is possible. Many people run a mile in 7 minutes, so running 2 miles in under 17 minutes is totally possible.

Answer 5

If he's running 2 miles sprinting the first lap would be a really abd idea. he has to conserve his energy.

Answer 6

No sprinting, if anything, he'll want to conserve his energy. and 17 minutes for 2 miles is not that fast of a time. i recommend he eats a banana before running and after. don't give him a pain killer. and you should just let him run and if he finishes it, he finishes it, if he doesn't he doesn't you can't work miracles with special shoes and pain killers. just get him regular running shoes that fit him well enough and just let him run.

Answer 7

Easy solution, don't make him run two miles if he isn't ready, make him run 1 mile in 8 minutes 6 seconds.