My wife and I have been talking about how we can get our kids into fitness. So this evening Mary took our youngest on a bike ride with the dog and I took our oldest daughter for a jog. We made it a game where they went one way and we went the other way around the block. The goal was to get my oldest to start thinking about running as a fun way to exercise. Thursday night as I waited to start the 5K she was talking about wanting to run in a race. I told her she would have to train before she could run a race. So today I talked with her as we ran about an incentive program. She runs 1 mile three times a week and she gets to go to the dollar store to pick something out. We do that for a August. In September we do 1 mile 3 times a week and add one day where we run 2 miles. October we do 2 miles 3 times a week. November we do the 2 miles three times a week and then add one day with a 3 mile run. The goal being to get her ready for a 5K. Obviously I will do some research on kids and running and we will modify as needed but I'm hoping the incentive program gives her some motivation to get out and exercise. Anyway, we started tonight. We jogged a mile at a 16:00 pace. Once I hooked my oldest back up with my wife I went for my long run.

I ran through my neighborhood and out on to one of the trails in our town. I ran down the trail for about 2.1 miles and then turned around and headed home. Greg wanted me to stay at about 12:51 for the long runs and he told me it would feel like I was going really slow. Well he was right. I didn't pay much attention to my forerunner, just ran at a pace that I thought was slower than my 5K pace. I never felt like I needed to stop or catch my breath. Weather was nice so I just kept going. Turns out I ran 4.56 miles at an 11:33 pace. Sounds strange, but I'm going to have to work on going slower. The plan is to run lots of slow miles so I get used to distance without getting hurt. We'll work on speed later. The goal is to finish a half marathon, not finish in a specific time. So after the 5.5 total miles I was feeling sore. My right knee was a little stiff and my back was sore. I popped a couple of Alleve and drank a few bottles of water. Tomorrow is an off day and then back to boot camp and a leisurely 2 miles on Monday.