Even pace, then finish
Ready when: Run, stop and change direction (b1) done; the child can jog for a few minutes.
What you are learning
To run for several minutes at an even pace, slow enough to talk, and keep energy for a sprint at the end. Starting too fast and having to stop is the most common beginner mistake.
Words on this card Sprint, Start line, Pace, Lap, Shot put
- Sprint
- Running as fast as you can over a short distance.
- Start line
- Where a race starts and ends. Runners run through the finish line, not up to it.
- Pace
- How fast you run. An even pace stays the same all the way.
- Lap
- Once round a set course.
- Shot put
- Pushing a heavy ball from the neck, not throwing it.
Set up
A lap you know (a field edge or a court of about 50 m), a watch, water.
Weather: dry ground, not in midday heat
Show it first for the one teaching
- Jog slowly beside your child, shoulders relaxed.
- Talk while you jog: if you can talk, the pace is right.
- In the last 20 m, speed up into a sprint finish.
Your part while they practise
Hold the watch; call out the minutes; jog with the child if you like.
Step by step
- An easy jog round the lap, slow enough to talk, shoulders relaxed: 3 minutes in the first week, then 1 minute more each week, up to 10.
- You call out each minute.
- In the last 20 m of the week's time, sprint to finish.
- Walk to recover and drink water.
How much: 1 run 10 min a session 2 days a week
Say one thing Pick one line from "What you will see" for today and say only that.
The game: Finish line
Jog the week's minutes and, on the call "finish", sprint to the next cone.
Who plays: the child, with you jogging alongside or calling. 1 or more.
How to play, turn by turn
- Turns
- Put cones every 10 m along part of the lap
- Jog the week's minutes at talking pace
- At any moment in the last minute, the caller shouts "Finish!"
- The runner sprints to the next cone
- Fair play
- For a beginner, walk breaks of 30 seconds count as jogging.
- Points
- 1 point for each minute jogged without stopping; 2 points for a full sprint to the cone on the call.
- Fouls
- No point for that minute
- Stopping or walking (except a planned walk break)
- Running too fast to talk
- Winning
- Beat last week's points.
- 5 points for 1 star
- 8 points for 2 stars
- 12 points for 3 stars
Easier or harder
Walk breaks of 30 seconds.
Add a lap at the end and guess its time first (Guess your lap, then run it (i6)).
What you will see, and what to say
- the child sprints off and stops
Start slow, you can talk
The first minute should feel too easy. - the child is red and gasping
Slow down until you can talk
Walk if needed, then jog again.
Self-check
The week's minutes run without stopping, with a sprint at the end, 2 runs in a row.
Stop and get a coach when
Chest pain, dizziness or a limp.
Fitness for this
Warm up first: how to warm up, at workonfitness.com. For strength and stretching, its exercise library shows each exercise step by step, with an easier version.
This card trains endurance, pacing.
awiseathlete.com/sports/athletics/athletics-b7