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My 10 year old step daughter is showing some really great interest in fitness lately.  She recently found the kids fitness section on demand, and has been doing the Denise Austin workout every morning.  She also wants me to wake her up early so she can go on walks with me and our dog, Buddy.  Then yesterday she really wanted to go for a jog.  She was actually a little mopey because my husband said he was too tired and didn't want to go. 

So I laced up my running shoes, and we headed out the door with the intention of just a small jog around the neighborhood.  I honestly thought it was going to be just a 12 minute excursion.  We started out towards her school, then took a detour onto the running trail by our house.  We took a couple 1 minute walk breaks, but ran the rest of the time at a pretty comfortable pace.  It turned out to be a 2 mile run.  For our first time out.  She said she had fun, felt good, and wanted to do it again.  I am so impressed with her!

I guess I'm a little extra happy about her interest in fitness, considering that I'm a Physical Education teacher.  I'm so used to hearing kids complain about running the mile, and here she is, 10 years old, and just ran TWO!  She has set a goal to run the school district 5K in October.  It will be her first race, so it should be pretty exciting for her.

Yes, I'm excited that she's so enthusiastic about fitness and physical activity, but it's also really nice to have a little partner to go on a short run with.  And a walking partner to walk the Buddy boy.  The walks with Buddy are a great opportunity to get some good talk time in, too.  I get to hear everything that's going on at school, with her friends, what's going on in her head.  Pretty good insight.  When you're walking for 45 minutes or longer, you find out some good stuff.  It's a great way to keep communication open.  I just hope this continues over the coming years!