Dear Carol,
I just started my 6 year old out in track this year. He is running with the 8 and 7 year olds and is not very fast for his age, but I know that he is just starting out.

Do you have any training tips on building up his speed?

He drags his feet but he always finishes the race. He runs the 800m, 400m and 100m .

Dear James,
Congratulations to your little boy for always finishing the race! He must have a great attitude.

He is young. He's the age of the kids I work with and I patiently watch my kids develop over time. I teach them lots about running, but mostly I teach them to do their best. We don't race too often but when we do the distances are very short... I'd recommend the shortest distance as a racing distance for your son. In fact, although 'pacing' is a big part of my running program, if the kids knew the distances were to be short, they naturally want to sprint.

We run laps and we vary our running routes...gym, blacktop, and trails. Sometimes we do intervals. Intervals can help the kids pick up speed, but we don't do them all the time. We'd run half way around the gym slowly, then gradually increase speed till running almost max for a side of the gym then decrease speed and run slowly then start again for a few laps. Intervals were one of my kids' favorite running activities. They love the feel of speed and the kid-intervals that we did helped my kids control this feeling without stressing their bodies too much. But I'm not training my very kids for track. I'm just trying to make them love running.

I did have a couple of kids who didn't pick their feet up properly when they ran. I'd remind them but I never pushed them or yelled at them about this, mostly because of their young age. As the year went on, their running form improved. Again, I wasn't 'coaching' my kids. I was just trying to not discourage any of them or make them self conscious. I didn't want the children with the 'worst' form to have an excuse to not want to run with us. It was a huge relief to me when I saw them gain more control over form as the year moved along.

Does your son have a good coach? The coach should be able to guide him. I guess I'd ask you to be patient, make sure your son is having fun and is also getting the message from you that you are proud of his efforts. He is very young for competition. Maybe you'd also like to put him in one of our online running programs so that he can work for one of our ribbons. At this time we have three online programs: Rainbow Cave (for younger kids...but he can do it anyway. My first graders did and they loved it), Log-a-Mile, and Run the Seasons.

Thanks for your note and let me know how he does this summer.

Note from the kid's editor:

Kids should maintain their natural love of running. As they grow older they can find the right 'route' for their running.

Do you have any questions about a child's running program? Feel free to email the kid's editor at carol.kids@rodale.com.