Exercise with your kids, change their lives.

The Foundation's Justine Harris discusses the importance of setting an example for your children of a healthy, active lifestyle with her own special father/daughter experience.

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It’s amazing what you can do when you exercise with someone else. 

In early 2010, my dad started getting in great shape. He began eating healthier and exercising almost every day. He ran 5K and 10K races and even participated in a triathlon at a lake near our house—and finished well!

That was the summer right before my senior year of college. I knew I needed to do more exercising—Ben & Jerry sure weren’t getting me anywhere. I had to start getting on my feet during the school year. My dad’s ambition started to rub off on me.

Sure, I had experience in exercising. I’m a great power walker. I know my way around an elliptical machine. But his idea for me? Running.

Yikes.

I was one of those kids who “ran” the whole mile in those Presidential fitness tests in grade school. And by “ran” I mean “walked when the teacher wasn’t looking.” Terrible, I know. I played a couple of sports, but only until 8^th grade. The most intense cardio I did in high school was at marching band practice. Read: not athletic.

As much as I questioned running as a regular workout, my dad came back with reasons why it works—and how it would help me both physically and mentally. He is living proof of that. I had to give it a try.

So I popped on my Pumas, shorts and t-shirt, went to the indoor track at my university, and brought lots of water.

Let’s just keep it short and say I failed miserably at that first run. Seriously, it was bad. I could maybe go a quarter of a mile at a time. Listening to my iPod helped a little, but I was still a mess. I am normally a confident person, but out there, I started to seriously doubt my abilities as a runner. To be honest, I was pretty sure I’d never be able to run a whole mile.

Then, my dad began exercising with me. I was living at school, about an hour from my hometown, so he made the drive over once a week. We’d run on the indoor track and always get Panera for dinner after. I would always feel that familiar tightening in my stomach after a half mile, but my dad would tell me to work through the pain. He’d keep running, so naturally, I had to try to keep up.

Week by week, I started running one mile at a time with him, then two, then eventually the whole 3.1 miles (5K) around the track. If my dad wasn’t running with me, I would have probably thrown in the towel and given in to the stomach knots. But I didn’t. 

I started running four to five days per week on my own, in addition to our once-per-week father/daughter workouts. I began strengthening my muscles, running even longer distances and becoming faster. And those stomach knots disappeared. Since then, I have continued to run regularly and have competed in multiple 5K races. (For those keeping score out there, my dad can still beat me by a mile.)

I realized that having someone to exercise with, especially a parent, is so valuable. My parents have been my role models my whole life. They have influenced me positively, making it easy to follow their lead. The same goes for exercise. Staying healthy and active with your kids is really important, no matter how old they are. Lead them to a healthy, active lifestyle by leading your own. If you go outside and take a walk, take your kids with you. If you make fruits and veggies a part of your diet, they will too. And maybe, if you start running, they might just try to keep up.

Justine Harris, Projects Manager, ANNIKA Foundation