My Daughter's Lesson

My daughter's last day of school was on Friday. I took a vacation day so I could attend the last school Mass and awards ceremony. Since school lets out at 11:00, it is a tradition for me to pick my daughter up and take her to Friendly's for lunch. After lunch, we drove an hour to her favorite large shopping mall. In the evening, my sister hosted a last day of school party.

It was a good day.

At Mass, the Principal and Monsignor announce the awards. My daughter told me that she was eligible for the National Physical Fitness award. She was tested in the fall but did not meet the time requirement for the half mile run. She talked to me about the fitness test and told me that she really wanted to meet the criteria. She was able to re-test the half mile again this Spring and succeeded!

My daughter's name was called to receive her certificate and patch. She walked back to her seat smiling and gave me the thumbs up. I was proud of her and happy for her accomplishment.

She set a goal - National Physical Fitness Award.

She tried but did not run the half mile within the time requirement.

She was determined to try again.

She ran the half mile for the second time.

Success!

I was proud of her determination. This accomplishment did not come easy for her. She has asthma and often gets winded when running. She knew that the half mile would be a difficult challenge.

She was determined.

She worked hard.

Success was not immediate but she persevered.

What a great lesson to learn at ten years old! I know she can accomplish anything she sets her mind to. I hope she knows too.

Fitness Challege 2009

On February 17th, Rick the author of Cook Ding's Kitchen issued a Lenten Challenge. The challenge was to train every day during Lent...without fail...no excuses. So, how did I do?

I did great the first three weeks of the challenge. I started a workout log and entered my data after each session. Then...my daughter got a nasty cold. Subsequently, I got sick. The middle weeks of the Lenten Challenge went down the drain. The last two weeks, I got back on track.

My daughter's school participates in the Presidential Physical Fitness Challenge. She asked me to look up the requirements for the half mile. To my surprise, there was an adult section of the website. May 1st begins the 2009 "National President's Challenge: Be Active Your Way In May!" . All you need to do is register and log your activity.

The challenge is to be active five days a week for six of the eight weeks between May 1 and July 24. They allow two weeks for vacations and scheduling conflicts.

I have signed up. May has been observed as the National Physical Fitness and Sports Month.

Anyone want to join me?