Personal Fitness

   Its become habit with us.  On most Friday nights, we turn off the alarm clock anticipating a Saturday morning when we don't have to "rise and shine", a well deserved chance to sleep in.  I guess, in some ways, we slept in a little.  We got up at 0700hrs and not 0600hrs.  We have a mission this morning.  We got up as a family and loaded up the truck.  The first stop was the middle school.  Our son is working on his Personal Fitness merit badge for scouts.  He wasn't looking forward to it.  He woke up with a pretty bad cold, coughing and sneezing, but according to the instructor..."If you miss a requirement, you have to start over from the beginning."  I get the impression he is not all that enthused about being out in the cold wind testing young boys on their fitness level.  I'm sure he'd rather they all gave up and decided to begin again in the Spring, say in April.  Being a military family, we are used to sucking it up and driving on even on miserable days.  In the Army, you don't get to take the winter off.  My husband and I know this is a hard, but valuable lesson for growing kids...even those not working on a merit badge.  The show must go on...
   These boys, they are made of stronger stuff.  They would not just give up and start over at a later date.  I could see it in their eyes as they prepared to do what was required.  They are already showing signs of leadership.
   While the adult scout leaders did their testing, I walked the track with one of the moms.  We had a nice chat as we did our laps around the school's outdoor track.  It was cold, but we kept walking.  We compared our back injuries and our shape ups shoes.  The boys did their push ups (some on mats, some on the cold ground), their sit ups, their pull ups (on a hockey goal bar...the leaders were not prepared for pull ups), and their flexibility reaches.  Eventually, they joined us on the track.  We were, by then on our second mile walking.  Some of the boys ran the whole way (like ours...we were so proud).  Some struggled with the cold wind.  A few ran a little, then walked a little.  This was their initial test.  There wasn't really a lot of pressure.
   They would be responsible for creating an at home/school fitness program, then they would repeat this test over the next twelve weeks.  One completed, they would receive the Personal Fitness merit badge, one of the many requirements for Eagle Scout.
   My husband and I will sit down with our son and ask him about his personal plan.  We have all the workout equipment he needs at home.  He already does pull ups at home and push ups.  He even lifts weights.  But he will need more treadmill time and well, I will help him with his sit ups.
   We are fortunate to have a family that considers health and fitness important.  Like many kids nowadays, he has had fitness training from the very beginning.  He is a martial arts black belt (he began at age 5), he has played on baseball teams, and he actively participates in physical education in his school.  He loves to swim, but won't join a team.  I understand.  He's worried the competition will make swimming less fun.  He wanted to ice skate, but last year's snow caved in the roof of the local rink.  Lately, he has been bugging me about getting him into a fencing class.  Contrary to popular belief, I don't believe most kids want to spend all day playing Xbox or talking with their friends on the computer.  I truly believe they want to stay active, but we have to do a better job at making things available to them.  Its difficult.  There is an ungodly amount of homework, many parents work, and neighborhoods are sometimes facilities are too far away.    
   As a kid, I roller skated.  That was it.  But I did it for years, even after I joined the Army.  I used and abused seven pair of skates, just wore them out.  It was my great athletic love, going fast around that rink.  I could not tell you what music was playing.  I could barely hear it.  I was in my own little world when I skated, the wind whipping through my tangled hair.  I lived with bruises, blisters and leg muscle cramps.  But you know what, I would skate today if there was a nearby rink.  Instead, I walk.  And according to the mom I walked the track with today, I walk really fast.  I guess I still imagine being on wheels.  : )  But also I remember...my father had to pick me up from the rink at least three times a week after dark (mom didn't drive).  He would get so mad.  He had to get up for work the next day.  He really didn't want to drive to the skating rink to get me, but he did.  He grumbled every time, but he did it.  I don't think he ever really knew how much it meant to me, the skating, being able to fly around that circle and forget everything.
   That's what staying active does to you.  Its yours and you have to own it...take personal responsibility...as if you were going for that merit badge every day of your life.