Sunday, November 25, 2007

Family Walkathon

A little while ago, JD participated in a walkathon at school to raise money for the PTA. He got various sponsors (mostly family members) who donated a certain amount of money for each lap that he did around the school. JD had so much fun doing the walkathon at school that he decided that he wanted to do a family walkathon for fun. So we did one on Thanksgiving before dinner. We setup some cones next to the football field of a local high school and kept track of laps on lap cards I made the day before. Each lap was 130 yards (a 60 yard by 5 yard rectangle) and the lap cards went up to 40 laps (just under 3 miles total). JD completed all of his laps first (since he ran some of them) and I also completed the full number. AJ also did a lot of laps (around 30). It was a fun little event.

More generally, I hope the kids can enjoy regular exercise in their lives. I've never really been into exercise. I force myself to do it periodically to lose weight or try to stay healthy. But I don't really enjoy it very much. Perhaps that will change in the future - especially if I can do more of it with the kids. Last night, JD decided he wanted to do this Physical Fitness Award Program and I'm going to try to do it too.

4 comments:

David "El Salsero" said...

Exercise can be a pain and I think there are a lot of people that fool themselves into thinking they really like it.

We need to join a b-ball league or set aside one day during the week for swimming. I'm all in if you are.

gnp said...

Would be psyched to play in a b-ball league with you. Swimming, not so much, but I'd do it if you want.

Anonymous said...

I like to exercise and I don't have to fool myself into it. For some people, such as myself, the thought of a day without exercise can actually be a downer. I'm addicted to the endorphin rush as well as the psychological boost I get from a sense of accomplishment.

That said, there are many types of fitness personalities. Some people only enjoy playing sports or doing physical activity in a social setting. Some people just plain hate it. I'd guess that one's fitness personality is part innate and part shaped by her environment, particularly his experiences with physical activity as a child. That's why I think it is great that we are doing regular fun activities with the kids. Get them hooked early!

gnp said...

Here is the lap cards we used for the event:

http://www.geocities.com/gnp_30/walkathan.xls