[139] CFC - Day 14 (The Last Day)

We started off CFC 2012 with an initial fitness assessment so of course, we have to end the program with a final assessment! It's been 3 short weeks and a total of 14 days of challenging ourselves. Let's see how far we've come.

Fitness Assessment (First Day / Last Day)

40 Yard Dash

Trial 1 - 7.34 / 6.70 sec 

Trial 2 - 6.91 / 6.40 sec

Trial 3 - 7.10 / 6.90 sec

Sit-ups

1 min = 60 / 56 sit-ups

Push-ups

1 min = 36 / 39 push-ups

Okay, okay... A few improvements here and there :D

After our final assessment, we rushed over to UIC where we went bowling! One of the kids did this MAD trick shot--360 degree arm wind-up and between the legs!

After bowling, we biked back to Ping Tom Park for a last game of Ultimate and Soccer together, and a few concluding "speeches" and whatnot. 

Reflection

It's been a short and fast month of working with Chicago Fitness Challenge, and I can't believe it's over. A whole year of anticipatory energy fueled us for that challenging month, but it's all over in a snap. Thinking back on it, I can't say I was super excited to go every morning, but I CAN say that I was super grateful. It's not every day that one gets a job opportunity like this one. In fact, last summer, I couldn't even get a job. But without that season of unemployment, I wouldn't have been able to participate in CFC 2011 leading to my employment in CFC 2012. 

Even to this day, I am so happy that I was able to work alongside Mr. Navas and Ms. Chung. They're great mentors and friends. Without them, I wouldn't be able to say that my job was  to help motivate a group of kids to exercise 5 days a week for a month--and along the way, work out myself. I get paid to get fit! 

 On the very last day, we asked the participants what they learned from CFC. It'll be pretty dumb of me if I didn't reflect on this question myself. I learned that the more you try, the more you have to gain. There were plenty of days where it was killer just getting up in the morning...then biking to Ping Tom and working out for another 5 hrs. But through that discipline, I also learned that the body is a beautiful thing. I continue each day biking, jogging, jumping, stretching, bending, pushing, pulling, and I give all that I have for that day and somehow, my body heals and adapts and gets harder, better, faster, stronger.

I loved the program! Especially the yoga. You know, I sometimes talk about yoga and in all honesty, it's not even like I practice yoga every day. Then what gives me the right to encourage others to do yoga? Even if I'm a hypocrite and don't do yoga every day, I REALLY, REALLY believe in the power of yoga. I read a lot about it, I think a lot about it...the only thing I'm missing is doing it. But for that great month, yoga really helped me control my body, mind, and spirit. Through the discipline of yoga, you find inner peace. Spring is fleeting. It's not as easy to be happy when there's so much going on but for that month, I was happy. Nothing around me changed, but I changed. I was happy. All those complicated shit that stirs around in your head sometimes at night became simple. Yoga helps you examine your breath, your balance, your movements and at the same time, it helps you examine your insecurities, your high hopes, your fears -- and it helps you let go. 

In the words of Mr. Navas,

BE HAPPY.