1 mile pre-basic test

So I just got a call from my recruiter today, and he told me that he was setting up a flag football game for the army guys on Oct 10th, and he wanted to see if the marines were interested too, so we could get a army vs marines game going. I told him that sounded fun, and I would be there. Then he said that i would also do my 1 mile run as part of my PT test to make sure I'm fit enough to go to basic right now. When I talked to him last week, i thought the PT test was going to be the week after that. So now I have 2 weeks to get ready for this, and this thursday I'm going down to TN for homecoming until next monday. So that leaves me with like 3 more days of running before this thing. I'm a little worried, because running is my weakest area right now, but i only have to run 1 mile in 8 minutes, so it should be fine.

Running is all about sucking

That's how my brother put it when he told me to keep running even when my legs felt completely dead. Keep running even when you don't think you can take another step. Keep running, even though it sucks. Probably you have never tried to run like this before, but if you want to be a better, faster runner then this is very important. This blog is going to be about my PT, and how much I have progressed. There is a 5k (roughly 3 mile) outdoor track a few minutes from my house that I have been running on for about 2 weeks now. The first time I ran it, it took my 50 minutes. Yes, I know, that's awful. The reason it took me so long though, is I kept stopping when it was uncomfortable to run. As soon as I got back, started talking to my brother about it, and he told me that I need to keep running, even though it hurts. I thought he was crazy, but I did it anyway two days later. When I finished the run and looked at my watch, I was shocked, it said just over 36 minutes! ...He was right. Since then, I've been trying to push myself when I'm running and I've seen some improvement every time I've run except today.

The reason I was a little slower today, was I tried to imitate the format of the PT tests I will have to take. So before I went running, I did as many pushups and situps as I could in 2 minutes each. Now, if you haven't tried to do any situps for a few years, get out of the chair or off the couch, and do 5 or 6. You'll probably realize that you're using a lot of leg muscles as well as your abs. Now try to do situps for 2 minutes straight and you'll see why I had so much trouble running today. Overall, I was happy with my run, since I finished in about 35 min, which is my second fasted time yet, only by about 20 secs. Not too bad. For the PT test, I only have to run 2 miles, and for my age group, to pass with the bare minimum, i need to finish in about 16 1/2 minutes. Obviously I have a long way to go, but one thing to note is I don't really know how far I'm running on this track. the signs are not exactly reliable, so my guess is that I'm running somewhere around 3 1/2 miles. So I think I'm pretty close to being able to pass the test.

Today was the first time in a week or two that I tested myself on pushups or situps too, and i was surprised when I looked at the number I needed to pass. 40 pushups in 2 minutes, and 50 situps in 2 minutes. I thought for sure it would be more than that. So i did my exercises, and after about a minute, my arms were pretty much dead, so i quit doing pushups at 35. Not that great, but better than I had done before. Recently I've hit a plateau in my pushups, so it was nice to see some improvement. My situps started great, I pounded out 20 in the first 25 seconds or so, and then I slowed down significantly. I still finished with 45 though, which again isn't anything great, but it's close. So with just over a month until I go to basic, I feel very confident that my pushups and situps will be up to par, especially since I'm going to get smoked (when the Drill Sergeants make us do pushups or just stay in the pushup position for a while) a ton during basic, and I don't have to pass the PT test until close to the end of basic. My running should also be good enough by then. I mean, it has to be, because I don't plan on failing anything.

One thing that I keep telling myself is that the more I do it, the easier it will get. So when i feel like quitting because it hurts to take another step, I just tell myself that today is an anomaly, and it won't usually hurt this bad, so just keep going. I also know that if I quit, it doesn't help me at all, I may as well have slept in and done nothing all day if I'm not going to push my limits each time.

So that's what I'm putting myself through before I even get to basic! I'm sure most of you reading think I'm crazy, and that's probably true, but that's what makes it fun!

40 days

So i've now been a future soldier for something like 4 months now, and the time has gone by really fast. i only have 40 days until i leave for basic, and i wish it would just get here already! i haven't been doing much this summer until now, i had a job for a few weeks (yes, washing dishes... again) but now i mainly sit around all day. I have been working out and running a lot. So far i'm running 3 miles every other day, working up to running it every day. My times for the running aren't great at all, but i can definitely see improvement each time. I should be up to speed by the time i get to basic, but i still expect to get pwn3d by the drill sergeants! Anyway, that's what's going on for now. I'll be sure to post anything else that happens, and keep updating my PT attempts. Well right now my brother Eric is on the phone, and since he is in Iraq right now, I'm going to get off here, and talk to him. So, i'm out.

Why I joined the Army

I'm sure most of you have already seen this, but if not, here is my thinking behind joining the army.

Well, as most of you know by know, i have joined the army. I swore in yesterday, and signed my contract, and will be going in for 3 years and 34 weeks (the 34 weeks is for training) and my job will be human intelligence collector. I will be doing things like interrogations and talking to people to find out information. Other than that, I really don't know what i will be doing. I will be leaving for basic training on November 4th, and that will last 12 weeks. I will also get 2 weeks off for Christmas. After basic, I will go to AIT, which is basically my job training for another 18 weeks. I'm not sure exactly what happens after that, but i'll probably get assigned to my unit then.

Some people have asked my why i am joining the army, especially because i just graduated from college. There are many reasons I believe, that answer, of such, of that, question. First of all, since i graduated from college, i had the option to go in as an officer. I did not, and others of you think i made a bad choice there. Either way, I think the army will be good for

me. If you would have asked me if i would ever join the military on the day of my college graduation, I would have laughed and said no way. That weekend though, my family went from my graduation to go see my brother Eric (who was in basic training for the army at the time, and had the weekend off). After seeing him and talking to him a little that weekend, on top of having no idea of what to do with my life, i starting thinking about the army. I did a lot of research about the different branches and different jobs each had to offer. I had a lot of crazy ideas at first, but finally settled on the intelligence field.

If you're looking for specific reasons that I joined, here you go. After I graduated, I had no idea what to do with my life. I had always thought I would get a job in film, until my last semester of college, when i decided that i would like to keep film as more of a hobby. So i had no path or career in mind at all, and that can be scary. The army guaranteed a job for at least 3 years, which would give me time to figure out what to do with myself. On top of the bad economy, that seemed like a pretty good idea. Then I also realized that since i stopped playing sports in high school, i was not in the shape i used to be. The army would challenge me to get in shape, and get stronger. After reading about some of the jobs I could have, and talking to a few people, it sounded like the army would be a fun and exciting job to have. Obviously I am not expecting that every day, as I'm sure i'll have my share of desk work and boring days, but I'm ok with that. You'll have that with any job, but I'll also get the chance to go to other countries and serve my country with everything I'll be doing. Oh, and they'll pay off my student loans from college. I'll also be going in as an E-4, which is a specialist, instead of an E-1 or E-2 like most people.

Anyway, I've been going through the process of enlisting for a few weeks now, not really knowing what I was getting myself into. I kind of has the attitude that I was still a civilian and not committed to anything, so I *could* back out at anytime. Then when i went to MEPS yesterday for my physical and to sign my contract and swear in. I didn't think anything of it for most of the day. I spent a few hours getting the physical and waiting. (got up at 5:45, walked into MEPS at 7:00, finished the physical around 10:30 or so) Finally, around 2:45 they called all 5 of us who were waiting to swear in to go to a room and wait for someone to come tell us what to do. He came in and showed us how to stand at attention and parade rest, then told us what we would be doing, and how this was serious, and the punishments for deserting and going AWOL and stuff like that. Then we all lined up and an officer came in and lead us through the swear in process. We had to stand at attention and recite the oath after him. Up until this point, I had been pretty laid back about the whole thing, but after about the second line, I realized- this is for real. I can't back out now. I just committed myself to the army. I hesitated for about a tenth of a second on the third line of the oath, but I composed myself and continued to repeat after the officer as confidently as I could (which was only about semi confident).

I think that will be the defining moment for me for a while, at least until boot camp, to make myself continue forward. I really have no idea what I'm getting myself into, and at times I get nervous, anxious, and even scared about it. But I know in the end, it will make me better, and I can get through it. I'm committed now, and I will not quit.

If you've read this far, I'm very impressed. Thanks, and let me know what you're thinking now. lolzor, hopefully you don't think i've lost my mind even more after reading this!