PT and more

I may have mentioned before that the Corps will be physically challenging. Well, now I'll give you something more specific. To pass the Corps physical test, you have to make a 1 1/2 mile run in about 15 minutes, as well as 42 pushups and 50 someodd situps. Right now I can probably do the run easily, the situps barely, and nowhere near 40 pushups. So Ross has kindly allowed me to tag along when he "PT's" and push me along. It's amazingly tiring.

Here's a basic outline of what I've done as far as exercise this week, starting on Thursday.
Thursday morning: about 8:00 I was awakened and 15 minutes later we were headed out to Pecan Park to run the Lanana creek trail. Pecan is about at the halfway point, so we started off in one direction, at Ross's pace. After about the hardest 3/4 of a mile I had ever run, we reached a set of pull-up bars. Of course, we couldn't let those go unchallenged, so I did about seven, while Ross did about ten. I don't remember exactly because I was having trouble with the oxygen levels in my brain. From there we continued to run to Liberty Hall, the Southernmost extent of the trail. There, we did pushups. After about 25-30 pushups, probably less, I just about passed out from the combined effects of the running, pushups, and having not eaten yet that day. After I revived a bit, we headed back north to Pecan, at my pace this time. Needless to say, it took us much longer to get to Pecan than it took to get to Liberty Hall.

Friday morning: I got up a bit earlier on Friday, mostly so that I could prepare for the day. This time I took Ross's advice and had some blueberry-lemon bread for a snack before we left. I also took the opportunnity to make some gatorade. Then we headed back out to Pecan to run Lanana again, but with a change: this time we did the whole thing. We started off heading south, through SFA down to the post office. That part of the trail is the least shaded, so we did it as early as possible. By the time we reached Pecan again, I was lagging badly with the entire north end of the trail to go. Ross, wanting to get his whole run in, told me I needed only to run until I met him coming back down the trail, then turn around. The only condition he added to that was that if I didn't get far enough, we would do sprints. More on those later. I did, however, survive the run, and go quickly enough to avoid sprinting.

Saturday morning: This morning, we went to the farmers market before delivering Mom to the gym and heading off to the SFA stadium. We got a few peaches and a very ripe cantaloupe.
At the stadium, Ross declared his intention to push me really hard. To that end, we warmed up (!) with a short, easy mile run. Then, it was off to the sprints. The objective of a sprint is to run the length of a football field as fast as possible, stopping at regular intervals to do pushups, situps, etc.
Ross taught me this really cool thing called a diamond. Basically, it's a pushups where your hands are together and your thumb and first finger form a diamond. Like a pushup, but lots harder. We did four of these sprints, then caught our breath for a couple minutes.
Then we did what Ross calls "suicides" (insert doom music here). A suicide is a set of short sprints, first to the ten yard line, then the twenty, then the thirty, touching each line with your hand. The name is quite descriptive of how it feels.
After the suicides, we cooled down by walking a slow lap of the track. Ross and I were both sick (litterally) of situps, Ross slightly more so than me. We did manage to make it home without incident though.

After having finally asked Ross how this compares to Corps PT, he said it's the same stuff, but more of it. It's gonna be rough.

I did finally get my Eagle Scout Board of Review last night, so I am officially an Eagle Scout! That means I'll get at least a small scholarship as well as the priviledge of wearing the medal on my uniform.

Life Changing Events (part 2)

The next big thing in my life is that I have FINALLY gotten all the requirements for my Eagle Scout rank finished. And not a moment too soon. All I have left to do is my Eagle Board of review. At the Eagle Boar, they ask you questions about the scout skills you've learned, about your Eagle project, and some general life questions. This is not some wimpy "Hi-all-your-requirements-are-done-we-pass-you" sort of thing. If you aren't up to speed on skills, your project, or especially life in general, the board will not pass you.

As many of you know (and many don't), my Eagle project was building props for the ballet teacher in town. Our troop with help from a carpenter friend of ours built two "houses" with three walls and a roof out of 2x2 lumber and plywood. They were designed with the dimensions of a pickup truck in mind, so they can be taken apart, transported, and put back together fairly easily, if not especially quickly. The previous props that had been used were a pile of particle board on the floor of a shed, so the point of the new props was to make them last a few years. Oddly enough, the ballet teacher in question announced her retirement about four days before the recital. Life is just weird, isn't it?

Oh, and I also turned 18 yesterday. Is that enough of a life change for you?

Life Changing Events (Part 1)

First, before the post really begins, I'd like to share a bit of trivia. Take a look at my profile. Notice at the end of my comments is a big loud AAAAAAY! That is known as wildcatting. It's a thing you do at the end of yells and when your class year is mentioned. I'm a freshman, so my wildcat is arms up in the air yelling AAAAAAY!

Last week was a big one for me. I don't mean that in a small, insignificant way. I mean that in a serious, big time, probable-life-changing sort of way. What happened? New Student conference.

New Student Conference is the "event" that starts off the career of a freshman at A&M. Basically it's a seminar designed to keep the average freshman informed of his opportunities. They tell you what kind of bus services, financial aid services, get-out-of-debt services, food service, keep-yourself-fit services, internet services, honors programs, academic advising, fish camp, intramural sports, diversity training(!) and a host of other things. It kinda reminds me of all the services that came with my computer. Lots of cool stuff, but very little of it applies to me. After all, I'm not your average freshman. I'm a freshman in the Corps.

Most of the time I spent listening politely to statements that sounded about as interesting as your average senator. The one big important thing I got done was signing up for the Corps officially, which included ROTC signup (Ross is going to hate me - I went Air Force) and getting fit for my uniforms.

Here I am in my uniform (minus brass and belt).

Yes, it is sideways, and yes, the quality is lousy.













With getting the uniform fitted came the fitting of the low quarters (uniform shoes) and standard army boots. Meaning I now get to wear them in. You have no idea how uncomfortable that is at times, but it's getting better.

Also at New Student Conference, I signed up for my first semester courses. Amazingly enough, I got EVERY SINGLE ONE I WANTED! That's a big deal, especially considering we were running kindof late from uniform fitting, and all the signups happen at the same time.

For the other big life changing event, stay tuned until later this week when it's official (more or less)

Introduction

Howdy! You may have noticed a couple of things about me. First, I am no longer Admiral Nelson. Why did I change? A couple of issues. First, there's a lot of Admiral Nelsons out there. Second, a lot of the places I frequent have a character limit on names, and Admiral Nelson was just too long. Third, I really like the postcards of Sandra Boynton. Take a look at them someday.

The next thing is a couple of announcements. First up, the issue of posting. I'm going to be a fish in the Corps this fall, and a chemical engineering fish at that! I may have trouble posting regularly, but I will certainly try to post once a week. Second, if you notice any Corps terms you don't recognize, feel free to ask (I might actually enlighten you). Third, I may eventually include links to other blogs, but for now the only one you need to watch is Petr's, since it has all the links you'll ever need. Fourth, just because I can find time to blog doesn't mean I'll be able to read everyone else's.

That's it for the announcements. Enjoy the show, and remember to turn off your cell phone.