ASVAB and the future

Well, I took the ASVAB again today. To get the MOS I want, I need to score a 107 GT score. Last year I scored a 105.
For the past month, nothing much has happened, but now, I could be sworn in in just a few weeks.
Things have started to pick up pace again, and I'm actually very excited. This is just the first step into the rest of my life, post- high school.

More updates to come :)

PT

Well, Fire Explorers has been kicking my butt! But in a good way :)
Like I've said before, we do a lot of PT.
This past Monday we took a little run through the woods. It was wet, humid, and muddy.
And for an assortment of different reasons, I wanted to give up so badly. But I didn't. I wouldn't give up and let my lazy side get the satisfaction for winning and making me give up.
As long as I am not the last one in the pack, I know I am doing something right.
I'm happy to know that I don't allow myself to give up on something I know I need to get done, no matter what kind of physical and/or emotional pain I have.

Fire Explorers

Wow! I have been neglecting my blog this past month!

So I joined the Hall County Fire Explorers group as of Monday June 11th. It's like a branch of the boy scouts, except it's more centered around training kids to be fire fighters. It's two and a half hours long every Monday night. We learn all the usual first aid, search and rescue, as well as participate in live burns and Extrication practices.
We also PT. A lot. My first day we did a relay that consisted of flipping a tractor tire up and down the parking lot, doing squats with like half of a power pole, and pulling a sled with a fire hose on it. I was the one doing the sled and it is one of the hardest things I have ever done. My muscles were screaming and I was sore for three days after! The group of kids are really great, and are really encouraging. definitely something I need when I'm PT-ing.
On the 18th, we did a practice PT test at the Burn Building. As in the actual PT test people have to complete in order to be eligible to be hired as a firefighter. It consists of rolling and then unrolling a fire hose, taking a ladder off of an elevated height and setting it on the ground three times in a row, knocking a log off an elevated height with a sledgehammer, raising a ladder off the ground and onto the side of the building two times, pulling a hose up to the three story window, carrying a hose up three flights of stairs, pulling a sled with a hose on it, climbing up and down a ladder three times, and finally pulling a 180 pound dummy about 30 feet.
WOW! It was a crazy day. But I did better than even some of the guys (Yes, I am proud of that and will show off a bit) and absolutely love the skinny, athletic, in-shape feeling I get after an insane workout like that.
This is definitely what I need to keep in shape! :)

Amicalola Falls

Oh gosh! I haven't ran a mile in a week!

But that's okay, since I hiked Amicalola Falls for 2 hours today with my mother. What a great thing to do to keep up my leg muscles! :)

Couch to 5K

The last three days have been pretty busy, and I have been unable to run since Tuesday! :(
But on Wednesday night I met my youth group at Roosters for wings night, and I explained to them what I was doing to prepare for the Military next year. My youth pastor told me about an app I could buy called "Couch to 5K Tracker" that slowly builds you up to running x amount of miles in just a few months.
And tonight, I get to try it for the first time!
I go to the app, and it says - 'Week 1, Workout 1' and gives a description of what I'll be running tonight which is - "Brisk 5 minute warmup walk. Then alternate 60 seconds of jogging and 90 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes. Finish with a five minute cooldown."
Sounds easy enough :)
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The run was great! Even though it is quite different from running 11 minutes to running 30. This is a great App! :)

Like a Desert

5-15-15 - Yesterday, after running errands with my dad and feeding my snake, I came home an fell asleep! So there was no run for me :(
But today after school, I came home at 4 and took a nap until 6:30 to go running at 7, my usual time.
And it was so HOT! The heat and humidity were killing me today. I had to stop for water every lap or it felt like I'd die... but my time was 11:37! Only 7 seconds worse than the last two runs!
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I hope I can look back on this journal if I'm ever feeling down and re-encourage myself to keep running; because this is a great feeling :)

Stopwatch

5-13-12 - I was unable to run yesterday because I had promised a friend that I would go see The Avengers with her and after the movie I also had a Mother's Day celebration at my aunt's house I needed to attend. So my Saturday was pretty busy.
But, I ran today! After it finally stopped raining, I went on a run.
It's gotten to the point this past week that I get very anxious right before I run. I hate being timed while I run. But to see if I'm making any improvement, I need to time myself. I hate doing it because if I don't get a better time or at least match the time I had gotten the day before, I feel awful. But this is only the first week so I hope this gets better...
So today, the sun wasn't out and it was very cool while I ran. And I was able to run a full two laps before I needed to stop to walk! Now that felt really great.
And the result of all this? I shaved 15 more seconds at my time! (I'm at an 11:30min mile since today)
If this pattern continues, I'll be shaving roughly 15 seconds off my time every other day!
Prayers that this happens! :)