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! :)

Mind over Matter

5-11-12 - Today was just about the same as yesterday. There's still that little part of my brain that doesn't want me to go running since I'm so tired after school. But it's mind over matter! I came home, made something to eat and took a power nap and went running at 7.
The weather was perfect, and I got the same time as I did yesterday; 11:45. Not too good, but I feel better knowing I'm keeping the same pace for now even when I don't feel like running!
On Tuesday, I couldn't even run an entire lap before I had to stop and walk. It was probably because it was so hot and humid, but now with this cool weather I can run almost two laps before having to stop.
This feels great! :)

Not Optional.

5-10-12 - Doubt and laziness were waging their war on me tonight. After school, my day got to be pretty busy. I had to run errands with my day - going to Auto Zone, Kroger, Hammond's Fishing Center, and Publix. And somewhere between all that I had to find the time to eat dinner, and make my friend the Birthday Cupcakes I had promised him. (My cupcakes are kind of a big deal to all my friends). So when I get home I have a headache, and need to complete all these tasks, and I immediately start to think "Well, do I really need to go today? I don't really feel that great today..."
And the answer it YES. I need to go every day unless something I cannot get out of comes up. When I start Basic Training, I can't just say.. "Oh, I don't feel like doing what I need to do today." That is just not an option. So I will have to physically push myself while running as well as mental push myself to actually get it done.
So...
When I got home from running errands I whipped up the cupcake batter and put it in the oven so I could go over to Little Mill Middle School to run around their parking lot. Little Mill is very close to my house, and running around the outside of their oval shaped parking lot 4 times is one mile. We used to run it at track practice in 7th grade.
The weather was just as yesterday's was, so running was a bit easier. I have to consciously make myself breathe right so I don't do that whole 'fish out of water' thing, but today I tried to push myself. Whenever I got tired, I'd tell myself to just run a little more. "Run to that stop sign, then you can stop and walk." I also have a problem with slowing down on the last stretch of my fourth lap instead of trying to finish it off fast and give it my all at the end. So on my 4th lap today, I came around the last curve and forced myself to sprint to my water bottle. I just kept telling myself.. "Don't slow down, run to the water!" And I skimmed 13 seconds off yesterday's time! I'm still at an 11 minute mile, but those 13 seconds made a really huge deal to me.
I was also listening to Katy Perry's song "Part of Me" and in the music video she joins the Marines and it's all about her going through Boot Camp after her boyfriend cheats on her. The video also features real female Marines. This song is inspiring to me, and the video is really BA. I suggest you give it a watch :)
So now I'm sitting in my room relaxing after icing all the cupcakes, and I'm watching Walk The Line - my favorite movie of all time.
I pushed myself through doubt and laziness and I pushed myself during the run. I'll take this as a treat from God. :)

"Breathe Right!!"

5-9-12 – It’s day two! Running today was much easier, because of the recent rain and the light breeze it was not as hot and humid. I’m still at an 11 minute mile, but today I worked more on my breathing techniques than my time. I must wear two sports bra while running, and after a while my brain starts thinking.. “Why is she still running?! she can barely breathe!!” So my body goes into a little freak out mode where I sound like a fish out of water trying to breathe. So today was about concentrating on actually breathing correctly, you know the “In through your nose, out through your mouth” technique. Every time I started having one of those breathing spasms I’d stop running and just focus on telling myself.. “BREATHE! Stop sounding like you’re dying and just breathe right!” Eventually this worked, haha.

May 8th.. First Run!

5-8-12 - This was the first mile I ran. I decided to run a mile everyday, until next year. Yep, a full year; all summer, all Senior Year and until I graduate.  I ran an approx. 10-11 mile. Not good, but this is why I started running! I need to get better and I’m determined to do it. I also got some advice from a really good friend today about the minimum requirements for certain military branches on running, push-ups, sit-ups, etc, about eating healthy, talking to people in the military and stuff like that. I can happily say I’m so excited to be doing this!

My running journal!

It is May 9^th, 2012 and I have realized in the past few weeks that I need to be getting in shape if I have any real desire to join the military in a year when I graduate. (At this point I am leaning toward the Air Force). I am now closing in my Junior Year at North Forsyth High School and have not ran any kind of long distances since the mandatory mile Freshman Year. For the past school year I have taken Weight Training, and have really built up some muscle, and will continue to do some kind of weight lifting through summer and Senior Year. (Like P90X with a friend of mine). But now I need to work on my running. I run about a 10-12 minute mile right now, depending on the time of day, the heat, etc. At this point, I cannot run a full mile without stopping to try and breathe. I have a ton of work ahead of me, and I know it will at times become hard and I will want to stop and cry and scream in frustration. So I started this journal to continually encourage myself to keep working hard. I cannot quit; I know for a fact that this is the path God has led me to and I cannot stop. I want to become a doctor through the military, I know this is my path in life; I can walk through the middle of the Military History section in the bookstore looking for a book and end up sitting in the floor with books strewn all around me and I just become so overwhelmed with emotion knowing that I have finally found my place in life. So this is the start of my new beginning. If everything goes well, I could be leaving for any kind of Basic Training once I graduate highschool.