hard to the corps

Whoa, another month has flown by without me stopping to write. In some ways I still feel like I haven't progressed that much since the end of last year, because I've certainly slacked off with the regimented weight training, but maybe I've balanced it out with better eating habits, and incorporating more general physical activity into my life.

I've kicked it up a couple of notches training wise, taking most of my running to the streets. I haven't done that many boot runs of late, partially because it's getting too hot to pull them onto my feet, and also because I scored a nano for Christmas. This has made running almost like a game, definitely a lot more fun when I'm out of the gym and exploring off-road or even just padding around a park track. It's almost like the nano's a puppy that has me on a leash, begging to be taken out to play. I don't want to let it down, even though I know it's just a tool, and the voices in my head aren't real, even though sometimes they're all I need to push myself that little bit further. Even having a training buddy some of the time helps me go harder the next time I'm by myself, not that I'm at any kind of competitive level with my running, but in some ways I feel more accountable when I'm actually taking note of how far I'm going each time.

In an effort to try and combine social with physical activity, I've been indoor rock-climbing, ten-pin bowling, mini golfing and even cycling. The climbing was my first time ever, and such an awesome thrill. I still have a terrible fear of heights and of falling, even though I know it's safe to let go of the wall, I just get a mental block when I think I've got nothing left in me to get any further. Sometimes I can ignore what I think is possible and push on anyway, and it's a key example of how good it feels to achieve something I thought I couldn't.

Bowling and golfing were for the first time in years, probably since I was a kid, and more for fun than anything else (while the climbing was to work on my hanging muscles for boot). I hadn't been on a bike forever, and never really did much road riding back in the day either, and it was great fun. I was surprised at how effortless it felt, cruising through the streets. But I was also painfully aware of how little nerve I have when it comes to something as seemingly easy as riding on the road. At times I was just way too conscious of falling, or drifting into traffic, or getting clipped by someone opening a car door suddenly, and I had to control my brain in a way, to stop getting overwhelmed by all this information that I somehow manage to tune out whilst driving... even though it's much the same information that's there whether I'm in a car or not.

I had my final follow-up appointment at the Women's, and the low-down is that unless something shows up at the lab, according to the doctor that saw me I should be able to go back to regular pap smears. The tricky thing with the medical clearance I need is that maybe low grade changes still count as too iffy to let me through, and I might need treatment to get back to a state where there's no changes at all. Hopefully with the paperwork that says I've had low grade changes for a stretch of twelve months means that I'm stable enough to get in. I guess it depends how pedantic the medical guidelines are. Sometimes it can take two or three years for this kind of thing to clear up of its own accord, and apparently in typical circumstances, treatment wouldn't be recommended until there are medium or high grade changes. Sucks to be a girl, really.

I've still got to bolt to a GP and get something cleared up about the urine test I had when I did the RAAF interview about six months ago. I guess I was hoping that it would sort itself out by the time I had to go to the Women's again, but to be honest I don't know what any of it's about. So if all I need is a second urine test that doesn't come up with anything strange, I could be a couple weeks away from getting medical clearance. I'm really hoping that the stuff with the Women's was the hardest part. It's pretty insane that I can feel this fit and healthy but still not know if I'm actually alright!

So, if my body behaves... I've got the skills to pass the pre-enlistment fitness test, which is the shuttle run equivalent of running 920m in 5 minutes and 40 seconds. That's the easy bit, even though at one stage I did think I had to slave to make it that far! As for the boot camp graduation requirements, I'm confident that I can do the 2.4km run in 13 minutes. I'm on the verge of getting it down pat now, so I'm sure that by the end of boot camp I'll be a cardio hero. The 30 sit-ups will be even easier than the pre-enlistment, as I'm doing that amount of sit-ups now, but with a 3kg medicine ball. What about the hang? Well, I'm still working on it. I can hold down 45-50kg on the lat machine, and support myself at a similar weight on the assisted pull-up/tricep dip machine. If I lose a little more weight and build up a little more strength, and bank on beefcaking even more during the process of boot camp, it's definitely doable.

I surprised myself the other day. I was reading something about the SAS and the thought occurred to me that I should maybe start doing proper push-ups. You know, man push-ups. None of this on-your-knees girly stuff, which I did start off doing when I first picked up the ADF four week training program and couldn't bring myself to do even one man push-up. So I put the book down and got out of bed, just to see how many actual push-ups I could do. I pumped out eight, not to the point of fatigue, but I was almost shocked that I could do even that. I mean, I've only been training properly for about three months. I'm tempted to do the four week program from the start again, now.

It's getting simpler, really. I honestly didn't think I'd see the day, when all I'd care about is climbing, running, and beefcake sorta grunt work. I heard from someone that basic training is the worst that it gets, which is quite the opposite of what I'd previously believed. From the sounds of it, basic training should be just the beginning of a wonderful world of physical hell. So that's something uplifting, I guess, if I actually make it to and through it all!