Join me as I travel around the country to fulfill my goal of running a marathon or half marathon in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia!

Friday, January 20, 2012

New Challenges

Some anxiety has recently been relieved from my life now that I have my dream job in the Navy and I know exactly when I’ll be leaving for boot camp. On June 19, 2012 I’ll fly to Great Lakes, IL to go through 8 weeks of basic training. Following graduation I’ll head to Fort Meade, MD for 7 months of schooling to become a Mass Communication specialist. Until then I have to contain my excitement and eagerness to get that part of my life started, and instead focus my energy on studying and exercising while maintaining my 40 hour/week job. Both the studying and exercising are incredibly specific. Sure, all aerobic activity will be to my benefit, but at the end of boot camp I will ultimately be tested on three areas of fitness: running, push-ups, and curl-ups. 
Source
For my age and gender my bare minimum requirements are as follows:
1.5 Mile Run in 15:15
50 curl ups in 2 minutes
17 push ups in 2 minutes (allowed to rest in up position only)

Obviously I don’t want to risk only passing with the bare minimum so here is the full chart:
FEMALES:  AGE 20 to 24 YEARS

PERFORMANCE                                CURL    PUSH     1.5-MILE    
CATEGORY                                          UPS       UPS           RUN
  

OUTSTANDING  HIGH                           105         48              9:47   
OUTSTANDING  MEDIUM                      103         47             11:15  
OUTSTANDING  LOW                             98         44             11:30  
EXCELLENT    HIGH                               94         43              12:15  
EXCELLENT    MEDIUM                          90         40             12:45  
EXCELLENT    LOW                               87          39             13:15  
GOOD    HIGH                                        78          33             13:30  
GOOD    MEDIUM                                   66          28             13:45  
GOOD    LOW                                        58           21             14:15  
SATISFACTORY HIGH                            54           20             15:00  
SATISFACTORY MEDIUM                       50           17             15:15  
PROBATIONARY                                    46            16             15:30  

I’m thinking of setting a goal for myself. I’d like to be able to go to boot camp in the “Excellent High” category and graduate boot camp in the “Outstanding Low” category. It certainly won’t be an easy task considering my current push-up max is 17, and to be honest I don’t even know if they would count. It’s like my elbows get to a 90 degree angle and turn into JELLO. It’s a problem.
If that's a push-up then I completely take back the fact that I can do 17. Source
As far as the run goes, you’d think I’d be fine, but it turns out running 13 miles at a 10+ minute pace doesn’t help you at all when you’re trying to run 1.5 miles quickly. Last week at the gym I forced myself to run 1.5 miles in 12:57. At the end I went from sprinting immediately to walking and gasping for air with the sweatiest, most bright red face you’ve ever seen. Because I have wonderful luck, this is the exact moment that a cute trainer at the gym walked in and looked my direction which caused me to stumble. I dropped my towel and it went flying off the back of the treadmill. He came over and handed it to my while trying to restrain his laughter at the girl who apparently isn’t coordinated enough to walk on a treadmill. Awesome. Obviously it will be much harder to complete the 1.5 miles without a treadmill forcing me to run a certain pace and replacing cute, smiling trainers with screaming boot camp instructors, but hey, I’m up for a challenge.
source
On a side note, I’m headed to Florida next week on a little vacation to visit the ’rents and soak up some sunshine with my college friends. Which is good because it is currently 34 degrees and about to sleet in Washington, DC. I’m pretty sure Satan invented sleet. The weather channel cannot fool me when they call it a “wintry mix.” More like a mix of evil.
This face says I need to get out of this office and soak up some Florida sunshine quick.

So what are your favorite speed workouts? Any tips on getting faster?

Happy Running,

10 comments:

Glenn said...

Samantha, congratulations on getting MC. It is an awesome rate that will allow you to see many many things in the Navy. Stay in touch, and I'll see you in the fleet!

Unknown said...

Yay! Congratulations! I think you should be practicing intervals at faste-than-goal pace, which will make goal pace more comforatble (but it won't be comfortable - it'll hurt. But you know that already.)

Pam @ herbieontherun.com said...

Congratulations on landing your dream job!

Dr. said...

Sam, this is so awesome and great news! CONGRATS!!! I'm sure you'll be able to hit those fitness goals-just keep at it. So excited for you! Hang in there and enjoy the ride.

Fruit Fly said...

This is pretty darn cool! And let me just say, I'm glad YOU are doing it and not me. I think I wouldn't be able to handle day 1 after reading those charts!

Julia said...

yay!!! you will rock the boot camp! i am sure of it! hope you are enjoying the florida sun! i am jealous!

The thin seeker said...

Congrats on getting MC!!!

Can you explain to me what curl ups are?

http://weightlossthesearchfortheskinnierme.blogspot.com/

Sara said...

This is an awesome journey you are about to start! How exciting! I am sure you will do great at basic and on your PT scores. Keep working hard! :) Can't wait to follow your journey.

Erik Ammon said...

There's a 100 push up challenge you should check out. I think it's at hundredpushup.com, but I'm not positive. For speed work, start doing repeats- start with 1/4 mile repeats at a fast pace (not all out sprint). Shoot for 4 to start and build up the repetitions and distance slowly. 1/4, 1/2, mile. Maybe pick a goal time you would like and figure out what that pace would be and go for a bit faster than that pace for each rep. Once a week should suffice!

Tina said...

There are situations in our life when we are exposed to physical stresses, as well as mental. Especially this is vital for people whose work is connected with high physical activity. You must make sure that your body gets enough support in order not to be exhausted. There are lots of things which you have to take into account. In my mind, the most important is proper nutrition. Being an athlete myself, I have tried different products. But eventually found the one which is most effective for me. This is Super Army Mega Endurance Formula. This dietary supplement increases my stamina and strength. It also has the influence on the mental level – I feel much more concentrated and resistant to stress. Together with healthy foods this product is enough for me to make my performance better and better.