David’s Purely Random Thoughts

I took the APFT today (sort of).  The Army Physical Fitness Test is three events you have to do twice per year to prove you are in shape.  It is graded on a scale and could play into your evaluations and career.  The three events are pushups (all you can do in two minutes), situps (all you can do in two minutes) and a two mile run for time.  I have to do 76 pushups to max that event.  That’s actually one more than a 17yo has to do. 

I did 80 pushups in 52 seconds and quit.  There are no bonus points.  Then, I did 78 situps.  76 is max for 17yo.  The two mile run is where it got embarassing.  I had never been on this course before and it was on a street here on Victory Base.  It ran around a lake and came back.  Easy, right?  I haven’t maxed the run in years, but I was on a seven minute mile pace at the one mile mark.  Not bad.  At the 1.75 mile mark, I was on pace to finish in about 15 minutes.  My brain was in neutral as usual when I run.  Another guy was in front of me and I knew what his pace was, so I was fine.  At 15 minutes, I still didn’t see my last turn to the final straightaway.  I thought maybe the mile markers were improperly placed and threw off my math.  At the 16 minute mark, I couldn’t see the other guy anymore.  By 18 minutes, I knew something had gone horribly wrong.  To my left was a bridge that I knew was a good two miles from the start point. 

It turned out that we were not briefed on a nuance of the course.  If you don’t pay attention, you can end up going the wrong way!  Sheesh!  I’ve never even heard of someone getting lost on the their physical test.  When I got back to the team for the first meeting of the day, it turned out that lots of people did that the first time they ran that course.  The guy in front of me had done the same thing.  So, I felt a little better, but it was still embarassing. 

Hope nothing like this happens in your day! 

This entry was posted on Saturday, May 30th, 2009 at 2:37 am and is filed under Training. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.