hammiemam’s BodyBlog

Last Wednesday I got an awesome opportunity to ride along with my city’s fire department.  Holy crap, what an experience!  I went out on every call the station had.  I saw a few car accidents, checked out some strange smells, and stood aside as they helped a homeless man to the ambulance after he had a seizure.  I had a great lunch that got interupted to go on a call, but I didn’t care.  It was so exciting.  I wasn’t sure what I would be seeing next or where I would be going.  It was awesome.  Even though my job was to stay out of the way and observe, I still had a great time.  Every one of the guys were perfect gentlemen, and it was so cool to hear how much they love their jobs.  One guy in particular had some really great stories about his time spent with the military, how much he loved it, but he said his job as a firefighter is the best job he could ever have.  It is neat how a guy who has nothing but great things to say about a past job tells me that his current job is the best job ever.  The other guys on the shift had similar things to say, as far as it being the best job. 

Going on the ride along has been a catalyst to my workouts.  I want this job so bad, and the only way to get it is to first get past the physical test.  The more I think about it, the more I want it.  I have less than a month away.  I need to squeeze in as much as I can in the next few weeks.  I can do this.

As a side note, I have heard that there are a few other girls trying out for the few positions available.  I have met one of them.  I am not as concerned about the guys that might beat me out during this process, I am worried about the girls.  If just one of them finishes the physical test in the allotted time and has slightly better qualifications, I am dunzo.  On the other hand, if I do better than all of them I am the shoe in.  I want to do better than all of the girls, and all of the guys.  Maybe it is far fetched, but I met the guy that holds the fastest time record for the agility test.  He is an older guy that is in fantastic shape.  I made the decision to strive for the record time.  A little pressure might do me good.  Instead of striving to just finish the agility test in the allotted time, but I also want the best time a first time tester has ever had.  It is something to strive for anyway. 

I appreciate any words of advice and encouragement I have recieved and continue to recieve.  Thanks guys, and thanks to the Columbia Fire Department!

Yesterday, I did not work out in the morning.  I generally wake up at five thirty, grab a quick bite, brush my teeth and head to the gym for an intense workout.  The night before last I decided I would sleep in, because my sleep is probably just as important as my workouts when I am doing two a days.  I decided that wednesday would be my designated "day off" and I would only do cardio once that evening to make sure I stay active. 

One of my new favorite evening workouts is to drive to the local city park, walk briskly to "hell hill" and jog down and run up.  The hill is a very very steep 1/4 mile (slightly longer than that).  It is a workout that really gets my heart rate up and is a huge challenge.  I come close to giving up half way up each time because it flattens slightly, then the climb is much more intense.  This week I do it four times in a row without stopping, next week it will be five times. 

Now, I had planned on doing this run right after work, and I was successful.  I ran hard, and my time was faster and I felt stronger than earlier this week.  I even ran all the way back to my car (an additional, heavy breathed mile).  I got to my car and checked my phone messages.  I get this message, "hey hanni, I was hoping we could go for a run soon."  I was very winded, but determined to go for a nice comfortable jog because that is what we usually did. 

Feeling the need for some sort of sustinence, I stopped at the convenience store on my way home and picked up a granola bar and a powerade. 

I got back and in just enough time to polish off my fuel and some water, and it was back on the road.  Now, my regular running partner was feeling a little inspired, and he didn’t want to run a nice comfortable jog.  We ended up doing some HIIT sprinting/jogging/walking for nearly an hour.  This was the most intense run we have ever been on together.  We were sprinting up hills, and jogging down, we would walk, then break into an all out race against eachother.  There was this feeling of friendly competition, it was amazing.  I felt like I was back on the track team again.  I loved it. 

So I woke up feeling somewhat guilty because I planned on not putting in my morning workout.  I figured my evening hill run made up for that, but I went beyond that with my HIIT run shortly after that.  I felt not like a cardio queen, but a cardio superstar!