As I've been working to secure post-graduation employment, several of the positions I've received feedback on have required physical fitness tests that weren't listed in the initial job description. Having worked in similar positions before, I'm not confident that the job tasks actually require the level of physical fitness they're calling for, but that's immaterial because in order to qualify, I need to be able to meet the standard. So, for a variety of reasons, I need to start making a better effort to get myself in shape.
Around 2009, I developed a workout plan that's a variation of the classic BUD/S Warning Order workout that's meant to bring candidates up to the minimum level of physical fitness required to attend the Navy's Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL school. Having been in the Navy myself, this workout always appealed to me, except I hate running. I modified it so that during the first phase of the workout, I'd be yomping - hiking in utility trousers with a rucksack - instead of running. The theory was that this would build my legs up, while the aggressive swim workouts would build my endurance, so that I could eventually transition into running during the second phase.
For a variety of reasons, I've never actually followed through with the workout. I remember making a little bit of progress at establishing some patterns while I was living in Virginia, but I encountered two major obstacles while living in Virginia. The first was daily electrical storms during the Summer months, and there were multiple occasions in 2009 in which I reached the pool or even swam half a lap, only to be told that a single thunderclap had been heard and that the pool needed to be evacuated because it "wasn't grounded" - all of these being indoor pools, mind you. The other major obstacle was high school swim teams, which dominated the pool during the hours when I was free to swim. I eventually gave up. I had high hopes of going to it when I was in the Middle East, but seventy-plus hour work weeks (plus a minimum six hours of weekly commute time) put that notion to rest very quickly. I suppose I have no excuse for not making a better effort while I was in Scotland, but one obstacle or another sapped my opportunities or motivations to do so.
In the intervening years, I've collected a variety of additional materials. The Navy, for example, has published the Naval Special Warfare Physical Training Guide, the Naval Special Warfare Injury Prevention Guide, the Special Operations Nutrition Guide, and other resources; from the Army, there's the Ranger School Prep guide. I have a copy of The Complete Guide to Navy SEAL Fitness by Stew Smith and Power to the People! Russian Strength Training Secrets for Every American by Pavel Tsatsouline. All of these are good and well, and maybe I'll get to them someday... But in the mean time, I think I need to start smaller. I need to start establishing little fitness habits that I can build into bigger ones.
On Sunday, I put on my combat boots and my Camelbak and went hiking in the woods. It sucked, but I'm going to try to do it again later this week, and hopefully go at least a few feet further in the same amount of time as I did Sunday. Monday (when I wrote this), my goal was to try to get to one of the local pools and do twenty minutes of lap swimming. Today, I'm going to try to go for a walk and mix in a few minutes of running. For me, this is extremely ambitious, but I've gotten to the point where something's gotta give. I'm going to try to keep a log of it all, and post my progress. Hopefully, backing down on my ambitious goals and starting off easy, but doing a little bit each day, will pay off over the course of a couple of months.
More to come.
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