Starting my Epic Quest

[mikunt212]

UPDATE

I have taken the first steps to becoming the person I should be. A little over a month ago, I was offered a promotion in the US Army if could pass the aforementioned physical fitness test. Now if that werent motiviating enough, passing the APFT (Army Physical Fitness Test) would also allow me to sign up for the service for another 6 years, would comes with a rather large bonus of money for doing so. And so it began. I was working out every day. Push-up routines. Sit-up routines. Running and sprinting routines. I was working my ass off. And then, without warning, my Arch-enemy reared its ugly head.

DUN DUN DUN!!!!! SHIN SPLINTS!!!!

I had never felt so much pain in my entire life. I tried everything. Run through it. Stop running. Walk it off. Ice it. Bengay. The pain just got worse and worse, to the point that I was almost in tears by the end of a run, and had to limp back to my room. But, hope was not lost. Turns out I have pronate feet (ankles roll in when you run) which has been known the increase the frequency and severity of shin splints. So I simply bought a new super-hero cape... er... shoes. (Unfortunately they didnt arrive in time, but thats ok)

The Big Day

The day of the APFT came, and I had been staring at the requirements for so long that they were buring into my brain.
EVENT 1 - Push-ups:
41 in 2min. PASS!
EVENT 2 - Sit-ups:
50 in 2min. PASS!
EVENT 3 - 2-mile Run:
20:00. FAIL!

Why do we fall? So we can learn to pick ourselves up.

At this point I was pretty far down. I had lost the promotion. I had given my all and still came up short. All my friends accolades only made me feel worse. But then I saw the light. You know what? I gave that 100%. I worked my ass off for that. I went from being unable to pass any event to passing 2 and even improving on the last one (which has always been my weekest event). Im going to continue to work for this, and in 5 weeks, Im going to take it again. Sure, I lost the promotion, but I didnt lose the chance to re-enlist and get all that bonus money. APFT IM COMING FOR YOU!!

Update Status and Goals

Age: 24
Ht: 5'6"
Wt: 185lbs
Fitness level: Fail
I would like to lose 25lbs and get into shape to (at least) pass the Army Physical Fitness Test.
APFT:
2 mile run in 16:36min
40 push-ups in 2 min
50 sit-ups in 2 min

[Lachy]

Dude, great progress! You'll nail the run next time with your attitude, no doubt!

Shin splints do suck, feel your pain. Maybe when/if they strike again (hopefully the new cape will solve the problem though), instead of pushing through it, can you substitute a different cardio so you can continue to improve fitness? Maybe a bike, or a swim?