Huffing and puffing

Week 1 is done!

It is so exciting to have an entire week crossed off of our “Countdown to Daddy’s Graduation” calendar. There are 26 more to go, but... we’re trying to focus on the positive.

Jay’s last day of Week 1 was extremely challenging, and it was all due to Physical Training (from here on out referred to as PT or H-E-Double-Hockeysticks). Friday was their first full-blown workout and to say that it was difficult is a serious understatement. The PT instructors are machines... they get paid to stay in prime-time physical shape... and they like to yell.

I’m not going to detail the workout because I don’t think I could do it justice. I’ll just say they did extremely strenuous floor exercises over and over and over again. And if they were supposed to be counting to 30 and the PT Instructor couldn’t hear them, he would say “What number are we at? Oh, ZERO, that’s right...” and start them all over again. That’s just cold.

Only about 1/3 of Jay’s company was able to complete the hour-long routine. Jay was not among that 1/3, but he kept up for quite a while. Even the ex-marines in Jay’s company didn’t make it through. When you don’t complete the entire routine, you are made to lie face down on your mat after receiving a severe tongue-lashing for being “weak,” “lazy,” “fat,” or something along those lines. So Jay’s lying there, his head face down in a pool of sweat, and he hears the PT Instructor holler that it’s time for pull-ups. Yippee. At least for pull-ups the person behind you is allowed to help lift you up if you can’t do it on your own. When it was Jay’s turn, he walked to the pull-up bar, turned around and who’s behind him? Some guy about my weight and height. Jay looked at him and silently mouthed “I’m sorry.”

After pull-ups it was time for the “Challenge Run,” also known as the “Pork Run.” It’s a 4 (maybe 5 or 6, I forget) mile run around the Academy grounds and they start at about a 6 min mile pace. There is a van following behind the runners in case someone’s on the brink of death or something. Jay was keeping up with the front-runners for the first couple of miles until the were passing by the EVOC course and then he just couldn’t continue... he needed to walk for just a minute... unfortunately for him, one of the PT Instructors (who we will call Sgt G) saw him and started running along side of him, yelling at the top of his lungs something like this:

Sgt G: FEAR!! What are you doing? Why are you walking?!
(Jay starts jogging, Sgt G right along side of him).
Sgt G: FEAR! You’re walking right in front of the EVOC staff!! What does that say about my PT training?!? Get moving!
Jay: (huff, puff) Yes, sir!
(Jay is now huffing and puffing, trying to keep up with Sgt G’s pace)
Sgt G: FEAR! Stop sucking all the good air!!! Some guy hears you huffing and puffing like that and he’ll know he’s got you!!
Jay: (huff, puff) Yes, sir!
Sgt G: Are you going to have a heart attack Fear?! (not said in a tone of concern, btw)
Jay: No, sir!
Sgt G: That’s right, you know why?! Because you have no heart!! Why don’t you just quit?! Why don’t you just give up? I’ll walk you to the office myself!! Come on, just quit!!
Jay: No, sir!

I should note that Jay is not the only one getting this treatment.

So, Sgt G moves on to someone else and Jay is able to walk briskly for a minute. Coming up behind him are a few cadets that sit next to him in class, and they encouraged him to keep running. He finished the run in the top half of his company – yeah!! And he didn’t have to get a ride in the van! Double yeah!!

All in all, out of the 185 people his class, only about 6 were able to complete the PT workout, the pull-ups, and complete the run. So only those 6 get to keep their official PT shirt. The rest of the group is now referred to as “marshmallows” (because they’re soft, you see...) and they are required to wear plain white shirts to PT with their names on the back in puffy, marshmallow-like writing. They have to earn their official shirt back.

So that was the end of week 1. I’m sure it comes as no surprise that Jay was thrilled to come home Friday evening. And of course we were happy beyond words to have him with us. It was not a relaxing weekend by any stretch of the imagination, because Jay had a lot of homework and errands, not to mention laundry and uniform pressing, BUT... we were together and that’s what matters.


Sunday evening stunk. I knew that it would be harder to say good-bye this weekend than it was when he left for his first day, but I didn’t realize it would be this hard. The girls were sad, I was trying to hold back tears, and Jay was trying to hold it together, too. But, we know it’s the best thing. He needs to be there, 100% focused on his training. It’s going to be a long six months, but in the end, he will have accomplished something few have, and he will have a fantastic career that he can be proud of. Here’s hoping we survive week 2!!!