I am now officially 22, now in the civilian world I don't think that counts for much more than a step closer to greater adulthood/maturity/end of the greatest years of my life. Yet in the current situation I have placed myself in for the next several years yet, 22 is perhaps a more momentous occasion for me than 18. Why you may ask? APFT, the Army Physical Fitness Test, it is bracketed in age groups and as you may have now guessed I am in the 22-26 age group. On the downside I do have to do more push-ups and sit-ups to attain my previous high scores, not too much of an issue if at all. The kicker, I now have 40 more seconds for my max run time!
From a previous blog, you may have noted that I have a little trouble running. I wouldn't say so much that I have trouble running. I have had trouble running the 2 miles in the time slot the Army allowed for me. The previous goal of 15:54 has now been extended to 16:36; in addition the point scale has been appropriately extended. But wait, it still gets better, now for the rather in accurate body fat measurement I am allowed 2% more body fat. According to the Army test I am close to the barrier I think the last test I took I passed with about .5% short of failing. I personally know that I am closer to 15% but an accurate measurement method but that doesn't matter to the Army. I have also been chuckling a little bit over the last month or so.
The CDC uses Body Mass Index to show the general body mass for what are healthy weights and such; it is solely based on height versus weight. At my current state of 5'7" 200lbs I rank in the 30+ category which is legally obese. Just a chuckle, as you all know I am not exactly in that category. Then again it is very common for any bodybuilder to be rated in the obese-overweight category. I suppose the BMI is useful for those that are not physically active or more specifically those with above average muscle mass. As I stand proudly marveling that I will not fail another PT test (and thus have negative attention on myself), I do wonder if I may indeed make the Tape Test. I honestly don't know if my neck has increased enough or my waist shrunk enough that according to the Army I will meet the standards. I'll try to have a recent update; my PT test is this next Monday.
Oh yea, since I did mention that it was my birthday I think I am approaching the point in life that it is not that big a deal anymore. I would hardly call the day eventful, actually it was rather plain. Due to the week long celebrations about the unit activation we had a short workday. I played some video games, went to the gym and did some reading. I finally made it to the bible study on Tuesdays, it was a good group, and I look forward to more gatherings. I am rather anxious for October to get here because that is the kick off of the regularly scheduled youth ministry. I hope my work schedule will allow for me to be able to attend more than weekend activities. Something to pray about that isn't looking too good; there is a rather under-manned mission this next week I hope to attend. I have not yet been able to request the time off because of all the details I need. To get a pass (something that allows us to not sleep in our room or leave a 50 mile radius from post) there is a rather extensive packet of papers to fill out to make sure there are good plans and preparation. Usually for something to get approved it should be put in a couple weeks in advance so for it to go through in a couple of days, I think it ranks in the area of divine intervention to get it through. I shall see next week. Upon further pondering I think missions is about the best kind of traveling throughout Europe that is really my style. Granted the tourist thing is nice, but I kind of get the vibe of "big deal" and "seen it".
No comments:
Post a Comment