It's a GO!

Well, I passed!  That is the absolute best thing that has happened to me in a really long time. Here's how it went down:

Push ups - I had no fear of failing this part. I said I was going to do 25 and then stop, to save energy for the sit ups. Well, I did 25 no problem, but still had a minute left. I couldn't stop with a minute to go! So I did a few more. Then a few more... and wound up pushing out a total of 40 in the 2 minutes. I ALWAYS do that. Say I'm going to do x amount, then stop. Then I wind up pushing the whole 2 minutes. Oh well.

Sit ups - This one was a bit harder. I had been practicing, so I stuck to my routine. 3 sets of 10, alternating between middle, left, and right sides. Slower than I had planned, but the first 30 were no problem. Then I started on the 3 sets of 5, middle, left, right.  These went much slower than I had hoped, but I still had time left when I was done, and by then I had already passed. I did 3 more for a total of 48. Wahoo!

Run - After realizing that I had passed the sit up portion, I knew I really had to push on the run. When I had failed sit ups in the past, I felt no need to really try my hardest on the run due to the fact that one must pass all 3 portions for a "GO." Fail sit ups, the whole test is a fail, so why kill yourself, right? Anyway, after passing sit ups, I did my best to psych  myself up for the 2 miles ahead of me.

Like always, most everyone else pulled out ahead of me after they said "ready, GO!"  I was not surprised, but I wasn't worried like I usually am. I felt confident. I kept up my pace and didn't do any significant stretch of walking. The end of the first mile even came quicker than anticipated. I guess all my practicing did do some good! When he yelled out the time, 9:46, I was elated! Under 10 minutes was a milestone for me and I knew I could do it.

After passing the grouping of spray-painted markers on the ground saying 1/4 miles, I saw Sgt. Oglio running out I guessed to offer support to those just coming in to finish. When she reached me she said "18:34!" Holy shit, I thought, I'm almost there and I have 2 minutes left! At that moment I knew I had nothing to worry about. I did slow down and walk a bit, I said, "When I reach that lamp post where the road makes that last bend, I'm gonna go for it." And I did. The lamp post came up, and I hauled ass. As I came up over the crest for the last stretch, I heard Sgt. Gonzalez (and probably everyone else standing there) yelling at me. I sprinted over the line at 20:14! My PT test, for the first time in 11 years, was a legitimate "GO!"

Yay me!!