Adventures of HG at NRTI

I can't say enough about how hard today was. My arms are killing me as I type. No, you think you understand, but you don't. My muscles feel like they have ripped out and harvested for black market sales and that includes pretty much every muscle. Let me try to paint you a picture of today's events...

I left the house at 0530 (5:30) a.m. and just now returned at 1730 (5:30 p.m.). In between that time we had PT to start with. In PT, we ran four laps. After the four laps we had to do something like 30 push ups. Then we had to run three laps and do another activity like 40 sit ups. Then we had to run two laps and another activity. This continued with two laps between each exercise for the remainder of the class. We were all pretty much beat after that. So PT came and went, I hurried up and showered and ate breakfast on my way to class from the gym, then we had DT (Defensive Tactics for those who forgot).

We started in the classroom where we were issued our 'duty gear.' (I'll post pictures later because I'm too sore/tired to get up right now.) Basically it's a gun belt like cops wear with handcuff holsters, gun holster, OC (pepper spray) holster, etc. Then they issue us fake guns and OC so we can practice getting used to the belt and so we can use the belt while running, practicing defensive techniques, etc.

We have three instructors for DT and they are all pretty nice guys from what I can tell. One instructor is a parole officer and he seemed pretty hard core. He was giving us tips in class of how to stay out of trouble during DT in the gym. As soon as he finished saying "the worst thing you can do is interrupt me," lo and behold, one of my (insert expletive here) classmates decides to interrupt. So we ended up doing 40 push ups before we could leave for lunch.

I ate a light lunch today, PB&J and some carrots and Gatorade. We were forewarned that we would be running after lunch and I really didn't feel like throwing anything up, so I kept food to a minimum. So for the first part of DT, we ran 1.5 miles, nonstop. No breaks, no pauses, oh and did I mention we had our duty gear on? Yup, and there were certain laps that we had to un-holster our weapon, run with it in front of us, run with it in the air with two hands and re-holster and run with our hand on the gun in the gun holster. This was NOT fun. I repeat, NOT fun. It's hard. Ever try running without swinging your arms? Go ahead-do it, I dare you. You probably wouldn't make it one lap. Just saying.

Anyway, we also got 'motivated' several times today. No, not punished, motivated, at least that's what the instructors call it. Any time we didn't follow directions to the T, we would either have to drop and give them 30 or 40 push ups or we would have to do a ridiculously hard exercise, like stay in the plank position for five minutes. Don't know what it is? Check out the link and then try it. It certainly doesn't look hard, but try to do it for more than 10 seconds. My arms and abs are KILLING me.

We also worked on striking today, like the different types of hits. Jab, punch, upper cut, cross, etc. Unfortunately, and I have no idea how, but I ended up in the front row and the instructors decided it was fun to pick on Heidi. I knew I'd be punched throughout the course, I just wasn't expecting it on the first day. And I certainly wasn't expecting several, un-blocked punches. Granted, the instructors weren't giving it their best shot, but my left shoulder took a lot of hits today. Not to mention my knuckles are a little banged up from hitting the bags all day long. Oh and did I mention that we get a 10 minute break every hour. Yeah it's great, except I have to do 18 push ups and 35 sit ups before I can take my break. The guys have a few more. I am so wiped. The only thing I wanted to do was come home, take a shower, eat and sleep.

Unfortunately, the first thing I noticed when I walked in the door to my house today was the smell of smoke. Yes, for a second time, even though I told the landlord that I was allergic, someone smoked in the house again. So this time, instead of sending an e-mail, I called the landlord. I left a message and he called right back explaining that he had told the workers not to smoke in the house and he promised it wouldn't happen again. He also said that I didn't have to pay utilities this month. YAY! I'm so excited about that. I guess that sort of makes up for the lack of washer and dryer in the house since I pay $2.00 a wash load and at least $.75 to dry. And guess what tomorrow is? Laundry day! I don't even know if I'll be able to lift the laundry basket tomorrow but we shall see.