Adventures of HG at NRTI

Wow have I been busy! I'm sorry for the lack of posts. It has been a wild ride this past week. I'm about to make up for it though because I have a BUNCH of pictures to share.

First things first, we had stops and approaches last week and it was so much fun. We used park police cruisers to pull 'bad guys' over (i.e. other ranger students). We got to order them out of the cars, handcuff them, stuff them in cruisers, shoot them if need be, etc. On a few occasions we used airsoft guns that would actually shoot. That was really fun. We also got to go up against the instructor who was pretending to be a suicidal person in his car. It started as a 'low risk' stop but quickly escalated when I couldn't see his hands, so I turn and ran while shooting. In the second scenario, I shot the instructor in the head with the airsoft pellets. We were wearing helmets and neck protectors in case you were wondering. Then later in the week we had building searches. I was really nervous going in and with good reason. The instructor hid in the conference center, which is really a giant house built like a maze. My partner and I cleared every room, and just when we thought we were done, the instructor snuck back up the stairs behind us and took a sniper position from above. Unfortunately I was hit once in the shoulder, but I quickly ran up the stairs shooting him several times and ending the scenario. When you're doing these scenarios with the airsoft guns, it seems so much more realistic. My heart was pounding and I needed a few moments to gather myself afterwards. It just puts everything in perspective. Had this been real, I would have been shot. I learned a lot last week and I will take that knowledge with me wherever I go.

OK so I mentioned last week was long, but did I mention it was EXTREMELY long? Monday was a 13 hour day, as was Tuesday and Wednesday turned out to be a 15.5 hour day. Then Thursday and Friday we were back to the usual eight hours.

Friday we had both PT and DT. During PT, we had to run with a stretch band around our waist and pull another classmate behind us. I think this was one of the hardest PT days we've had. Then we had DT for another eight hours and it was exhausting. We ran several times and got in trouble by the class idiot and had to run again. I was so mad. In addition to the run, the class idiot and a few others came back late from a break and cost us 150 push ups, and that was on top of the push ups and sit ups we do at every break. It was pretty grueling and by the end of the day/week I was completely exhausted.

I rested up Friday night and headed right back out early Saturday morning. Mike, Ben, Chris, Chris2, and myself all headed out for a hike at 0900 (9:00 a.m.). It was a lot of fun. We hiked in a few new places, explored a small cave and got a good work out. Pics are below.

What's today? Sunday. How could I forget? Tomorrow I start another week all over again. PT at 0500 (5:00 a.m.). Whoop whoop! I slept in pretty good this morning. I woke up at 0600 (6:00 a.m.) or so and then fell back asleep until about 0800 (8:00 a.m). I got up, ate some cereal and went back to sleep until noon! My phone rang and Ben wanted to go for a run, so I got up, got dressed and headed for the track. Today we checked out the track at the high school which is supposedly where they are timing us for the state test. It's outdoors which can be good and bad. The track is a lot bigger, so instead of running 21 laps like we do indoors, we only have 6 laps outdoors, but you also have to factor in the wind. I timed myself on this track for the first time today and ran 40 seconds over my time. I'm going to practice all this week and up until the test date so I can become used to running out in the wind, rain, etc.

I also went to see Fast Five this weekend. For those who aren't familiar, it's the latest in a series of fast cars movies. I won't spoil it, but it was good and if you see it in theaters, make sure you stay after everyone leaves because there's an extra scene afterwards. Hint, hint.

Now for some photos...

















This was Easter last weekend. Got to color eggs with my sisters and little nephew.
Easter tradition!



Flood pics. It NEVER stops raining here.



Gas went up another 15 cents this week to an astonishing $4.15/gallon.





Halo on Easter weekend.




















Hiking this weekend. Beautiful day!

P.S.-19 days left in the academy and counting! Graduation, here I come...AGAIN! :)