Strength Team Tryouts

Yesterday was the final day of strength team tryouts. I knew very little about the team before a week ago but the more I hear about it the cooler it sounds. If you make the team then you are coached on technique and form by one of the head weightlifting coaches here and then are assigned to a Corps squad team to workout with them and teach them how to lift properly. It encompasses two of my favorite things; lifting and teaching others how to lift. I am not sure when we find out if we make it but hopefully soon.

 The workout was brutal. They first asked us to pretend like they had never lifted before on deadlift, snatch, and back squat, then told us to teach them through it. After about 4 minutes of that we moved on to 185lbs bench for as many times as you could. That was the worst part for me. I laid down, had a huge football player lift it off for me, and then proceeded to look like I giving birth trying to push it up once. Didn't even get it once. Oh well. Then we went on to 185 front squat which I got 13 or 14 times I think.

 After that we moved into a crossfit type workout, which was definitely to my advantage. we started with 2- 30sec kettle bell swings at 70lbs (32 reps), and then moved into a circuit of pushups, toes-to-bar (T2B),pushups, T2B, pullups, pullups. each were for 30 seconds. This is where I did better because I was able to crank out the pullups better then the guys who benched 185lb 15 times. After that we moved over to a 135lbs thruster station where we had 4 minutes or 30 thrusters, whichever came first. Again, this was good for me because I was used to the movements even though the weight was pretty heavy. Some of the bigger guys could have easily smoked me in it if they knew how to use the momentum but didn't look like it. I only got to 18* and say that because about 6 of them I didn't lock out at the top.  After that we moved into a treadmill run of 8speed and 8elevation for 30 secs, 9-and-9 for 30 secs, and 10-and-10 for as long as possible. By that point I was completely smoked and pretty light head from the thrusters to it was not pretty. made it about 32 secs at 10-and-10 before my calves started locking up.
 Finally there was a 50 meter lunge walk with a medicine ball on your shoulder. I thought it was a 10lbs or 12 lbs ball because thats the number that was on the side of it- turns out that they make them up to 120 lbs.......WHO KNEW?! That was pretty demoralizing to bend over and pick up a light ball, only to find your back thrown out if you do it wrong. It was bloody painful and exhausting. every 10 steps down you had to do 10 air squats so it required you to pick it up like 6 times. After you got to the 50 meter point you picked up and had to jog back with it before pushing a 145lbs sled the same distance and doing 10 burpees at the end.

It was brutal but a great gut check. One of those where you just get done and sit on the ground with no intentions of moving.   


(This is a little note I found when I got back to my room left by Hannah. She is a keeper)

Emergency = Naptime

Yesterday there was an active shooter drill that was set up by West Point. They literally shut down the entire post, called off school, brought in the SWAT team and had people from Keller hospital come in to act as if there were 2-5 shooters roaming around the West Point campus that had injured or killed a few people. Our only instructions were to go to your room, lock your door, turn off the lights and pull the shades..... and you are not allowed to leave your room for 3 hours. YES!! Sounds like a mandatory nap period for the entire Corps. Or at least that's what 3,000 tired cadets thought.

 
 My roommate was actually part of the drill. He and I both agreed that he would make an excellent physco spree killer. He also confessed (with a little prodding from my best friend here) that he would kill me first if he were to snap. We all nervously laughed along with him but that night I may or may not have slept with my Swiss Army Knife under my pillow.  On that note, seeing as it was just me in my room for three hours, I got to enjoy and appreciate some much needed silence that rarely seems to happen in this room. Only 30 days left until I am back in Michigan though 

Rough Draft = Final Copy

 This past 7 days has been knows as a Thayer Week for me. Had a computer exam, Chem lab, a History research paper due and an English paper due. Luckily I had started my History paper the week before so I wasn't rushing to write it all the night before.....like I did with my English paper. I have a great English teacher but he is very vague about details, especially regarding graded assignments. The promt he gave us was about "knowledge in Shakespeare's play, Titus Andronicus" . . .that was it. I managed to write a three page paper but probably used the word "knowledge" 75 times. That was the last graded event for the year though so pretty happy.

Jessie had her SandHoah competition yesterday. I managed to get some pictures but couldn't really run to places on the course as I had hoped. I was planning on it being like a cross-country meet where you can run to different areas and cheer different people on but it didn't work like that. I will try to add photos up later or you can just follow this link to Facebook and check it out there    

"I Walk the (long gray) Line"

As the school year draws to the end, the level of energy and "give-a-craps" seem to be dwindling. Thats not to say the standard has slipped, but the obvious wear of the school year is apparent on everyone's faces. That's why this is the perfect time to have some (respectful/innocent) fun!!

As a plebe we are required to know the next three meals, historic knowledge of West Point, the important dates throughout the school year, and 3 current news articles - each day. Because I sit at the 1st SGT table (the guy who is known for and expected to be the strictest of the company), I am routinely asked what news article I have read. After a week of reporting similar stories, I decided to try and sneek in something that is accurate but not current news; like, for instance, the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

So when it came for my turn to report an article, I tried to report in a manner that sounded current except with the obvious theme of Pearl Harbor. And I said: "1st SGT, today on World News it was reported that, Japan brought local gifts to a neighboring island in the Pacific Ocean via airdrop. Although the gifts were not as appreciated as the Japanese thought, their sincerity blew the islanders away." The sophomores who knew what I had planned started laughing so hard.... its the simple things in life I guess.

One More? Why Not!!

This post is dedicated to my younger brothers success on getting into the prep school. We all found out yesterday that he got in. I was and still am pretty stoked at the news - I get a car next year!!

no but seriously, it is going to be quite a hoot up here on the Hudson back next year. Jessie will be a Senior so she can do whatever she wants. I will be a sophomore which, if pushed to the edge, means you can do almost whatever you want. Austin will be at the prep school which means that there is nothing but weekdays holding him back from doing whatever he wants. And Jocelyn has always been able to do whatever she wants, the only difference this year is that she is a famous modeling agent so we are going to have all the hook ups.

It will kinda be like the A-Team: Jessie will be the brains of operation (like normal) or Hannibal. Jocelyn has the modeling contract so she will be Face. Austin is becoming a manimal (man/animal) with crossfit so he will be B.A. And I am at the point of breaking already with my roommate so I fit the role of Murdock pretty well. Maybe change it to the C-Team....anyone interested in t-shirts?