A day at the lake

Yes, it sounds real fun, but it isn't what you might think. After Monday, the rest of the week was mainly classroom stuff. Pretty boring. I kind of like the PT at the end of the day because it give me energy for the evening. If we don't PT, I just want to go home and crash after 8 hours in the classroom. So, Friday, they took us out the the WPD SGSO (sheriff) range out at Lake Afton. This is where SWAT does all their PT training. Most people driving by have probably never seen it, but there is a huge obstacle course behind the shooting burm. It has about 10 obstacles. First, me and my partner (I picked one of the bulky guys), had to go over a privacy fence high gate. Then, you have to jump a chain link fence; climb 3 rungs to a window, go thru and climb down the other side; run thru a cement culvert; then there was a 4 ft wall; then was the worst thing on the course, it's hard to explain but the top level you had to jump to was about 8ft off the ground. Doesn't sound too high, but when you are jumping horizontally to the next rung...it's high. I got a nice abrasion from that obstacle. Then we had 3 low step logs to go over, they are about knee high. I did pretty well with those because I have long legs, so I was able to just bounce right thru them. Then was the dreaded monkey bars. I couldn't do them in middle school and I can't do them now. Next was a couple long balance beams at a couple different heights. Not too easy with 25 MPH winds. Then we had to climb up about 4 rungs that were about 10-15 ft high. Get over and climb down. The last obstacle was about 6 stumps at different heights that we had to bound over. Then we went for a jog around the lake to the south end where the dam was. We did some sprints up and down the dam. Then we jogged back around to the swimming area on the west side of the lake. We got in 2-row formation in the water. I formed up in the back row first. Then, they went along pushing the person in the front row and we had to catch them. I got a skinny guy and I only dipped him in the water once. Then when I got on the front row, they never pushed me. So, he never had to catch me. Then we did some push-ups. In the water, they aren't that bad. Then we had to run out and around some of our fellow recruits that were out further in the water. Then we had a nice easy, soggy run back to the range. At the range, we had to do some push-ups, flutter kicks, and pull ups (I can't do pull ups). Then we had to lunge about 50 yds. That was it. I personally didn't think it was too bad. I had a good time. They talked it up like it was going to be hell. We have our first test Monday. We have study groups set up today and tomorrow for everyone. Hopefully with some teamwork everyone will do good on the test Monday. At the study group today, we are not only going to study, but we are also going to learn how to polish our shoes and iron nice lines in our uniforms. We get to wear our blues on Monday. I'll make sure I get a picture so I can post it up. The blues aren't too exciting. They will be more interesting looking when we have our vests and duty belts strapped on.

On another note, Friday got police radios to take home for the duration of the academy. I listened to mine most of the night Friday. I turned it off at about 11:15 to go to bed. Andy called me at 1:30 a.m. to see if I had been listening when the Officer Down call came out at 11:30 p.m. He wanted to let me know it wasn't one of our friends from the West side. I missed it by 15 min. I guess a west side WPD officer was checking a suspicious character and the guy pulled a gun and shot him. Luckily, he only got shot in the leg and he is going to recover. The suspect however, ran a ways down the street then turned the gun on himself. He died early this morning. Andy said it took 9 seconds for it to go from a suspicious character call to an officer down call. I am sure this is something that will be discussed in length on Monday in class.

First Day

The first day wasn't too bad. We had PT immediately when we got there. Push-ups and flutter kicks are no fun in slacks and dress shoes. Then we had 1 hour with the chief. He mainly went over WPD goals, objectives, and expectations. Then we spent forever reading over WPD Policy and Regulations. We do a lot of that the first few weeks....a real bore. After lunch there were the academy rules and regs. We learned how to write our first report. Then the crappy part of the day started. Our squad started with a 300 yd sprint. They say it is like running 2 city blocks. They were really big blocks. I could barely make out our FTO (Field Training Officer, heretofore to be known as FTO...that was for mom) standing at the finish line. I did my dash in 1:25. Then we had push-ups, sit-ups, and a sit and reach. I did 41 sit-ups in 1 min; 21 push-ups; and I maxed out that sit and reach (measures flexibility). They needed to add another block for me. I am not sure how I am suppose to improve on that. Then to the dreaded Cooper Run. It was about 95 degrees by then with a brisk 15 MPH southern breeze. I did it in 15:35. They didn't expect us to make land speed records today with this weather. These tests today were to set a benchmark for the rest of the class. Basically, by December when we graduate, we are to improve on these numbers. We had some homework. Nothing that took me too long. I came home and got right on it. I was appointed treasurer for our water jug program. We have a water thingy and we have to pay to refill the jugs. We went thru a whole jug today. I am kind of excited to be able to do a spreadsheet and keep track of money. Those are the things I will miss the most with this job. Well, that's it. Nothing to eventful to report. I hear Friday is going to be hell. If I can still move, I will post again Friday to report on the week.

Last few days

So, Friday I had my orientation for the Wichita PD. I was so nervous. I think the thing that scares me the most is that I am just afraid of doing anything that would get me yelled at or singled out. That morning, we already had one guy show up late. He was picked on all day and it seemed like everyone knew that we had someone show up late already. Then we had a guy come back from lunch late. They didn't pick on him as much but I am sure he already had a black mark in the instructors book. We were sitting in the classroom and the instructor walks in and yells "class rise"...scared the shit out of me. Then, I was standing there and all the guys looked like they were all standing at attention. I wasn't sure what to do with myself. Then he says good morning and we all answer with a weak ass good morning...then we get the discussion about saying sir and using our police voice. My police voice...very funny. I feel more like that little girl from the movie "Police Academy". I guess I'll learn to get that too. The discipline the class teaches is definitely going to be hard for me. We have to say sir and ma'am to everyone...I'm not used to that. We have to walk in single file lines along the right side of the hallway and not speak. I feel like I am back in 1st grade lining up for lunch. This should be interesting. We got fitting for a bunch of clothes and supplies. I didn't know ordering my duty belt would end me in a 10 min discussion about being left or right handed. I didn't think I would have to worry about deciding that until our first day at the range. I guess it matters for ordering the belt. Had our pictures taken for our PD ID. Got a short tour of the city building. Rec'd my blues for the class. They are super sexy, let me tell ya. Ordered all my PT gear. Did a trigger pull test...I have to do hand exercises. No push-ups today, but it sounds like July 7th is going to kick our asses. I'm sure I'll let you know how my first day goes. I have this next week off to prepare myself for the rest of my life...basically.

So, on to today. Cherie and I played VB in KC today. It was cloudy and a little rainy in the morning. We had 5 teams in our pool. We ended up going 7-1 in our pool. That put us 1st out of our pool. Then we breezed thru the next 4 games to win the tournament. I'm telling you, boot camp is really paying off. Too bad, now that I am in the best shape of my life, I can't play VB anymore because of the academy. So, our overall record was 15-1. We won $80. It was a pretty awesome day.

I finally made it!!

After one year and a huge emotional roller coaster, I finally completed my last obstacle in the process for WPD. Today, I ran my cooper run (1.5 miles in 14 min) for the 4th time. We were able to run indoors on a flat surface with climate control. We have been running outside with 90% humidity and a few hills. My first run, I didn't really finish. The second try I got it in 15:25. The 3rd time I did it in 14:20. Today I did it in 13:35. I was able to shave almost a minute off of all my times. They told us when we were done that there were 11 people hoping that we wouldn't complete the run today because if we didn't, they would get a shot. I am so proud of myself. I have never worked this hard for anything in my life. It has been the most emotional experience of my life. Now it is completed and I can move forward with my goal. I have orientation on Friday. Then the class starts July 7th. It is a 22 week class. There are 27 people in the class. I will blog regularly on all the cool stuff we do on a weekly basis. So, if you are interested, keep checking back at least weekly.

So, I would just like to thank everyone for their support. You have all gone out of your way to think about me and help me thru this grueling process. I know the next 22 weeks are going to be tough and I'll still need everyone's support to get thru it.

Getting Closer

So, I ran again today. I didn't make it, but I am very proud of myself for getting a better time than I ever have before. Today I ran it in 14:20. So, all I have to do is shave off 20 seconds. We will probably run again tomorrow. They said they will let us run inside tomorrow. They did say that we will probably go to orientation even if we haven't passed yet (I don't particularly want that to be the issue though). I have to have it ran by the first day of class on July 7th. I'll update everyone tomorrow on how it goes.

Third times a charm????

I ran the Cooper Run (1 1/2 miles in 14 min) again yesterday. I didn't make it. I finished in 15:25. I am really having a lot of trouble with this run. I am going to try some different stuff for the next 3 days. My friend sells supplements and stuff like that and she is really hooking me up with a good regiment. My main problem is just my asthma...and Becca says I panic because I think I can't make it and that makes my asthma worse (they let her run with me yesterday). She is hoping that I can take this stuff for the next few days and it will help a little. She has some other workout enhancing stuff she wants me to try also. So, I get to run it again on Monday. If I don't make it I get to run it again everyday next week until orientation. Orientation is on Friday, so I just have to make it by then. I'll keep you all posted.

Boot Camp

Talk about an ass whoopin! I had my first boot camp session last night. It was a real kick in the pants. I was fine until we jogged down to the park down the street in 90 degree weather. From there we did a battery of push-ups, jumping jacks, mountain climbers, a couple different kinds of push ups. It would have been real awesome if I had been able to breath. I had to stop half way thru and find some shade. I was able to continue doing some stuff while I was in the shade. I really love the workouts; I just have trouble completing them because of my asthma. I have added a link on my blog. This is to my training log. I log all my training…running, volleyball, boot camp, mountain biking. If you click workouts and view a certain boot camp entry, you can see the exact work out. The boot camp that I use posts the workouts daily on their blog so I just copy them to my training log when I log the activity. So, if you care, its all there. Anyway, I really love this boot camp thing. I would recommend it to anyone. The instructors are really great and they actually do care. I had one by my side thru the whole workout just in case I had some kind of attack (which I won’t have, but they have to cover their asses). Tonight’s workout is more like the stuff we did in college to train for VB. Check out the boot camp website at www.getfitwichita.com. I’ll keep you posted on my weekly performance.