Have Hope

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GoArmy22

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Nov 29, 2016
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So I've been pretty down for the last few months about my waiver situation (refer to my first thread). Long story short, I tore my ACL during lax game warm ups. Fast forward to late Nov 2016. The first time I ran the mile was 9:11 after 8 months of being inactive. First BB throw was about 22 ft. STANDING, not kneeled (my knee still hurt at the time). Flexed arm hang? 2.5 seconds max (I didn't record my sit-ups and pushups).

After practicing every 2-3 days, here's my stats today:
7:35 mile (couldn't feel the knee pain in 36 degrees LOL), 22 sec flexed arm hang, 57 situps, 25-30 push-ups (still working on it), and 36.5 ft BB throw in the correct kneeling position. I'm taking the CFA next week. I know my stats aren't the max or whatnot, but I am happy with how far I've come. In fact, I don't think I've ever hit that mile time even BEFORE I got injured..

I know we're all waiting for that BFE, and trust me when I say I stress more than I need to (again, first thread). BUT, today changed so much of my stressful attitude; I am glad that I made the most of my 2 months to prep for the CFA and hope I pass the first time through. Even if I do pass, I'll be working out at the gym after school every 1-2 days to work on getting 1 pullup and on everything else too. If I get a BFE, then I'm working out until R/I-Day wherever I end up. If I get a TWE, I'll keep doing the pushups in my college dorm. I hope this brings some inspiration for some of you candidates out there. At least, I'll refer to this myself if I ever feel stressed again. There is hope, just keep pushing!! I hope this made at least one person feel better today.
 
Sounds like you are making good progress to me. Keep up the good work!

My DD was told that 1 pull-up is better than maxing out the flexed arm hang. I can't guarantee that is the truth but that's what she was told at SLE and NASS this past summer.....at least that's what she told us. She passed her CFA while she was at SLE.

If what I said above can be verified, you may want to do a pull-up.....or more if you can.

To quote numerous people on this forum "make them say no!"
 
How's your DD's application process been so far? And yes, that's true! I'm currently trying to gain upper arm strength at the gym. Luckily, there's a pull up bar with resistance weights. Thank you @Dad of 2
 
purpledog394 said:
How's your DD's application process been so far? And yes, that's true! I'm currently trying to gain upper arm strength at the gym. Luckily, there's a pull up bar with resistance weights. Thank you @Dad of 2
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She has done a great job of staying on top of items that need attention and getting them completed. Fortunately, for her, she is a recruited athlete and had a LOA very early in this process. She has been communicating with the coaches for over 1 year (openly since Sept 1, 2016). She wrote and rewrote her candidate statement several times until she felt it was the best she could do. She submitted her application as soon as she could. She prepared and practiced (role played with military friends of ours) for the MOC interviews. She's gifted academically (3.9 GPA, 35 ACT). She continues working out with a personal trainer while competing on her varsity teams with her school. She is a 3 sport Varsity athlete. 2 sport captain. NHS member. Youth leader at church. She has received multiple nominations and she accepted her appointment to USMA.

In a nutshell, I truly believe that she has fretted about things that she didn't need to fret about. However, this is her process. She wanted it. It has challenged her. She worked hard at it. She was determined. She was appointed!
 
Oh my goodness, I am so incredibly happy for her and you must be so proud! Her stats are truly amazing; I'm sure she'll do phenomenally at West Point. Did she attend SLE session 1? That's the one I went to :)
 
Good work improving. You definitely need to work on your running long term. At your age, you ought to be able to run sub 7 minutes for a mile. Running matters greatly at USMA, and I would be concerned about passing the APFT with that time.
 
There are ways to cut down the 1 & 2 mile run time. Going for long runs does NOT help. Usually long sprints such as sets of 440's helps, but you can google it and find things that work for you.

Also, especially since you are a female, keep hitting the gym and work on women's core. This will help protect your ACL from future injury, help with lax, and help prevent stress injuries in the military training. My daughter went through combat arms basic/AIT and many of the women had to get reclassified due to stress fractures/injuries. Those who were athletes and had been in the gym did not have issues.
 
I know this thread is relatively old but I was wondering how long it took you to improve so much on the FAH and what you did to improve?
 
UHBlackhawk said:
There are ways to cut down the 1 & 2 mile run time. Going for long runs does NOT help. Usually long sprints such as sets of 440's helps, but you can google it and find things that work for you.

Also, especially since you are a female, keep hitting the gym and work on women's core. This will help protect your ACL from future injury, help with lax, and help prevent stress injuries in the military training. My daughter went through combat arms basic/AIT and many of the women had to get reclassified due to stress fractures/injuries. Those who were athletes and had been in the gym did not have issues.
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I would have to respectfully disagree to the part where you say distance doesn't help her 1&2 mile time especially when talking about a 2 mile. As a cross country runner, I would suggest starting off running longer distances (which will help you in the long run at the academy) until you can run 5 miles at a pretty good pace without being exhausted. After that start working on your speed. Sets of 6 sets of 400s at mile pace 4 800s at mile pace 8 400s at a little slower than mile pace 6 800s at a little slower than mile pace and 8 200s at 800 pace. All of those will benefit you on the 1 and 2 mile. Also work on your core as that helps improve running form and controls your breathing. Good luck!
 
@Onort44 I'm actually getting cleared in March which is just in time for Track, so I'll have even more opportunities to run soon! I also ran cross country so I understand the long distance. At the gym, I run 1 mile at a slightly lower than normal but same pace which has helped me cut my time even more. I will take that into consideration for my workouts. Your advice is greatly appreciated :)
 
Onort44 said:
I would have to respectfully disagree to the part where you say distance doesn't help her 1&2 mile time especially when talking about a 2 mile. As a cross country runner, I would suggest starting off running longer distances (which will help you in the long run at the academy) until you can run 5 miles at a pretty good pace without being exhausted. After that start working on your speed. Sets of 6 sets of 400s at mile pace 4 800s at mile pace 8 400s at a little slower than mile pace 6 800s at a little slower than mile pace and 8 200s at 800 pace. All of those will benefit you on the 1 and 2 mile. Also work on your core as that helps improve running form and controls your breathing. Good luck!
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Cross country running while analogous in some respects to the long runs in the military are not like the 2 mile run in the APFT. Yes, as I pointed out long runs need to be done, but the most bang for the buck if you will in training for the 2 miler comes from the interval training.
My experience with this comes from seeing what works in the military, to include a stint as a company commander where I got my company APFT average (using advice from our master fitness NCO), to the best in the regiment. We only did long company runs once a week when doing this.
I've used the same interval training to knock several minutes off athletes' Cooper Tests in a very short period.
 
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