Congrats! It'll be a great and rewarding experience. Your shipmates will become the best friends you ever had. Remember, never leave a shipmate behind. Just keep your head up when your eating the deck. And while its GREAT to be physically prepared, nothing can really prepare you for what's about to come. I'm not gonna give it away, so hang in there!

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CGC Dallas(WHEC 716)
November-181
"Keep our hands steady and our eyes observant. Keep our hearts pure and our course true for come hell or high water, when called by those in need we shall always be their guardians of the sea."

I forgot to mention....Your Company Commanders will make you do, what you think is stupid stuff. Just know that everything is done for a reason.

FIRE! FIRE! FIRE!

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CGC Dallas(WHEC 716)
November-181
"Keep our hands steady and our eyes observant. Keep our hearts pure and our course true for come hell or high water, when called by those in need we shall always be their guardians of the sea."

Great advice i appreciate it, the reason why i want to be in the best shape is so i can help others that may need the extra little bit of motivation that little push to make sure we all finish on time. i know i can not be prepared for what the CCs may have in store for me but i will be as ready as humanly possible for whatever they throw at me and i will not second guess whatever they ask of me..

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Good job Chavez! When I was at boot there were many people who did not physically prepare for boot camp. Therefore our CCs made sure we were in shape by Wednesday of Week 4 (which is when your test will be). I still have nightmares of the life cycles!

Thanx guys i feel i am ready for boot right now just got my best time for my 1.5 mile time made it in just under 10 mins. IM PUMPED LOL, got to keep my team running strong also thanx Capt. I always keep myself in great shape and i got to keep pushing myself till i make it to and past AST a school. I heard alot about the lifecycle unfortunatly i dont have access to a spinning class or a bike but i feel thats shouldnt be to tough cause i used to teach a spinning class. and plus all the adrenaline i know is going to kick in while im in basic..oorahhh lol

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my boyfriend made flash cards to remember his general orders and then had his brother(Navy man) stand within an inch of him and make him say his orders...it was pretty intense haha but it worked...It will be an experience of a lifetime, enjoy and congrats! Oh and one thing Steve told me he wished he had bought was more expensive razors because he couldn't get a good shave at first and they would get at him about that.

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I love you Stephen
Tango-181

Try

Swimming a lap
Get out and max pushups
Swim a lap
Get out and max sit-ups
Swim a lap

Repeat for 10 laps

You'll be in shape! :)

I Have also been trying to get in shape before I leave for B/C. I have started running 1.5 miles at least three times a week, and every thursday morning I am going to the CG recruiting station and doing PT with the guys and gals and others heading to bootcamp like me. I am currently working a full time job so my workouts arent as extensive as Chavez's, But I have already seen a difference in my 1.5 mile run. Im going to try and do what amvlasic just posted at least once a week as well. Now one question I have for Macie or any of the other CG members is this: When you say never leave a shipmate behind (and this is as far as bootcamp goes) during the 1.5 mile run, would it be best for your company to all run together as one? or should everyone run at your own pace and then if you finish and others are still lagging behind do you run back to them? If it was up to me I would say we all run as a group, because a chain (team) is only as strong as its weakest link (member).

Great question, I would like to know what everyone thinks. I agree with you though, stay as a group. That's always how we did it when I played sports, you stay as a team.

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I am Bound 4 Life.....are you?

www.bound4life.com Check it out.


Shipping out August 18th!
Foxtrot 182

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Good point about the CC wanting to see your personal best.

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I am Bound 4 Life.....are you?

www.bound4life.com Check it out.


Shipping out August 18th!
Foxtrot 182

Did you ever see the movie An Officer & A Gentleman??? He was out to set a record for OCS on the obstacle course. He was a loner and could do it all by himself, no assistance needed. But there was a girl... man she tried everything but she couldn't get over that blasted wall! No matter what she did or how she trained, that wall was going to trip her up! She starts off... he is somewhere behind her in the rotation for starting time. He goes... he is on pace, setting a record, hold the Company name up high with that record!!!! But he gets to the wall and there she is struggling. He goes over the wall. He starts to go... he thinks about it... it's a team! Team is it! No individuality you are in it together or you aren't in it. He goes back... he yells at her "Right here... step, step, grab, climb, one foot over the other..." He walks over the wall almost in slow motion with her right alongside of him. They reach the top he is still yelling... pull yourself over, don't you give up... she pulls herself over.

Company name and personal record setting obstacle course time... Gone!!! But his shipmate made it, they crossed the line together and they graduated... together!

So yeah... you never leave a shipmate struggling. The first few times he proved he could do it. He proved he needed no help. Then he proved it isn't always about me. Sometimes helping the weaker ones is what we have to do. So don't slow down to only hurt yourself but don't leave someone behind just because you can. You dig it out with your shipmates, you never know what they might be stronger in when you will need their help!

Ok, now I'm crying... I'm going back to work...

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I agree with macie's statement. There'll be times to prove you can do it yourself but there's times when helping another is more important. If you ever are told to run your hardest and do your personal best do it and then go back and finish your run with the team. My plan will to do my best when I'm told to so and then go back to the slowest runner and no matter how much farther they have run right next to them encouraging them the rest of the way. That's what I used to do in Cross Country when I was team captian. It gained me alot of respect and just made me feel really good about myself.

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That is a good question. Our CC's wanted us to try our hardest no matter what. There was a small group of front runners out front and the rest of the company slowly got there own paced and ran individually. For our 1.5 mile run we had a few of us out front and we would switch off leading laps. It was fun. There were a lot of CC's and even our Section Commander out watching us and even cheering us on.
I would say just run your best. Someone said something about going back and running with the slower runners and encouraging them to finish, well, that just wont happen. When you finish you stand in a single file and wit for everyone else.
It all will be a great experience and you will love every second of it!

Don't worry too much about the run. You will be running on a turf track (which definately helped alot since my shins always get beat up when I run on concrete). Remember that boot camp isn't just physical; alot of it is mental. You will be exhausted everyday since you will only be getting like 5 hours of sleep once you start doing watches from weeks 3 to 7.

Just out of curiosity how often do you do sit ups/crunches? I mean, I know you do them on the PT test. But do they give you sit ups as discipline, like they do for push ups? If so, are they full sit-ups with someone holding your feet, or are they crunches with your legs raised in the air? Basically, what kind of exposure to situps/crunches should a recruit expect on a daily basis?

I ask just because sit ups are my weak point, more so than running or push ups, so I am rather scared of having to do hundreds of situps in one day :)

Thanks.

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Last Edited : 7/11/2009 8:15:30 AM GMT

Thanks to both of you. Very helpful info and advice.

i remember when we earned our colors, it followed the most intense IT session we had ever endured, but halfway through that IT session we saw our CC raising our victor flag and u could smell the intensity because we were all so proud. we seriously pumped that one out.

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Im so nervous about that IT. Im trying so hard to work out all the time now.. Try to run the mile and a half faster and faster..Im getting there..But the thing Im worried about is the push ups

one month to go...

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Cali-I am only posting this so you feel encouraged, not to say this is how things should be ok!!?? That out of the way - My daughter had every intention of getting into shape etc, quit smoking etc before boot camp. Well, she never quite got around to it and when she left, I don't think she could do a single pushup or sit up and for dang sure couldn't run a lick. The Coast Guard doesn't want you to fail, no matter what it feels like during boot camp so no matter how in shape you are (or not) they will get you into shape so that you are successful. Once again, the better shape you are in when you go in, obviously that is the best scenario but even if you aren't don't sweat it - you'll get there!! Good luck to you - with your attitude, you will go far.

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That is very encouraging because to be honest push ups are very hard for me as well...Im trying my best to condition myself and become better at it..But its good to know that they wont give up on me at Cape May. But the better shape I am in the better boot camp will go (hopefully)

but that is VERY encouraging because a month ago I could not do ONE push up.. seriously. but Im slowly getting there..at this point I think its more mental than physical. So Im glad to hear about how your daughter succeded and now is on the USCGC Hamilton! very impressive. Do you remember what company she graduated with?

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Of course I do!! I lived on these boards all through her boot camp. She was with Bravo 181 and graduated March 20th. She just finished FS A school in Petaluma and reported to her ship a couple weeks ago. I understand they are up to Bravo 82 already!!! The better shape you are in the easier it will be for you but they definitely want you to succeed!!! You can do it!!!

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Keep working on those pushups. It is important, especially during your PT test. If you can't do the pushups, they will put you in remedial, which means you wake up 45 min earlier than everyone else (around 4:45am) and go to the gym and have an instructor help you with the pushups. Trust me, you DO NOT want to wake up any earlier. You barely get enough sleep with the watches that you do in the middle of the night. You need all the sleep you can get so you can stay awake during class. Staying awake during class is probably the hardest thing to do in boot camp! And if you get caught dosing off, you get a performance tracker which gets you a nice little 1 on 1 session with your CC...

bonding time