Military running

I'm gonna be heading to West Point later this year bros. I was hoping some ex-military guys or even some ex-West Point guys had some advice about preparing for the running. I run three miles every other day, and I don't feel like that's enough. I just don't want to get there and hate myself for not preparing enough for the running

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Congrats bro, if I wasn't a stupid brainlet I would've applied to an academy. Stay disciplined and stay out of trouble.

Make your physical goal is to max out the PT test 3 consecutive times. If you can do that you will be miles ahead of everyone. Also don't be a commiefag.

Also you should be running outside only and doing plenty of calisthenics.

There is always more you can do to work on your running. Work on your endurance by running longer distances, and work on your speed by doing sprints brah.

t. AFROTC fag

Get ready for diversity seminars and anti-hazing briefs
Not too late to go to a&m or the citadel

>academy fgt
Skip class, listen to your NCOs

>Shitadel

That place is a prison, dude. Never met a Citadel student who enjoys their life.

former 11A here

west point sucks dick and you're going to hate life

my advice is to not go, but if you really want to follow through with it, then read on

the army expects you to live up to two physical archetypes simulaneously

those archetypes are the pack mule and the greyhound

the greyhound can run like lightening around a track all fucking day, and the pack mule can carry way too much shit on its back while crossing mountains

you need to train as a greyhound and a pack mule in order to have a successful army career

the real trick is to juggle all that training while avoiding injuries and getting dominated by coursework, sleep deprivation, and a culture of antagonism

unless you are willing to cop a bout of plantar fasciitis or shin splints right now and roll back your sleep while on a training schedule, you are not going to be able to account for all that before going to cadetland

what you can account for, though, is heading off some common problems at the pass while you still have time to prep

i'm going to hit the character limit, so follow along wiht me in the next post

like i mentioned earlier, here are some problems that you want to address before showing up to cadetland

>Shitty shins steal soldiers' salaries.

if you have never humped with weight, then you are oblivious to the wonderful feelings that come with this type of exercise

unconditioned soldiers feel like their shins are about to explode when they hump, and not in a good way

a lot of players get taken out of the game due to shin splits, but if you start now and start light, you will be able to mitigate this risk

work your way up to one six-mile ruck march per week while carrying 35 pounds

do not run or jog with the motherfucking weight unless you want to be handicapped by the time you hit 30

straighten your leg out each step and aim for a powerwalking pace of 14 minutes per mile, which is one minute faster than the standard

>8 is great, but 6:30 is better.

eight-minute miles are the general running standard, but just meeting the standard in the army is like fucking your girl and not getting her to cum -- someone's gonna be dissappointed, and they're sure as hell gonna make you feel bad about it

train to keep your short runs at a 6:30-minute-mile pace and your long runs closer to seven minutes per mile

short is anything under 4 miles

another post is on the way, so continue to follow along with me

Man my brothers a army recruiter and he's been trying to get me to join. I live close to the merchant marine academy and I've though about applying on more than one occasion, but I've been having a big problem I have excruciating shin splints and it's been hell trying to get over them I'm 11th grade btw

>Plan to sweat.

hydration or a lack thereof will make or break you

just like you plan to hit a certain pace when you run, you need to plan to lose a certain amount of fluid when you train

you plan for the former by wearing a wristwatch while you run, and you plan for the latter by eating enough salt at mealtime and drinking water right up until you go to bed

you will not understand the importance of hydration and electrolytes until you are forced to train without enough water or show up for a PT session while hung over

you can do a lot without food, but you can't do anything without water and salt, so make sure you get in the habit of consuming enough of them before and after your training

>Don't let your feet be your weakest link.

you might be an incredible physical specimine who can cross mountains and beat usain bolt in a race, but if your feet get raw due to softness, then you won't be doing shit

foot problems like blisters, ingrown toenails, and stress fractures can turn your rock-solid fortress of a body into a flimsy house of cards

it's imperative that your feet have callouses in the right places and are able to bear loads without breaking before you make the transition from JV to varsity

you do this by doing your rucks in the boots that you wear on duty, getting an ingrown toenails plucked by the family doctor ahead of time, and never rucking with a load that your body isn't ready to handle

this advice goes double if you want to be infantry, because that job requires bulletproof feet, and my hardened claw-like toes are a testament to that sad, sad fact

more on the way

>Be a morning person who loves misery.

if you're the type of person who already loves to wake up before dawn and stand around in the freezing cold before running five miles with some assholes that you love to hate, then you're already army material

for the other 99 percent of the people out there, you have to get accustomed to waking up really early and giving maximum physical effort in shit weather

it's easy to roll into an air-conditioned gym at 10:00 AM and crank out your three sets of eight

it's a lot harder to get up at 0450, scrape some ice off your car, drive to PT while wearing far too little clothing, freeze on your feet while standing in a formation at 0550, and finally start to do some sprints on an icy field at 0615

you will be obligated to give your absolute best during times and situations that are just plain uncomfortable

if there is one word that i would use to sum up my army career, it would be "cold"

train outside in the morning, and the suck will not come as such a surprise when you get to a regimented environment

those are all the tips that i can muster now

what are your questions

>he's been trying to get me to join.

tell him that his NCOER is gonan suck, with or without you signing on the dotted line

>I've though about applying on more than one occasion

your shins are trying to save you

they know it's a bad idea

that's your body's subliminal self-defense mechanism kicking in

Yeah that's right you cucks go die like a bitch for Israel or shoot up your workplace from PTSD.

Would it be better to apply to a regular college and just be a ROTC fag also my brother wants me to be an MP and I'd enjoy that but I wanna be a JAG.

>I run three miles every other day
Why would you train for such little running? What if they maker you run 6 miles. Make sure you are over training to be ready for anything.

>Would it be better to apply to a regular college and just be a ROTC fag

yes

with ROTC, you get more one-on-one interactions with NCOs, and those interactions give you a frame of reference that you need to be a successful junior officer

you can also drink, fuck, and get the full college experience, and that experience is needed to make you a well-rounded person as opposed to a robotic fuck that no one can relate to

>JAG

it's tough to get

be prepared to pledge seven years of active duty service to be competitive, or be prepared to smoke everyone else in the country in academics, PT, and overall performance

still, i'd do JAG over MP because it gives you way more options when you get out, and believe me when i tell you that you need options when you get out

Do you have a running program you can recommend? I'm shipping in 8 weeks for the Navy and have just fuckawful times (think 15-16 minutes) with my current training (5k or however far I can go a few times a week)

Thanks for the advice I'll try to put it all to use

>Do you have a running program you can recommend?

sure

don't worry about going long and slow

marathon distances won't get you prepped for the PFT because they condition you to do a slow burn, and you don't want that

you want to launch like a fucking ICBM and break the sound barrier before exploding in a god damn blaze of glory

the only way to train for that fire in the belly is to match your training pace with your PFT pace and hang onto it

the navy PFT run is 1.5 miles, so try doing 2 miles at your fastest pace or at the pace that you want to hit for the appropriate score

every other day, do this same workout, but try to beat your pace, and keep records of your final time

you will see your times improve if you train with intensity and keep up the frequency

the level of intensity is good if you end up on all fours and pant like a dog after crossing the designated finish line

take notes when you record your times and record what felt good and what felt bad

after a while, you will start to see performance patterns emerge

running is as much mental as it is physical

you have to condition your body while conditioning your mind to push your body, both logically and emotionally

Stupid practical tip to add to this man's wisdom: gold bond powder will save your life. Keeping your feet & crotch dry is more important than you ever realize as a civilian.

what if I'm not at the point where I can run 2 miles in anything but a slow pace? repeat that over and over? I've been spending months before my current training doing the 1.5 at my max pace repeatedly and seeing no results, albeit it's incredibly slow

Push yourself son. Run faster than you're comfortable with for longer than you think you can. You'll find most of the barrier is mental.

Also any tips on treating shin splints?

I just left an MP unit, you absolutely don't want that, I promise.

I'll try man, I just know I can't get that far in one run - would the option then be just recover for a bit then run more?

Details

ibuprofen when it causes pain, rest a week. If you start running again and it's still a problem, cut back on how frequently you run, or how far/fast. Run on softer surfaces. If it's continually getting worse, quit running.

They're not real cops and the majority of them are extremely low IQ and think they're the hottest shit around. Scheduling is terrible so you'll work overnight one day, then afternoon the next, then overnight, then morning, then overnight, then afternoon, and so on. You never get holidays off or get 3- or 4-day weekends even though the rest of the post will have them. There are a lot of people who enlist as MPs because they think they'll be able to work in law enforcement after the army but fail to realize that civilian LE consistently hate MPs and will not hire them.

NCOs e6 and higher are generally alcoholic whoremongering wifebeaters, which is common in all aspects of the military, but in my estimation a bit worse in the MP Corps. I have only met one MP commisioned officer that wasn't hated by everyone he worked with, out of the 30 or so I've had to deal with, West Pointers being the worst amongst them.

MP sounds pretty shit wow

What was you gap/sat/act scores? I'm thinking of going but I don't know.

there are two stretches that might help you

stand on one leg (LEG A) and have the other leg (LEG B) extended behind you with your toes pointed and your knee locked

now bend the knee of LEG A and come down on your extended foot of LEG B so that the tops of your toes hit the floor and bend

keep LEG B straight while you do this

if you're doing this right and putting weight on that extended foot, then you should feel the shin of LEG B stretch

once you're done with that, lie on the floor, pick one leg up, and point it straight toward the ceiling with your toes pointed up, too

in other words, you're making your leg perpendicular with the ground

try to reach up and touch the foot of your pointed leg, and you should feel the shin stretch

these stretches will keep your shins loose, but as mentioned, you need to go easy and dial down your mileage if things start to get unbearable

i don't recommend outright bed rest

i do recommend stretching, walking, and gradual strengthening

losing weight also helps, as does lightening your pack load if you're humping

I went to West Point as part of the Class if 2014. I still have a NDA affecting discussing anything detailed, but congratulations and BE ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN THAT USMA IS FOR YOU. Did you do SLS or talk to any Old Grads outside the nomination process?

Also, the advice from 11A is solid. I would only add that Malone Cadet and Keller Army are absolutely terrible medical facilities and you need to do everything in your power to avoid being in either for any length of time. Hand sanitizer, replacing insoles and shower shoes quarterly, etcetera will go a long ways. Watching first semester Plebe roommate slowly rot from a poorly treated MRSA infection was a huge eye opener.

I've heard that running longer distances isn't always the best idea. You want to focus on getting better at running shorter distances for shorter times rather than longer distances at shorter times.
Like how I've read that you want to train in lifting lighter weights at higher reps rather than heavier weights at low reps. Am I wrong?
I've been considering a different college now and I think I might actually try for this. I mean, I've been thinking about the military of course, and that's why I'm here in the end, but damn, not until this very moment have I really considered that I've been training for something like a military academy instead.
>train to keep your short runs at a 6:30-minute-mile pace and your long runs closer to seven minutes per mile
every military branch standard, spec ops included, has competition time and minimum. and you shouldn't tell these ding dongs to shoot for competition as a standard. They can figure that out themselves. I love the rest though. Thank you very much. I have like three archived military advice threads saved in a separate window because of posts like yours'.
>just stop that damn reddit posting would you? sort your damn topics into paragraphs like the English language was taught to you

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oh yeah, I forgot to recommend stretches

the two you recommended are fine, but also:

>find pole or wall or something
>place balls of foot against wall, heel still on the ground but as close to the wall as you can get it
>pull self towards wall/pole object
should help some, the most common form of shin splints involves the tibialis anterior so just find stretches for that and see how it helps
there's also a lot of info on shin splints if you google it, if you're not able to effectively research things on your own then I don't want you to have any authority over my dumb enlisted life

everyone hates every military medical facility, not sure how west point works but in active duty you're seen as a pretty shitty person for going to the doctor for anything. Contrary to this guy, I'd say don't be a dumbass and take care of yourself, but absolutely seek medical treatment if necessary. If you get athlete's foot because you're an unhygienic retard then good, you deserve it. If you get pneumonia because of things completely outside of your control, don't let that turn into something worse because another dumbfuck west pointer told you not to seek treatment.

If you do go and eventually become a commisioned officer, please leave the "well ACTUALLY..." attitude that somehow everyone develops at West Point there, and let your PSG make all the decisions for you until you're at least a 1LT.

this is false, anyone who gets above a 185 on the APFT is trying too hard

Keller is really, really bad, or at least was during my time at USMA. Poor sanitation and high turnover with the civilian staff made it a great place to pick up whatever the seasonal special was, ranging from impetigo (a civilian doctor infected me) to staph. I would go into more detail but, again, I have a NDA and the last thing I need is someone to get butthurt and try following the Long Grey Line of breadcrumbs back to me.