CYCLE BREAK BABY

So here I am, already getting behind on my posts. In my defense, the last couple of weeks of basic training are almost as bad as the first, hours-wise. Week 8 is FTX (field training exercise) all week long, so you’re either out in the field with the privates overnight, or you’re getting home really late. Week 9 is Period 4 and graduation. Let me tell you about a few days of absolute awesomeness that is Period 4. The privates arrive from their FTX and 16k ruckmarch sweaty, dirty, and disgusting. Their gear is dirty, their weapons are dirty, their wall lockers are a mess.. And so the fun begins. They (and by extension, you) have 3 days (sometimes less, if someone important has some meeting that cannot be moved) to get EVERYTHING cleaned, dress uniform put together, wall lockers and bunks laid out perfectly.. It’s rough. And they don’t really care. You do, because if their uniforms, weapons, and gear look like shit, it’s not really on them, it’s on you. Just like everything else in the Army, when a subordinate messes up, it’s because the leader messed up somewhere as well. So if they look bad, you look REALLY bad. So you have all these privates, that don’t really grasp the importance of Period 4 inspections (I feel like I neglected to mention that these activities culminate in an inspection by your Battalion Sergeant Major, your Battalion Commander, and various First Sergeants. I did? Well, they’re inspections. By important people.), and you’re running your ass off trying to make sure all the bunks look the same, all the weapons are clean, and all of their shirts and shorts are rolled tightly to the length of a dollar bill. If if by chance the bays look different? What if the half the wash clothes are folded so the crease faces to the left and half are folded so the crease faces to the right? Well- you best believe that you’re going to get reinspected. Yes, you. Not the privates, although that’s what you tell them. YOU. Trust me. It happened to me the cycle before last. All the privates went to a whining session with the Sergeant Major (CSM), and all the Drill Sergeants stood by their bunks and got reinspected. So. To recap: I’ve been busy, Period 4 inspections suck, and now I’m free. Oh yea, I forgot about that last part. The only good thing about Period 4 inspections is that you know it’s the last weekend before all the privates graduate.. so it’s the last weekend before freedom.

And speaking of freedom: ROCKLAHOMA BABY!! Immediately following graduation on Friday the boyfriend and I drove up to Pryor, OK to go to this huge rockfest.. and I mean huge. Thousands of people were there, along with some amazing bands: Bush, Alice in Chains, Halestorm, Korn, Skillet, and Guns n Roses to name a few. It was a great time- we drank, we ate a bunch of deliciously bad (and totally non paleo) food,we partied hard. Well- they partied hard. I just partied. I like to drink, but I’m not much of a drink-til-you-puke-then-rally-er. I drink until I hit my limit, then I stop. I know, I’m lame. But I’ve also never puked or passed out from drinking, so I still feel like a winner.

A random picture of our campsite for you. Yes, that IS a Vietnam-era Army tent.

But all that partying this weekend did not translate to doing any form of exercise (unless you count walking from our camp site to the main stage and some fist pumping), or eating anything even kind of paleo. (Case in point: I ate pizza 2 days in a row, and nachos, and ice cream, and.. well, you get the picture. I was bad). And to top it off, because as I pointed out before, weeks 8 and 9 are crazy busy, the only working out I did over about 2 weeks was “running” with the privates. But when you mess up, all you can do is climb back on the wagon and try to clean up.

I actually did pretty good once I got back this week. I cooked paleo every night (except Friday, since the whole battery went to Meers-home of amazing, and huge, longhorn beef burgers), I went running twice and did crossfit twice. I did crossfit today as well, but since it was an open gym, I just picked a workout that I missed last week and did it.. but clearly I cannot be trusted to push myself to my limits on my own, since it was two 10 minute AMRAPS.. and I cut the second one to five minutes. (In my defense, it was pistols.. after the first 10 minutes of hang squat cleans and jerks.. and it hurt my poor, unexercised quads). Anyways, the boyfriend, who picked up a new cycle of privates and is back to working insane hours, is home, so I’m off to enjoy the little time we have together. Have a good weekend!!