PRMC DIARY 9th Jan

[sammy571819]

This is just a quick rundown on the PRMC i was on. My memories not the best so if Mat or White read this, write down what ive left out.

Arrived about 2pm on the Tuesday with about 5 other lads. Unpacked our kit into our lockers and then made our beds. Waited around for everyone else to turn up, didnt really do much the first night except for getting some scran and getting issued our kit and boots. 1 guy was told to leave the first night because he complained he had a sore throat and wanted to go to the sick bay, but then went outside for a fag!!

Day 1
Woke up at 5:45. Got showered and changed into civvies for breakfast. Cleaned accomodation block and then changed into rugby shirt, combats and boots. We then went off with the drill Sgt to do an hours drill, which was amusing as everyone was completely gash. We then went back to the accomodation and got our trainers on. We went for a quick briefing with the Sgt Major and then went for the 3 miler.

3 miler
As i said in my earlier post, the 3 miler is the least of your worries. There is a short 10-15 minute warmup of pressups, stretches etc, but just to get the blood flowing. The 3 miler was run pretty much the same pace all the way round, apart from a couple of 5 second sprints which was nothing. It was run pretty slowly and we probably finished pretty much bang on 22.5 minutes. Even if that is your best time there is no reason why you would fail as you are still pretty fresh before starting. 3 lads dropped off the run, and 1 finished about 5 seconds after the main group but stayed on to finish the course, although he already failed.

Gym test 1
As soon as you walk into the gym, you have to remember that you cant scratch, fidget, wipe sweat off your face or generally mess about or you will be doing pressups!! You also have to run on the spot the entire time unless told otherwise. We went straight into the bleep test with everyone at the same time, and once you drop out you have to jog in a circle until everyone has finished. I managed 11.8 which was probably just over average, but quite a few people passed with less than level 11. As Gym test 1 is done on points, i think you only needed level 9 to get 1 point unless you did poor on your mechanical test which meant you had to get level 11 i think.
Next we went straight onto pressups which has been covered many times before, min 30 max 60. I managed 55 which was probably again just over average. Make sure you lock your elbows out ALL THE WAY as the Cpl said i wasnt so deducted 10 pressups after i had only just done 10!! Situps next, which i scored 60 in. Just make sure you keep your knees together and you will be fine.
We then went straight onto the pullups. You should be aiming for a maximum of 6 as quite a lot of people managed it. Once we finished the pullups they said that was the end of Gym test 1. We then went to the pool where you just jump off the diving board and swim the length of the pool, thats it.

Day 2

Day 2 starts the same as day 1. We went down to the bottom field about 9, i cant remember what we did before that though.

Bottom field

Bottom field starts with everyone having a go at the death slide. It is just a zip line, where you are harnessed in and hold onto a rope which you hang on to the line with. Once at the top of the tower you have to jump off showing guts otherwise they wont be too happy with you, and you might also not have the momentum to reach the bottom. Once everyone had done the death slide we jogged to the high obstacle course. This consists of a few ropes and planks to cross. This was not timed but was just for us to get a taster. The only thing to remember is to cross the planks confidently or you have to cross again.
Next we were shown how to do the assault course and then attemted it 3 obstacles at a time. We then lined up in fours and did our timed run. One of the Cpls said we had to do it in less than 4 minutes to pass, but i think it is actually 5. I managed 3.41, and also fell in the tank trap which is the first obstacle (Matt fell in first!!). Once everyone had finished and were already hangin out, we had the determintaion test. As most people say, this is the hardest thing i had every done. It was definetly the hardest physical exercise i have every done, but the hard part was just carrying on. All you have to remember is not to stop, even if your legs wont work anymore, just move your feet, even if its only walking pace. As long as you dont stop you will pass. Anyway it consisted of doing some pressups, situps, starjumps and tuck jumps and then sprinting round a wall, coming back and then repeating sprinting up a hill. After doing this for about half an hour, we had piggy back races which was nails. We did about 3 of these and then were told bottom field was finished. I can't do bottom field justice by describing it on here so i havent really tried. One of the guys from my room had got to week 22 of training before, and said that our bottom field was the worst thing he had ever done, including his first PRMC. We lost about 5 on there.

Gym test 2

Once in the gym, all the rules from before applied, except it was running on the spot for the entire session. You move around 5 games each lasting 3 minutes each, which by the end of everyone was already hangin out. We then packed the equipment away and lined up against the 2 end walls of the gym. You then do about 15-20 minutes of constant sprints which was harder than the actual gym test. You just have to remember its the last test and just keep your legs moving. This is where sprint training would be really beneficial, but i managed to finish it from just doing the bleep test now and then.

That was about it really, we had some lectures thrown in whilst we were there, and found out our results the next day. Overall i think about 20 failed and 29 passed. The interview before Gym test 2 was just basically saying how you are doing, but some Cpls were asking a few Corps history questions aswell.
Overall i would say that i was probably just above average for our course, there were a few really fit lads but no-one was not at a good standard of fitness. If you get fairly good scores on the first day, you will pass the course if you just dont drop out on the second day and give 100%.

I had a great time down there with a great bunch of lads, i know there is some things im forgetting but i still havent caught up on my sleep yet so i'm still pretty knackered!! Cheers

[KJ-Edwards]

Nice one mate.

Quite alot of people failed then

[Spetz]

Congrats Sammy, great diary!

[MattP]

Alright Chris, good work on the diary I think you pretty much covered all the main points. As you said it was extremely hard. I can honestly say it was the hardest thing i've ever done in my life. People reading this who havent done or are about to do PRMC dont be discouraged, just give it 100% at all times and you should be fine. I would deffinately recommend sprint training because of bottom field and gym test 2. I didnt do sprint training and found the going very hard.

My scores where:

bleep test-11.9
Press-ups-49
Sit-ups-52
pull-ups-6
I didnt find out my assault course time but I was the first from my group

Anyway good luck to all those with a PRMC coming up, Crack ON!!

[Mitch]

Just interested, what's the time limit on the press ups and sit ups etc.? And were you taught how to make your bed and iron kit on your first night or were the instructors not bothered? Pretty stupid questions but i'm just interested.
Well done

[hobbsy]

Nice one, well done mate

[cruicent]

Just interested, what's the time limit on the press ups and sit ups etc.? And were you taught how to make your bed and iron kit on your first night or were the instructors not bothered? Pretty stupid questions but i'm just interested.
Well done

2 mins each, you do two, two min rest while your partner does 2, then 2 mins situps. pullups all done together, 6 of them.
They dont teach you any kit ironing or bed making during prmc (bear in mind I was only there for the first 1 and a half days and missed the lectures - nothing about admin though I dont believe? Just make your bed and make sure you and your kits clean.

[Mitch]

Great thanks for clearing that up!