First of all, well done Westy, superb effort mate. Righto folks, I never passed- wrecked my ankle running endurance course and had to come off after the clay bogs
when it totally gave up on me. Apart from this minor point, I totally loved every minute of it, even though I was hanging out off my arse for a good proportion of it, and can't wait to get back down there and have another crack. In all honesty gents, as Westy has said, I never actually found it all that hard and know that next time I go down I should definately be passing. Fitness wise, I think I have a bit more work to go in order to get a strong pass however, it's a learning experience and the advice given by the PTI's should ensure that this is easily achievable next time. For the boys who are going down soon, I was advised to be running 3 times a week in boots and not just the once, and to change from long distance "plodding", to a more specific style. Although endurance is about 6-7 miles long, It's definately not done at a relaxed steady pace for the whole thing and I was advised that hill training i.e. sprints up and down a hill, would be far more beneficial, as would running in the manner which you are going to be tested- steep varying terrain, mud, water pools etc, as well as training when you are absolutely hanging out because after bottom field, you're not gonna be fresh. As far as training for the RMFA, the advice was to be doing a bleep test every week and to practice the all the bodyweight exercises at a really slow pace to mimic the pace of the bleeps. There's not really much else I can say, most has become a blur of pain and a bit of enjoyment, Bottom fiels is a killer but it's as much about balls as physical ability and although there are thoughts of wrapping when it gets nails, you just gotta dig deep and carry on because it won't go on for ever.
Right, If there's anything else you want to know then stick up a question and I'm sure either Westy, Kwew, Griffo or myself will be able to answer it.
Butch
