A little background

I'm picking this up in the middle up my "crazy little project." Potentially even nearer to the end than I want to think about, because the deal is that I am taking the Firefighter agility test in 15 days. I've been seriously training for a couple of months. I've always worked out. But my weakest point was running.

At 42 I had never run more than 3 miles, and I had never run fast. I would tell people I have to run 1.5 miles in 15 minutes (a 10 minute mile, basically) and they'd shrug it off like, "you can do that, can't you?" Um, no. But I did it today! 1.5 in 15:18! Actually the required time for my age and gender group is 16 minutes. I've just been training to do it in 15 so that I have some cushion. Apparently training works.

I'm starting this Blog so that I can remember days like these. I have an aweful memory and ought to keep a diary, but I never have. I realized that I do enjoy writing emails, though, so I figured this seems a bit like the same thing. Here I am writing an email to someone - you, me, cyberspace, Hal? At first I thought of simply writing emails to my sister, but then she would be the only one to see them, and I guess it is possible someone else might get something out of this. My Aunt suggested I document my process, actually. I can't take all the credit. And that brings to me a little more history...

Deciding to take the Firefighter Agility Test wasn't hard, but deciding who to tell I was taking it, was. I told my husband well over a year ago that I was thinking of doing it, so when it became possible and a reality, he was ready. We decided immediately NOT to tell our parents. If I pass, and am offered a place at the Academy, and I accept, then I will tell them. It'll be a need to know basis. I don't expect them to be happy. I began to tell a few other people who needed to know because their names were on my application. People in my gym began to learn about it as I asked for advice from certain trainers and word leaked out. Almost invariably the response was, in a nutshell, shock and awe.

Awe because everyone thought it was really cool and intense and there is the "oh wow" factor, I guess. The shock part came in some form of this question, "You don't really want to be a firefighter do you?"

I do.