I don't know what I been told...

... running in frost is mighty cold...

But these guys are taking the...

Challenge: To train and complete the necessary fitness requirements for the Irish Army.

Difficulty: 4/5 to pass. 5/5 to ace it.

Skills Developed: Self loathing... if that's a skill...

Overview/Rant: Right, so this challenge is clearly explained here. (Also- just learned how to do that here thing... as opposed to that there thing...) But for those too lazy to click on the link(s)- here's a simple breakdown of what's involved...

* A one minute sit-up assessment

* A one minute push-up assessment

* A 3.2km run

* A 10km hike with a weighted rucksack

If you check the site- you'll see that each part of the assessment has gradings 1-6. You HAVE to complete the 10km hike in 1hr 33minutes and you must get an average grade of 4 to pass. So you add up your grades and divide by three to get your final grade.

So how did I do....

54 push-ups in a minute

42 sit-ups in a minute

17minutes 54 seconds to complete 3.2km run

1hr 28minutes to complete 10km hike

That translates to 1 + 1 + 6 = 8... which leave me with a grade 3 overall... so I'm ARMY FIT... apparently... 

Hardest Part: Getting up at 7am to go for a 10km hike through FROST... seriously ridiculous... also- my pack weighted 15kg which was a bit of a b**ch... and had I been found dead in the forest they would have opened my bag to find the following... 

Recommendation: Do this if you a.) want to work out what level of fitness you're at or b.) hate yourself.

Conclusion: Respect to the Irish Army- they have to do this test every year to ensure they keep high levels of fitness. I don't see why this isn't introduced into the Gardai force as it's a fairly simple test to arrange and it only takes about 2 hours... I don't know if you've ever seen the Gardai training fitness requirements but its fairly hilarious by comparison...

Special Thanks: Laura Rooney for her sound advice the day before: "Steve, shouldn't you like train for it before just going out and doing it?" Yes Laura, yes I probably should...

Next Challenge: Since I haven't had a great suggestion for fitness in a while I've decided to make learning my piano pieces for my grade 3 exam my next challenge. The 'judge' of my success shall be one Susan Bourke, who is known to her students as 'The Destroyer...' 

... I'm going to be in trouble for that... :-)

Random Thoughts: Watch this if you get the chance- it's brilliant.