Fitness Past and Army Preparation

Fitness Background/Past

Fitness has always been a big part of who I am.  I was lucky to have a decent amount of athletic ability which allowed me to enjoy the sports I participated in.  I also have a competitive nature that pushes me to stay in shape.  Whether I was playing football, running track, or even getting down to playing washers as well as the drinking games flip cup and beer pong... I always wanted to win.  I carried this edge from high school and into college.  After many degree changes.. I settled into earning my B.S. in Kinesiology with the major Applied Exercise Physiology.  I continued to enjoy going to the gym and also learned I really enjoyed helping others achieve a healthier lifestyle as well.  I was able to branch into volunteering at a local hospital helping with inpatient physical therapy as well as managing and becoming a Personal Trainer at a local gym.  I never felt a greater passion for something than when helping stroke patients as well as hip replacement patients (these were the 2 major areas I saw a lot) learn the motor skills and develop the ability to walk again.  Becoming a Physical Therapist was my new goal.  The only issue... besides getting into PT school was extremely competitive and I slacked off on a portion during school that might hurt me some... it was also costly.  I put the PT plan on hold and took up a Personal Training position back in my hometown right after graduation.  I was and still am a big believer in practicing what you preach.  I can't stand anything more than seeing an out of shape Personal Trainer.  This mindset led me to push myself harder and continue to educate myself on achieving a healthier lifestyle.  Even though, as I already mentioned in my About Me section, I eventually left the fitness industry for the Oil and Gas sector, I still hold my fitness values close.

Current Fitness and Prep for the Army

I have always been a morning person.. and because of this I usually knock my gym workouts out before heading to my job.  This requires many 3 am wakeups in order to get to the gym around 3:30am and then into work by 5:45 am or so.  I learned after working a 12 hour shift.. my gym workouts took a hit just from being mentally drained.  I have and still do try and make it to the gym 6 days a week.  Prior to joining the Army... cardio consisted of light warm-ups and on leg days I would hit the stair climber pretty hard.  Swimming also worked its way in twice a week. 

Once I joined the Army I looked up the Physical Test to see where I stood and what I needed to achieve.  In my mind... there is no reason I cant achieve a perfect score.... and at the very least I want to keep that as my goal and my mindset shooting for it as well.  For my age bracket I would need:

2 Mile-                 13:18 or better  (13:00 for the younger age which means this is my goal)
2 min pushups-    77
2 min sit ups-       82

Being 28 years old... I have to do a few more pushups and situps than those younger than me... but I get 18 seconds more on the 2 mile.  My final goal was of course to break the 13:18 before I ship off to basic... but in reality.. I wanted to break 13:00 because that's what the younger group has to achieve.  I don't believe the test should have separate standards for age.  I have a feeling I will hear plenty of "old man" jokes since I will be about 10 years older than the majority of the guys so I don't want to use the extra time because of my age as a crutch. 

Although I still have not attempted the official 2 min tests... I was and am confident I can get close to if not better the pushups and situps already.  The 2 mile would be my weakness.  I started working cardio in 4 times a week after work... gym session still in the morning.  What I ran after work depended on what workout I did before.  Here is the break up:

After leg day:  1 mile speed interval on the stair stepper
                        1 mile run on the treadmill- 8:00 min max
                        1 mile on the elliptical

Day after leg day: Chest/Bi day- Interval run day.. run 1/4 mile at a 1:30 pace.. equals a 6 min mile.  Walk 1/10 mile.. then back to the run.  3 miles of this.

2 days after leg day- Back/Tricep day.. Timed 2 mile run... break.. then jog 2-3 more miles.
Initial goal:-- Break          14:00 min.. very first timed run was 14:07.  2 months prior to ship out date.
Next goal:                         13:30--- 98/100 points. 
Final goal 1---                  13:18.  Max points
Personal final goal- sub    13:00. Max points for younger than my age.  Around Sept. 14th.. 3.5 weeks before shipping out I finally broke the 13:00 time and ran the 2 miles in 12:51.  YES!!!!!!!!!!!

With it being 9/23/14 now.. and less than 2 weeks til ship out.. my goal is just to maintain my workouts.. keep pushing but not to the extent of causing injury. 

Army Reserve Decision

Pre Story Background-

I already shared my "About Me" that has led me up to this point so far.  What I didn't share.. is why I want to join the Army... and why now.  I honestly never thought about joining the military up through college.  I was raised with pride in country, self pride, the need to accomplish more and do my best, family values, and so on..... but that never translated to the military.  It wasn't until I was employed as a Personal Trainer at 24 Hour Fitness that I started wanting to do the research.  It finally hit me that it should be a sense of duty.  Veteran's Day and any and every holiday and event that honored the Military always left me feeling guilty or empty.  It was then that I realized I have not done everything that I should.  I want to join the military but I also feel I need to do my part.

 While going through the process of trying to join back in 2010... I got a call for a great new career opportunity with Enterprise and decided the take the selfish approach and accept the position..which in turn meant I needed to stop the Military process for that time.  I put everything into making sure I could learn as much as possible.. and contribute my share and more while learning the Oil and Gas field.  The feeling of wanting to join never left... I just didn't have the ability to walk away from my career at that time. Enterprise was/is known for attending many Vet recruiting events and hiring a lot of vets.  I had the pleasure to work with many of these guys as well as train them. 

Fast forward 4 years and a new company for me in Cheniere... and the timing hit me.  The current company is treating me great and I see many positive years to come.  The only deal is.. they hired me to be a Senior Pipeline Controller for a pipeline and process that was not even in operation yet.  They got a good jump on us and the training we were able to receive was afar beyond what I expected.  We are prepared for when the real operation kicks in and we have a great crew of guys ready once it starts.  BUT... compared to my past company, the work was going to be fairly quiet for about a year.  Staying still and not being able to better myself just drives me nuts.  This led me to start looking at the military again.  Of all the branches.. I chose the Army because of the flexibility it allowed for me to pick a MOS (army job) and ensure I would make it back to my current civilian career without missing a beat.  I felt incredibly guilty about walking away from my company after only being with them 6 months.. but I thought through every angle before deciding.  I will be able to leave for training.. which will be about 7 months long in all.. and still be able to return with plenty of time to spare to catch up before our big commissioning project kicks off.  My selfish side slightly kicked in with joining the Reserves.. because as much as I want to do my part.. I have come so far in my personal career that I can not see myself completely turning away from it.  Cheniere as a company and my direct reports seemed supportive and I hope that is their true feelings.  I guess this is the part I will find out about when I return back to work at the beginning of May. 

About Me

Earlyish Life--

I was born in Baytown, TX and raised in Mont Belvieu, TX.  The town still had a small town feel to it back then.  Grew up hunting, fishing, running the woods, mudding in rice fields... all the typical country boy ways.  Barbers Hill School District was and still is a great program.  Playing football was a given and being competitive is all I knew.  My parents divorced when I was still fairly young.  They did not carry on a great relationship so it was tough on my older sister (older by 15 months) and I.  Between the divorce and both parents working shift work... I learned how to be come independent and responsible a lot earlier than most.  Pop-tarts for breakfast and lunchables for lunch rounded out our healthy diet :-).   My sister is hard of hearing so I always had to be the first one awake and make sure she woke up... she was known for not hearing her alarm clock which in turn would always wake me up down the hall.  I guess this is what contributed to me being a morning person.  I was always above average in athletics and a little better on the academic side.  In 2004 I graduated in the top 10% of my class.  Family is and always has been a big part of my life.  I've never been one to be emotional or anything of that sort but they mean the world to me.  That lifestyle was one of the many things that helped shape my life. 

College--

I grew up a Texas Longhorn fan and that University was towards the top of my list of where I wanted to attend.  My senior year in high school I made it to the Texas State Track Meet with my 1600m relay team which was held in Austin at the University of Texas.  I like surrounding areas of Austin but it was during that trip that I realized I would not fit into the culture.  Texas A&M University and College Station won me over... that and I had a handful of my good friends going there as well.  The culture, environment, and alumni association is one of the best around.  During my college years, I usually held no less than 2 jobs.. usually 1 year at a time for each due to my changing school schedule.  Jobs included: construction helper, Gander Mountain, Budweiser merchandiser, Gym Manager, Personal Trainer, Exercise Physiology department research intern, and Overall gym management intern.  Waking up early... school.. more work was the basic schedule.  This cut down on my overall "fun time" college experience but there was still plenty of that had.  After changing my major 3-4 times.. I finally graduated in 2009 with a B.S. Kinesiology in Applied Exercise Physiology.  Career life started immediately after.

Career--

Right after graduation.. I started work at 24 Hour Fitness in Baytown, TX as a Personal Trainer.  I really enjoyed this job and absolutely loved the feeling of motivating and helping others.  Fitness was already a big part of my life and sharing my passion with others never got old.  As much as I enjoyed being a Trainer... my attitude and work ethic to do more, make more money, and strive for more success led me away from the fitness industry. 

After 2 years at 24 HR Fitness... Dec. 2010 I broke into the Oil and Gas industry and hired on with Enterprise Products as a Gas Pipeline Controller.  I had a great Regional Manager in Jerry Roberts that took a leap hiring me since I didn't have any prior experience.  Jerry was an Army Ranger in his past life but it still very much reflected in his attitude.  He would do anything for his guys.  My direct Manager Earl Tisdale also had faith in me and helped me continue to learn about the business outside of just the Gas Control position.  Sadly due to life circumstances... Earl left.. which gave me a small opportunity to be Step Up Manager over our Western Operations.  Though a short stent.. it was enough to give me a taste and set my mind forward that I wanted to keep moving up.  Pipeline Control is a great job and it takes special guys to do the job but it wasn't enough for me.  My new Manager, Bruce Duncan, was also great at allowing me to continue to learn more of the business as well as handle more responsibilities.  I owe my current career to these guys. 

In April of 2014 a new opportunity presented itself.  Jerry was working on trying to get me off shift and onto straight days as an Operations Supervisor... but due to many reasons that were beyond his control.. it just was not coming fast enough for me.  Cheniere Energy was/is at the forefront of the LNG export process in the United States.  I decided to take a small step back and accepted a Senior Gas Controller position with them.  This meant going back to shiftwork and slowing down my progress of advancing as soon as I had hoped.  The positive outlook, future job growth in a new part of the business, and of course pay/benefits were enough to lure me in.  So far to this current date (9/14/14)... this seems like a great company... they care about the employees.. want and accept input.. the kind I can see a bright future with.  With all this.. I still made a hard choice of taking a break and joined the Army Reserves... at least on the outside to me it seems they have accepted this choice with understanding and not much remorse.  My next post will lead to this decision.