Planning is Key

Having a plan, and a back up plan, and a back up to that back up plan, is an important part of life. Without a plan, you'll probably end up wandering aimlessly and end up no where in particular. And without back up plans, you'll be confused and rushed when things don't go your way. Luckily, that isn't the case for me, but it may be the case for you.

Successfully completing my training to become a soldier has become another adventure in failure, due to injury which shouldn't surprise me or anyone close to me. While this is the most serious injury I have dealt with, I've dealt with injuries before that derailed my short term plans, mainly my training plans. I've been 3 months without running, biking, or being on an elliptical now, so my cardiovascular fitness is probably in the bottom of the barrel. And it may be a few weeks more before any of those things can become options to me again. But I have a plan.

First, with all this time to sit around and think, I was able to get my fall schedule situated and now will be taking 15 hours worth of coursework as I inch closer to graduating. I also accepted my financial aid and will have enough to cover tuition and an apartment and food. From there, I looked into get a job and a car, both things which I have decided to delay getting until later this year. With joining the Army no longer my primary plan after college, I've shifted my research into graduate school, and I hope to stay at ECU to get my masters in either History or Security Studies.

But my major concern is getting healthy, either through surgery or through physical therapy, and then getting back into shape. I know I've put on a few extra pounds since I left home, but I'm not too bad off. My plan is simple, burn off the fat with large amounts of aerobic base work, using the elliptical and bike at first until it's safe for me to start running. The cross training will help me shed the pounds and get a little bit of fitness back before I start running at a lighter weight to prevent any more injuries.

Outside of the elliptical, cycling, and eventually running, other things I plan to include in my training plan are: 2x a week upper/lower body lifting sessions, pullups/pushups/dips on non-lifting days, ancillary drills/strenghtening, and core strenth sessions. Possible additions to this plan include swimming, pool running, and ruck marching, those these would be less frequent.

I've been trying for years, but hopefully coming off this injury, I can maintain my health and get a lengthy period of base work in. I'm not sure how long the cross training phase could take, but once I start running regularly, I want to do about 3 months of basework before starting to do any speedwork. I also want to get my weight down under 180 for starters, with a further goal of pushing it closer to 170.

Now, I just need to get home to get started on all these things I've had time to plan out. While I would love to be home sooner, it looks like I get to leave here on the 17th, which gives me about a month before school starts to get some of these things done, primarily finding a place to live and getting my back fixed so my leg regains full function and flexibility.