Hi,

I ship in less than 2 months for Great Lakes. I have been trying to get more in shape, the push-ups and sit-ups really are no problem at all. I DO have a big problem when it comes to the running. I am SEVERELY out of breath long before a 1/2 mile. I am very determined and 110% motivated. It is something that is physically holding me back, I get dizzy spells and hard to breathe.

I am more out of shape than I should be, I just barely make my weight requirement. But I am trying which is the most that I can do. This is for sure something I want, I just dont want to get to boot camp and be the last person running around the track, or fall over unable to continue. I am 110% mentally prepared, I am positive I will excel in the classroom training. I just am worried sick about the running portion of bootcamp.

If I cannot do the running at all, meaning its physically impossible for me, what happens? I am 23 *will turn 24 in boot*.

My mother has been sick with MS so I spend a majority of my time taking care of her right now and have been out of state, missing a majority of my DEP meeting but not all of them. One DEP meeting, we were doing excercises running to one end of the gym, then pushups when we got to that end, then run back and tag the next person in line, and the 2nd time you come up,"bear crawl" back to the other end and do jumping jacks, 3rd time you bear crawl and do sit ups. and the 4th and final time you bear crawl and do another set of pushups. Before the final relay, I was so dizzy I had to sit down and completely out of breathe. My fear is that this could actually be a result of some medical condition that I am unaware of, due to not having my own doctor.

ANY advice is more than welcome, I am reading up practically 10 hours a day because I ship so soon. I REALLY want to graduate boot camp, please help.

If you haven't been running or are not in running shape, you can't expect to go out and run 1.5 miles on a whim.

Barring any medical condition, since I cannot speak to that; I would recommend you take a look at one of the PRT or running workup programs in the fitness section. They have a few of them that make alot of sense, like this one.

http://www.military.com/milita...nt-levels-of-running

Good Luck!

When I was preparing to go to boot camp I couldn't run 1/4 of a mile before having to stop and walk. I had just never run before in my life. In school we had the choice of PE or band and I always chose band. I did play baseball as a kid but there was minimal running involved there. By the time my boot camp shipping date came around I think I had myself up to being able to run a mile without stopping to walk. The pace I was "running" at wasn't much more than a walk though. On the PRT we took when we first arrived to Great Lakes I ran the 1.5 miles in 16:30 which is a terrible time. I was just happy to have run the 1.5 miles without stopping to walk.

Running is really simple to get good at though (assuming you don't have a medical problem). You just have to do it around 3 times a week. Run until you're tired and you'll slowly improve until running 1.5 miles is a joke. It's not as difficult as some people make it out to be. If you do it on a regular basis your body gets used to it.

I started playing indoor soccer, not to help with running but just to give me another sport to do. Prior to playing soccer, I would be out of breath if the guy behind me hit a double and I needed to run from first to home. After about five months of playing soccer, and I was only playing once or twice a week, I could run for miles without being out of breath. Just something for you to think about as a way to increase your stamina and, at the same time, get your run time down.

Personally, I can't stand just running or walking. I find it extremely boring. I've never minded running in connection with a sport so doing it with soccer made it easy.

Running sucks, but if you have 2 months prior to shipping you can work your way up to doing a mile and half.
First, don't try and run every day, but do work on cardio. If you are only getting wided with running, you can work on that, if you get winded with any cardio exercise, you should probably see a doc.

Ease your way up to running a mile and half, shoot for say a quarter mile a week and increase it the following week etc. Rest a day or so between running and do resistance training, biking, eliptical and so forth to get in shape. Running everyday is not good for you, especially if basically starting out.

In boot, you do work your way up to the mile and half run and you will have chances to improve while in boot. Such as when you pt, or sometimes instead of being dropped for a screwup, your CC may have you run a lap or two.

When you do do your pt in boot, get in the middle of the pack and close to the inside lane. You will find you don't have to run as hard or fast to keep up.

After boot, there are other options for the PRT, but if you can run in boot, try to maintain that level of fitness.