Marshall Ramsey

It’s Monday and we had PLS. We don’t normally do this on Monday — at least in the winter — but today was a make-up day for the rain/ice from last week. Normally, I sleep until 6 on Mondays — but I was up a 3:40 this morning.  The hardest part of PLS is waking up so early.  Fatigue sits on my shoulder like a bull elephant, crushing me for the rest of the day.

So you are thinking, “then why the heck do you do PLS?!?”

Simple.  Not just for the physical training. I could run in the afternoon when I get off work if I wanted to stay in shape. It’s about getting tougher MENTALLY and physically.

PLS Training is about teaching myself to push through fatigue.  When I’m about to drop out on the gym floor, I have to learn to keep pushing. When my legs are burning when I’m pushing a towel, I keep going. When the treadmill is stealing my breath, I keep running.

Why? Well, what are you going to do in real life?  When you want something are you going to quit when things get hard? Are you going to give up when someone doesn’t believe in you? Are you going to sacrifice when you face one of life’s headwinds?

The training I do at 5 a.m. carries me through the rest of the day. It works out the muscle between my ears, too.

I hopped off the treadmill after running 7.2 mph for six minutes and ran two laps of the gauntlet. I was tired but kept pushing.

And I will for the next 23 hours, too.

Navy SEALS go through a hell week called BUDS training. It’s physically grueling and mentally taxing. And over 70% of  the candidates quit.  They ring the bell three times and are shipped back to the fleet.  Not kicked out — they quit. They don’t have the mental toughness to survive the nearly 24-hour-a-day grief thrown their way. And that’s perfectly OK with the SEALS.  Because in combat, you can’t afford to quit.

It’s about mental toughness.

I guess today’s PLS theme would be mental toughness.  Paul wasn’t happy with the caliber of our workout today and poured it on.  He pushed us hard. Some responded. Some didn’t.  The sprints at the end were tough. Very tough. He read us the riot act at the end of the session.

Of course, Paul had a different motive that the BUDS instructors. He’s not trying to get us to quit. He’s trying to get us to change.  To quit the bad mental and physical habits that got us in bad shape in the first place.  Yes, that change involves pain.

Ripping yourself out of your comfort zone is painful. Very painful. They don’t call the comfort zone for nothing.

I know. I’ve been doing it for three years now.

Today’s workout was hard. I pushed a towel the length of a basketball court six times. I walked at 4 mph at 15% incline and ran at 7.8 mph.  I bear crawled and inch wormed my way across the floor. I felt tired muscles try to cramp. I felt my age.

But I did it. My body told my mind to shut the hell up.

CANCELLED

There was a real threat of ice on the predawn bridges this morning, so today’s workout was called off.

I used it as an opportunity to sleep. I needed it — my body and mind are exhausted.

But I am not using it as an opportunity to be lazy.  I will run this afternoon and then do my pushup/situp routine.

Excellence comes from extra work.  My goal is excellence.

UPDATE: I ran 5.05 miles when I got home from work and did 50 pushups and sit-ups. I got a small workout in at least.

Important days in history:

February 6. 1992: I cleaned Pope High School’s gym floor with a dust mop.

February 6, 2014: I cleaned Jackson State University’s gym floor with a folded towel — seven times.

Here’s the deal. Take a towel. Fold it length-wise three or four times. Lay in on a wood floor. Bend over and put your hands on it. Push it the length of a basketball court (84 feet — or 24 yards). Get done and pick it up. Run a lap around the inside of the fitness center. Come back to the court and repeat without stopping.

I did that SEVEN times. And my legs were sore.

From the towels, we did a two-court wide W- drill (running around cones shaped like a W). Then we did wall-sits, wall-runs and sprints carrying a 25 lb. weight.  From there we went to the treadmills where we ran seven minutes at 7 mph.  We ran the last bit at 9 mph.  From the treadmills we went and did core exercises with Clark. We did lots of sit-ups and other core exercises while holding a weighted blue ball.  The last station was in the weight room. By that time, I was a sweating pile of goo.

While I was doing the W-drill, I noticed a guy laying flat-out on the floor.  He had been pushing towels and just gave out where he was.  I mentally cheered him on — because I knew just how he felt.  I nearly died the first time I had to push a towel two years ago. There was once a time when towels owned me. But not today. I beat my nemesis. Bad.  And I left Jackson State’s gym floor a much cleaner place.