Combat Fitness Test results

Ran the USMC Combat Fitness Test (CFT) today. This is the first year that it's being run, so nobody in our group had run it before. It's a 880yd run with boots and uniform but not gear, max reps of a 30 pound ammo can over your head in two minutes, then a shuttle run with a buddy carry or ammo cans with a couple of pushups and a mock grenade throw. All in all, I did better than I thought I would, and I have to say that it is a difficult test but could easily be harder with the right tasks added.

The 880 yard run: I was in the third group and didn't see the first two groups, but I finished first in our group with a 2:47 if I remember right. My split was a 1:12 or 1:19, I'm not sure. But I remember thinking that I was going out too fast. The second lap went much better than I thought it would, and I didn't really die or bonk. I had to kick a bit when I started here boot steps behind me. It was a good race, and probably equivalent to the best I ran in high school!

The ammo can lift was good. I went first to set the bar. I got 70 lifts, and I think I could certainly do more now that I know how it goes. A couple other guys got high 70's and low 80's.

The shuttle run was more difficult than I thought it would be, and I left everything on the field there. It goes like this: start in pushup position, spring 30 yards, drop to low-crawl 30 yards, rise to crawl 30 yards, run around some cones for 20-30 yards, pickup your buddy and carry him back in a fireman carry, grab two 30 pound ammo cans and run to the other end (about 100 yards), throw a grenade (hit or miss a large square for + or - five seconds), carry ammo cans back. I finished in 2:27 including the five second penalty for missing on the grenade throw. I thought it was good, and it was, but a few others got up to ten seconds faster. Anyway, the running around the cones was much more difficult than you'd think it should be. Other than that, it is just a few full out 100yrd sprints carrying some extra weight. But it is very difficult.

That was my PT for the day. I'm glad I was feeling better, in fact I was at 100% after being sick earlier in the week. That's a good workout, for sure.

Can't wait to get back home and start real workouts!