Bad Boys, Bad Boys...What'cha Gonna Do

Well, today I tested for the Juneau Police Department. I was kinda keeping it a secret b/c I was worried about passing the physical fitness standards. For those who don't know, I have asthma and was treated w/ a series of medications and inhalers as a child. Endurance has always been a challenge for me, so I've been running on my lunch break the past month and a half trying to make the minimum 1.5 mile in 17:17, which I've never been able to do on the treadmill. Jessica had been trying to build my confidence for a while, telling me I'd do it no problem. But of course I never believed her. She's my big sister. That's the rules.

After breezing through the written exam, I called my mom on my cell phone for support. She sung me a song that went something along the lines of I can do anything because I think I can do anything...or something like that. And she kept telling me I was going to run it in 15 mins. "Yeah right," I thought to myself. I was just praying I'd do it in 17:17.

And on top of everything else, the run was the last thing on the list to do, which I was unaware of. I had never done the 300 meter sprint, jump test, sit ups, push ups and mile and a half run one right after the other.

I actually thought about rescheduling so I could have more time to train. But, today came the tests. Now or never. I beat my personal best in every event. And I ran the 1.5 miles in 14:57. Guess Mom was right. My legs felt like they were going to snap like wishbones. I thought my head was going to pop when I bent down to stretch. I felt great.

Next comes the psycological tests (which I'm sure I'll fail miserably, maybe even set records) and personal interviews. Even if the Juneau PD doesn't pick me, I've never been prouder of myself.