Running is Fun

I have a rare night of no homework and have finished ironing my clothes, polishing my boots, and packing my gear for tommorow.

This morning I volunteered to run with a fellow cadet in the 'Acadamy Trail' - a 1.5 mile desert trail up and down South Mountain. This trail run was assigned as punishment to the other recruit but has to be witnessed by someone else to ensure it was completed without walking and within 15 minutes. It was 5:30 and almost totally dark when we started which caused quite a bit of anxiety as we tried not to turn an ankle or step on whatever desert creature might be lurking on the path. After sufficiently burning out our legs on the steep and rocky terrain, we finished just in time to join the rest of our class for morning exercise. This was the morning our sergeant decided to take us on a long trail run. We spent the next hour running all around the base of South Mountain (probably about 6 miles or so) with an all-out sprint for the last quarter mile. As I began to lose all sensation below the waist, we were finally able to limp back to the locker room with 15 minutes to shower, dress, and line up for dress inspection and flag raising.

The rest of the day was spent in class learning about mentall illness and domestic violence. We watched a video of several recorded 911 domestic violence calls that were downright terrifying. The video showed numerous photos of the women with terrible injuries caused by their spouses or boyfriends. One of the most disturbing calls was from the spouse of a police officer as he ignored an order of protection and entered her house. As she pleaded into the phone for help, gunshots could be heard followed by silence. We then saw the terrible pictures of the crime scene in which she was killed. It's hard to imagine the things that humans do to one another and I'm sure I'll be seeing this first hand in the future. It sure made me feel thankful for the family and life I have.

New vocabulary word for the week:

CHUD (Citizen Having Unusual Difficulties): This is the generic term that police officers use to describe the common bonehead criminal or lowlife.