PT this morning wasn’t so bad. Aside from the fact I thought I had frostbite on my hands when I returned, my plan to get my other roommate to attend this early morning group physical training worked! She may have arrived late and not joined in the soccer game, but she was out there walking the track and making observations.
It was bitter cold this morning at 0545. I was dressed in layers that included shorts, pants, a long sleeve shirt, jacket, gloves, and my fleece hat. As my roommate and I left the room, our other roommate was just waking up. We walked together to the middle of the Boardwalk where the field was located and migrated to a group of Soldiers we noticed huddled on the field hoping this was our group. There were a few Soldiers kicking around a soccer ball, a few Soldiers huddled together trying to fight off the cold, and few Soldiers gossiping and making fun of the Soldiers kicking around the soccer ball. There was a nice frost on the ground and everyone’s breathes were visible in the form of steam.
After confirming all Soldiers were present that were mandated to be in attendance, we started our warm-up exercises. Unfortunately, some of these exercises involved lying on the frozen turf. My gloves were soon soaked and I was not happy. I have never truly understood some of these new warm-up exercises and would have preferred to stick with the old way of warming up which consisted of stretches and jumping jacks. Soon, the announcement was made that we would be playing soccer and that if you were not fully engaged, you would be freezing your butt off for the next 45 minutes.
As we were playing soccer, there was an NCO that was walking laps around the field. She recently severed the tip of her finger and was unable to participate in the soccer game for obvious reasons. We also have an NCO with a fresh knee injury who is in a wonderful knee brace that makes him look like RoboCop when he walks. He spent most of the game standing next to the goal keeping the goalie company. We won’t mention my NCOIC who has a brittle bone disorder and kept watch of the other goal for the game.
I positioned myself on the far side of the field and walked back and forth from goal line to goal line. If the ball came my way, I would try my best to kick it, but I mostly froze my bum off. There are three reasons as to why I did not fully engage in this soccer game.
1-I always get hurt in these company sports days. I can remember my very first sports PT day, I got whiplash from an E6 with the nickname of “Freight Train” when he tried to tackle me in an Ultimate Frisbee game. There is no tackling in Ultimate Frisbee, it’s just my luck.
2-I am not athletic. When I was deployed to Iraq, we had a sand volleyball court. The only time I was ever invited to play was when the Company needed a good laugh. This was confirmed by my Platoon Sergeant at the time.
3-I have an extremely long fuse, but when that fuse runs out, people end up with black eyes and missing teeth. When I played basketball at the Prep School, I was always put in for the last two minutes of the game and always managed to foul out.
I felt it was for the good of all that I remained as far away from the ball as possible. As it turns out, I have a large red bump on my shin from when the ball came near me and I kicked shins with an LT, fully supporting my number 1 reason for not wanting to be involved in a sports PT session.
When we returned from PT my other roommate started talking about how she was going to save the walkers from freezing for the next PT session. Mission accomplished! Although, I think she is under the impression I am a walker…hmmm. I will maintain updates on her bedtime as this will truly predict mission success.
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