Pushing The Limits

I was chatting with an old army buddy last week and it was pretty crazy times that called on doing things you wouldn't normally do. The first 6 months of army training involves basic training and another word for getting you fit whilst starving you at the same time.

I have always been very sporty and in those days played multiple sports every week for various sporting clubs. When I arrived at the army base we had been advised by others not to mention you play sports otherwise the base will keep you on permanently. Being a training base that was not advisable as it is basically a hell hole with everyone watching your every move.

During the day which started at 4.30 am with inspections and pre breakfast running which was at 6am and the food was nothing to look forward to with blue eggs cooked the night before smothered in tinned fish with bread on the bottom soaking up the oil. It was disgusting and Mr Fussy here was losing too much weight too quickly.

The day time activities normally consisted of more running and drilling in formation followed by more running. By the time the evening came around you were physically drained and knackered leaving you no energy to want to do anything but sleep.

During the first month I had noticed a group of guys miss out on all the extra messing around at dinner time and they arrived later and ate different food. Much nicer food like steaks the normal food you would eat at home plus 5 liter boxes of fresh milk. it turned out the Commandant of the camp had a marathon team which if you joined got you special privilege's.

I am no runner as my body is just too big for that type of thing , but I joined them as I was starving. Every night we would meet at 6pm and whilst the rest of my platoon and company was running around trees and doing push ups before supper I was jogging doing an extra 10 or 15 km run just adding to the 20 or 30 km we had been doing during the day time. This was me doing crazy stuff to change my diet.

One thing I had overlooked was these guys actually did marathons and being part of the squad was expected to qualify and participate. A race is 42km with the first one around the corner I just had to bite the bullet and do it. I was fit enough but also smart enough not to go crazy as the worst scenario was being stuck in this base for the next two years.

The marathon was in Upington which is not exactly a pleasurable place at the best of times as it is just very dry and very hot. I completed the race and decided quite quickly I needed to get out of this somehow. The race itself was a blur as you just focus on the road ahead wishing it to end as soon as possible. The upcoming races were ultra marathons being the Two Oceans which was 56 km long and then the Comrades which is 90km and they (race buddies) were all talking about how much they were looking forward to it.

Luckily I transferred out at the very first opportunity volunteering to join the Special Forces as normal army rules didn't apply then and could continue playing whatever sport I wanted. Looking back and reminiscing it is quite funny as to what lengths and how far you will go to eat properly. This was not a pleasant experience and did me some good as it taught me loads about myself and how far I can push my body.