5 August 2008 1100hrs
Time now to do the Physical Appraisal Test. I had attended a rehearsal for this a few months prior and was not able to complete the run within the required time frame but was ok with the other components.
The picture illustrates the course, at the lake end of Rotorua Town Centre, around the gardens of the Polynesian Pools. Two and a bit laps.
The test consists of four components:
- Grip Test. Squeeze a machine that calculates how strong your grip is in each hand. The pass is 96kgs for both hands
- 2.4km run. The regulation pass for my age (35 - 39) is 11:30. The pass time for ages 20 - 29 is 10:15. The BOP region pass time for ALL ages is 10:15
- Standing Vertical Jump. You reach up as high as you can then stand side on to a scale and with feet together jump up and touch the wall as high as you can. The pass is 48cm.
- Press Ups. These are carried out with your arms wider than you would normally do pres ups and you have to bend you arms to 90 degress, which is basically touching your nose to the ground. Men must do at least 34.
I did the run in 10:37. That is 22 seconds over the BOP time but considered a pass for my age, on the proviso that I do it within 10:15 during the final PAT (all recruits repeat the PAT just before they head to College). I can do that.
I jumped slightly higher than the requirement. Two out my three jumps would have been higher if I didn't overbalance ... it's hard not to jump too hard and fall backwards.
I just scraped by with the press ups. I had been concentrating so much on my running and didn't put in enough press up training, the best training is actually doing press ups, not weights in the gym. I need to put in more work on these after training runs to mimic the actual test.
I was stoked at gaining an OK to proceed based on my performance at the PAT and feel confident in being able to improve my run and press up work.
Now to wait a week to hear the results of the academic tests.
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