I missed posting a week two update and am a little late on week three but I have good news! I got the letter today saying I made it past the interview stage for the game warden cadet position and am moving on to the physical fitness test. I'm delighted and terrified at the same time since I still can't do 13 real push-ups, but I found a strength program that I've been doing in addition to the 100 push-ups regimen. The cool thing is, it is very similar to what I was already doing, only it alternates working the primary muscles three days a week (shoulders, triceps, chest) with the opposing muscles on the between days (biceps and back). I'm already feeling stronger.
The other good thing is that I realized I was cheating myself of 10 seconds when timing my sprint. For some reason I had converted 109 seconds to 1 minute 39 seconds instead of 49 seconds and those extra 10 seconds help a lot. I've also started doing my sprinting along the same route that I'm doing my running just to save time. Last Saturday, I performed the entire fitness test (minus the handgun piece) in just under an hour. I have two more weeks to get fitter and stronger as I have to do the real test on the 22nd in Hamilton, Texas. I've also lost six pounds during these three weeks in part to increased activity but also because I have been watching my diet and avoiding cheese, caffeine, artificial sweeteners and just counting calories in general. It's not as hard as it seems and I find I don't have many cravings.
