16 and Ready to serve!

[killermike47]

Hey community of leatherneck!
My name is Mike, and I plan on joining the Marine Corps the moment I turn 18. Poolee training starts next May for me... My reason for wanting to join goes way back to when I was 10 years old and I visited Parris Island for the first time to see the 4th of July fireworks show. I saw many Marines that day and what they stood for, I loved how they carried themselves in pride, honor, courage, and commitment. I knew that was what I wanted to stand for and that I wanted to overcome challenges these Marines had gone through myself every single day. I love a challenge. I've told my parents this and I will share this with you all, I'm not choosing a branch just to choose a branch based on the job or bad ass rating it may have. I'm choosing a branch because I want to be a Marine. Now enough with the sappy stuff, I plan on training very early on (and have already started) and sticking to my plans of what I want to do. A lot of you may be asking yourselves what MOS I want, that would be Recon! I know what your thinking, another wannabe wants to be recon. I chose recon for a few reasons, one of which being that I want to help fellow Marines in the best possible way, by gathering the best info I can for other Marines and making sure they get home safe. I also enjoy many adrenaline pumping sports, for instance I rock climb and I feel this part of the corps can supply me with that feeling of adrenaline. If I'm going in, I don't want to settle for second best.

Now that my intro is done, I have some questions to ask and in some need of advice. Currently I weigh 120 lbs and am 5' 7", small guy with big dreams I know, but I WILL make it no matter what it takes. My first question is how hard will hikes be for my size, considering the weight of rucks can get up to 110 lbs? My next question is how can I effectively train in the pool, every time I swim I feel I make no progress in terms of stamina, I also have trouble treading water for long periods of time?

More on the medical side of things, ever since I've started running long distances almost everyday( on concrete or pavement), I have found that my right knee gets swollen after runs and begins to hurt when I continue on. This popped up after two weeks worth of running. Could this prove to cause issues later on for me? Could it have been my shoes or maybe running on concrete on hills? This worries me... I'm scared this may ruin my chances of joining recon! Any advice would be great!

My current PFT is as follows:
Pull-ups: 22
Sit-ups: 68 (Due to my lower back being weak, I have no idea how to workout my lower back as I am a rock climber, advice is needed)
3-mile time: 21:24

As far as pull-ups, sit ups, running, and swimming is there anything else I should be doing to get ready?

Thank you all for taking the time to read this and answer my questions, Semper Fidelis
-Mike

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[hardisk]

I know nothing of recon and will not even begin to attempt to discuss any of those aspects, however. I was small kid when I enlisted (weighed 114lbs) and I survived. Did it suck, yes, but just because you are not a jacked up beast doesn't mean you cant do it, and to add to that you still have 2 years until you will be in boot camp and you probably have a lot of growing left to do.

if you want to get better at swimming in the pool, first work on getting proper swimming technique down(don't just splash around like an idiot) you should be swimming upward of nearly 3000-5000 meters(that's what we did while on the swim team) a night. now you have time so I would cut it in half until you get used to it.

your pull ups should be fine considering the amount you already do(IF you are doing them correctly).

if you want to work your lower back, recommend hitting the gym and work on deadlifts and other back exercise but that wont do anything for your crunches if you want to work on that( which you need to) you should be doing ab exercise.

I do not know what kind of distance running you are doing, but if you truly want to improve your run time join cross country and then join the track team. you are lucky to still be in school and they can teach you proper form and help you run faster. the same goes for swimming.

I am no doctor, but if your knee is swelling recommend giving it a break and icing it for a bit.

[joseywales]

sorry nothing personal, the user name comes across wrong, the focus on me me me,the recon thing, I'll pass on this one. Good luck.

[Marine1011]

Quite a few profiles, spread out over months, have particular similarities usually not found in the average profile, which causes me to wonder.

[Baker1971]

Killer Mike ??? hahahahaha. Go stand in the corner son.

[Tennessee Top]

Slow down. Enjoy being a teenager. You'll be an adult soon enough. Get a girlfriend - she'll take your mind off this RECON stuff. Come back when you're a highschool sophomore.

[killermike47]

Slow down. Enjoy being a teenager. You'll be an adult soon enough. Get a girlfriend - she'll take your mind off this RECON stuff. Come back when you're a highschool sophomore.

I'm actually going into my junior year

[killermike47]

sorry nothing personal, the user name comes across wrong, the focus on me me me,the recon thing, I'll pass on this one. Good luck.

my user name reflects my nickname on my rock climbing team! They gave me it because rock climbing came naturally to me and I would "kill routes easily, or do them and make it look easy. Just a little insight on that, I don't want to come off as something else if that's what you got from.

[killermike47]

Killer Mike ??? hahahahaha. Go stand in the corner son.

also my user name reflects my nickname on my rock climbing team! They gave me it because rock climbing came naturally to me and I would "kill routes easily, or do them and make it look easy. Just a little insight on that, I don't want to come off as something else if that's what you got from.

[killermike47]

Quite a few profiles, spread out over months, have particular similarities usually not found in the average profile, which causes me to wonder.

I'm not to sure what you mean by this, sir? I can assure you though I am 100% dedicated to be of use in the Marines and not just another person filling up their quota... I want to help fellow Marines as much as I can!

[killermike47]

I know nothing of recon and will not even begin to attempt to discuss any of those aspects, however. I was small kid when I enlisted (weighed 114lbs) and I survived. Did it suck, yes, but just because you are not a jacked up beast doesn't mean you cant do it, and to add to that you still have 2 years until you will be in boot camp and you probably have a lot of growing left to do.

if you want to get better at swimming in the pool, first work on getting proper swimming technique down(don't just splash around like an idiot) you should be swimming upward of nearly 3000-5000 meters(that's what we did while on the swim team) a night. now you have time so I would cut it in half until you get used to it.

your pull ups should be fine considering the amount you already do(IF you are doing them correctly).

if you want to work your lower back, recommend hitting the gym and work on deadlifts and other back exercise but that wont do anything for your crunches if you want to work on that( which you need to) you should be doing ab exercise.

I do not know what kind of distance running you are doing, but if you truly want to improve your run time join cross country and then join the track team. you are lucky to still be in school and they can teach you proper form and help you run faster. the same goes for swimming.

I am no doctor, but if your knee is swelling recommend giving it a break and icing it for a bit.

Thank you for this advice! I'll be sure to start working on my crunches more and getting my swim technique down. Also, thank you for the encouraging words, most of my family and friends laugh when I tell them I want to be recon because they don't think I have what it takes due to my size......

[USMC 2571]

I too was just about to ask about Killer Mike as a name, until I saw it had to do with rock climbing, thank goodness. Welcome to the site.

[killermike47]

I too was just about to ask about Killer Mike as a name, until I saw it had to do with rock climbing, thank goodness. Welcome to the site.

Thank you! I could see where the confusion would come from....... Sorry about that didn't really think anything of it!

[USMC 2571]

Hey, no problem. You kept us awake and on our toes, like we used to be way back when.

[joseywales]

Welcome to leatherneck.com. When you get ready and able to join up, go for it! Good luck to you.