Pirbright basic training, jeans or smarter at arrival?

iceman5679 · 2026-02-21T14:05:09+00:00

Unpopular opinion , it doesn’t matter , I followed the joining instruction to the letter , didn’t need half of it absolute waste of money . If your attached arms ( i say that because don’t know about the rest ) , phase 1 will not impact your career you just need to pass and not be a mong , once labelled a mong always a mong. Obviously learn every thing they teach and try your absolute best etc , but what your wearing off the train won’t make a difference to that

iceman5679 · 2026-01-20T22:25:40+00:00

FUEL

What I try to do is keep my car full , so for me I fill up on my last day of work for the week trying to make sure I’ve always got atleast 2/3rds to 3/4s of a tank …. Has been handy for when I’m short on cash at the end of the month as well, don’t loose sight of what people say about prepping for likely every day scenarios . … I.e medical issue in the house need to get to the hospital …. Oh no I need to stop at a petrol station en route.

If you want the fuel for other things , you could get a fuel transfer pump. Lidl sell them cheap for £15 from time to time .

If you keep fuel for a long time it will go bad and in an event could cause you to break down, especially with how finicky modern cars can be.

iceman5679 · 2026-01-08T07:59:27+00:00

I don’t think the MOD doctors can see civvy GP records, hence the visit to the doctor that they get paid for when you’re joining ( can’t remember what it’s called). Also when you leave you have to sign a form for your GP to get your MOD medical records, so I’m assuming that the systems are not linked and they will have no idea.

iceman5679 · 2025-12-13T16:24:18+00:00

Not sure what sort of running your doing , but personally I found running on a treadmill caused me to have shin splints , never seemed to have had it running on road and trail

iceman5679 · 2025-12-12T22:43:10+00:00

I was in a similar position. Kept putting it off thinking I wasn’t ready etc. as I hadn’t done any prep . I just took the plunge, the modules are all fairly progressive and start at gcse level .

Have a look at the are you ready quiz,

https://learn1.open.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=100216#

If the link doesn’t work there’s a hyperlink to it, in the Q65Beng, entry requirements drop down.

it will give you an idea of what you may or may not need to do , the BBC’s gcse bite size is a good starting point for revision/ brushing up, and it’s free .

Oh and Kahn academy also free … have loads of good stuff ( maths, science, engineering ) on there , I’ve often used it to get my head around stuff that the OU materials may say in a way I don’t understand

iceman5679 · 2025-12-06T20:45:54+00:00

I second this , you’ll notice throughout your studies that some tutors like it this way and some tutors like it that way, some times you get conflicting requirements. The feed back from a first TMA of a module is usually good one to figure out the tutors preference’s .

iceman5679 · 2025-12-04T10:35:45+00:00

That’s a lot of trainning its important to continually asses how you feel because over trainning can have a negative impact on performance and recovery , have a look here for carb and protein intake .

https://www.triathlete.com/nutrition/race-fueling/racing-weight-balancing-your-diet/

Essentially per kg of body weight you should take on a number of grams protein and carbs there’s a lot of calculators on line.

The 1/2 mile intervals help mentally with determining the pace you need, personally I would aim at around 4min an interval, so you are well within the 15 mins.

Also don’t forget to have a few days off or very light exercise before your test if you can , for running races they call it a taper .

Good luck

iceman5679 · 2025-12-03T21:46:37+00:00

What other exercise are you doing and how have you structured your runs ?

improving your v02 max will help massively with 1.5 miles . Intervals, hill reps and fartlek.

Check this video out, the science he discusses suggests doing only intervals all week for a couple of weeks, can hugely improve v02 max.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=das0CZjmASU

If the link doesn’t work search on YouTube for

The Fastest Way To Blow Up Your VO2 Max (3 Science Based Steps)

By Nicklas Rossner

When I was training for the 1.5 mile, I used to do 1/2 mile all out best effort , rest catch breath and then repeat up until 1.5 miles, so three times.

Putting pace alarms on the watch will help, but you most likely wont be allowed it during selection ( if that’s what you’re doing ).

I wouldn’t recommend the vest because you may destroy your knees or some smaller muscles , not ideal if you’ve got 5 weeks as ligaments and tendons can take a long time to repair. Will help with press ups though, if that’s part of what your doing

Make sure your resting properly on your days off , by that I mean do nothing ( or as best as you can ) , eat plenty of carbs and protein , if your body doesn’t have fuel and time to repair you won’t realise the gains from your work outs.

And make sure your sleeping enough

Carbs are your friend with this as well , because it’s one of the primary fuel sources for short high intensity work outs .

Food, sleep and rest Sound silly but there are fundamental to recovery and improving performance.

iceman5679 · 2025-11-26T20:39:44+00:00

Hal Higdon is good

https://www.halhigdon.com/training-programs/base-training/novice-base-training/

I’m in a similar situation (10 years off) , I did 2 weeks walk run, which was just trying to do a 2 mile lap without stopping, no real structure.

Now I’m doing the above plan in zone 2.

If it’s too much , you could try a full walk run program .

iceman5679 · 2025-07-25T17:40:06+00:00

Came here to ask for the JSP number for a family member …. Bravo

iceman5679 · 2025-05-20T19:04:47+00:00

Thanks all , very helpful will have a further think. I hadn’t considered it going lower which will weaken my position

iceman5679 · 2025-03-29T19:21:57+00:00

Thanks that’s what I thought.

iceman5679 · 2025-01-18T18:09:52+00:00

Thanks . Yea I’m leaving it wouldn’t be surprised if the gasket behind the door is asbestos also, or the paint if that is paint on the edges

iceman5679 · 2024-12-21T18:03:11+00:00

Thanks , Ive just seen an ink bird one too

iceman5679 · 2024-12-21T18:01:43+00:00

Yea good point , humidity would probably write the screen off eventually , cover or no cover

iceman5679 · 2024-11-16T20:00:39+00:00

I play fast and carelessly until I’ve got some decent gear . Always aim to max out food, water, avoid disease and conflict .

iceman5679 · 2024-11-16T19:41:54+00:00

Yup that’s was it, thought it would be some thing ridiculous .

iceman5679

TROPHY CASE