<p>Haha..I got that same postcard too. It was quite ironic as I had just replied with my acceptance.</p>
<p>You are now a offical candidate</p>
<p>oh boy!</p>
<p>Ok, I really feel like a loser askin this, and I'm sure you guys talked all about it before I knew you existed here, but what the heck is the bubble wrap thing?? I was thinking it had SOMETHING to do with not getting injured before BCT... But really I have no idea.</p>
<p>A hearty congratulations to you West!</p>
<p>Yes, eeee. It refers to the fact that if you have ANY kind of injury, you might not be able to start BCT and might have to wait a year, get back into the DODMERB loop, etc., etc. Better to bubble wrap yourself and not risk any injury!</p>
<p>Unfortunately, the concept is so unrealistic for many, since participating in a varsity sport is common for many, with the senior year typically being the height of the high school career, and some even participating at the state and national level.</p>
<p>I agree with that. Son would never think of sitting out rugby season just to "play it safe". He's hoping to make the USA U19 rugby team going to South Africa in April.</p>
<p>Yeah, the concept of bubblewrap is really contrary to all we know. I mean, the whole reason that we got into AFA is because we are active to a sick extent. Its just wierd to think about avoiding situations where injury could be involved....</p>
<p>Well i think bubble wrap is just refering to not getting hurt before Iday. Its not saying lock your self in the basement so not to get hurt, but put a shield up and do what ever you do.</p>
<p>Either way...dont do ANYTHING that would prevent you from getting inprocessed (be it injuring yourself, doing anything legally bad or creating "Dependants"...)</p>
<p>Absolutely -- i don't want anyone to think I agree with the bubblewrapping thing -- I was just defining it for eeeeee!! ;)</p>
<p>thanks. i appreciate it.</p>
<p>congrats West another north easter makes the cut!</p>
<p>Definetly doing a mini bubble wrap here. I'm a track (distance) runner but have a bad tendancy to injury myself someway or another when I'm in heavy training. Add that to having two of the top runners in the state running the 2 mile over me, and having a brand new coach who has decided he's going to re-work how I do my workouts....and I have no desire to run track this year.</p>
<p>Hey, I'm a Distance runner as well. As funny as it may seem, in my experiance, getting injured as a runner happens much more often than it does in other sports. Anyways, last year, my section(area of the state, we have 11 sections) was rediculously good, we had people going to nationals in almost every single event. Luckily my school had some amazing talent, and because miraculously there no injuries we were able to go to nationals for 4x800 (even though we were all really fast, because we came from such a talented area, we didn't have a chance at beating some other guys from our section in individual races). We came in 6th, but another team from our section, about 15 minutes away from us, came in 2nd. Also, another team from NY, Syosset, came in 1st, So basically 1/2 of the All-Americans in the 4x800 were from NY, and 1/3 were from the same area, a town away from each other. Anyways, falconhopeful, sorry if I got on a bit of a tangent there, but what I was trying to say there was that it does kinda suck to be under pressure to race against top-level guys, and also be under pressure to not get injured at the same time.</p>
<p>I agree with the runners and injury thing.</p>
<p>My problem is I can never tell/admit to myself when I need to stop. I can't tell if it's just a little soreness or something more serious, then I tend to run through the more serious stuff...and screw myself up.</p>
<p>I know exactly what you mean. I used to get pains all the time, but I'd think, ahh it's nothing, plus iIhave this huge race coming up, so it's not possible that I can get injured. Luckily I did, but a lot of people don't get so lucky.</p>
<p>I'm not a "runner" but I do run. And its really snowy here, and I keep like almost twisting my ankles and its really acaring me. One bad sprain and I could be in trouble. But I can't not run, you know? Its a paradox.</p>
<p>Just thought I'd share...</p>
<p>I get funny injuries in TKD. Bloody nose, broken toes, jammed fingers, strained joints, all the goodies. I am terrible at long distance running, working on it now, but I'm a sprinter, and built as a sprinter. I get side and shoulder cramps half the time I distance run and my joints feel funny for a day. I feel like I must be high (wouldn't know) cause of so many endorphins, weeeee.</p>
<p>Just thought I'd share too.</p>
<p>eee...We have a lot of snow here too. I rarely will winter run because it's just too hard to naturally run. I'm lucky enough to have a rec center here with an indoor tack (although 14 laps per mile drives one insane). If you do winter run, look for an unused trail that only has a little snow on it (although that's probably preety hard to find). We have a massive bike trail system in the woods here, and the snow is cleared off every now and then in the winter. No-one sets foot on it in the winter, so I can run on there assured that there isn't much ice and get a bit of traction from the layer of snow. That's about the best you can get in winter sadly.</p>
<p>I have a trails all near my house, but people use it all the time, so it gets pretty dang icy (hence my black eye). However, I usually run on these trails unless its just too icy because running on the roads tends to give me a bit of joint pain if I do it too much.</p>