On Monday we finished up our time on the range. We had all qualified on the state course, but we had to qualify on the Cobb County course as well. As with everything else so far, the Cobb County course was much more difficult than the state course. We had to shoot while moving, transition from a baton to the firearm and shoot, and shoot with our left hand only. I ended up scoring a 95.6%. We also practiced with our secondary firearm on Monday as well. We carry a secondary either hidden under the shirt or on the ankle.

Tuesday was taken up in the classroom talking about mental illness: the different kinds of illnesses we’ll come across both in children and adults, how to talk to someone who is mentally ill, and what to do with them if they are a problem. The lieutenant that taught the class was very amusing and made the class go by quickly; which was a bad thing. With nothing left to do for the day we hit the physical training (PT) room. Having not done any PT in two weeks, we knew they were going to make up for lost time. I was doing great until we did the alligator crawl. The gator crawl is like a pushup and a lunge at the same time; we do this back and forth across the room. By the end of the third time across the room people are screaming because of the pain. During my senior year in high school I tore the quadriceps muscle in my left leg. It hasn’t given me any problems until the gator crawl on this day. I quietly ignored the pain as long as I could, but it didn’t take long before I couldn’t ignore it anymore. I ended up taking a lot of medicine, icing, and wrapping my leg for the rest of the week.

Wednesday was all about the ASP Baton. We spent a couple of minutes in the classroom going over target and non-target areas of the body to strike, the different kind of strikes, and other things we’ll need to know for the test. The rest of the day was spent practicing the different strikes. By midday, everyone was complaining about their shoulders and arms hurting. Since I had so much medicine in me for my leg, I was oblivious to the pain that would come in my shoulder and arm.

Thursday and Friday were spent learning verbal judo. As one instructor told us early on, “Verbal judo is telling someone to go to hell, and having them look forward to the trip.” Verbal judo is all about communicating correctly. We talked about the eight step process of making a traffic stop, and the five step process of getting compliance by simply talking. Though dry at times, the two day course was very important and helpful. We did PT again on Thursday, but it wasn’t as bad as Tuesday’s. We leave at 3:00 on Fridays since we come in an hour early on Mondays, so there was no PT to suffer through on Friday.

Yesterday, Michelle and I went to the Silver Comet Trail for some recreational bicycling. The trail is part of the Rails to Trails project, which converts old railroad tracks into biking/running/walking paths. The Silver Comet Trail, named for the train that used the track most often, is a 60 mile trail that goes from Cobb County to the Georgia-Alabama line. We did a 10 mile round trip, having lunch halfway in Powder Springs.