LOCAL girl Nancy Porter spent several months in the newsroom at the Cornish Times last year as she waited to join the Navy. Follow her progress each week as she sends her latest bulletin. BREATHING has been an absolute luxury this week, as it has been the most physically challenging week so far. It was the Physical Training Instructor's last chance to 'give us a proper work-out', which they did in a spectacular manner! The week started with a 45 minute run around the camp, which was surprisingly quite enjoyable. The final circuit training session however was gruelling, and I was slightly concerned because some members of the group looked like they were about to explode! But the main theme of the week has been competitions. We have spent much of the time competing against the other class who are due to pass in with us. The obstacle course involved carrying a log over a variety of walls, water jumps and a suspension bridge. We had already practised several times, and our tactics proved to be very successful as we won the competition with a good time. We also won the assault course, but I found it much harder. It was more of an individual show of grit and determination and it saw me clambering over a rope, sprinting, jumping into a freezing stream and dragging myself through water tunnels and cages. Once I had caught my breath I was really pleased to have completed it, but it took ages to warm up afterwards! Everyone in my class passed the Naval General Training exam, which was a big relief as failure could result in having training extended and more confusingly, a change in drill positions! We have been working really hard to get our weapons drill and marching absolutely perfect for our passing in parade. Unfortunately we lost the Guard competition, which means that my division won't be the first class to march out on the big day next Friday. On Monday we face our biggest challenge yet. Nicknamed 'Manic Monday', it is the Final Military Exercise which consists of everything we have learnt so far. It will be shattering but once that's done, we have to learn about fire fighting and damage control. With just a few days left, I am getting very excited about finishing basic training. It's just the last push now, and I'm going to have to find every last bit of my energy to complete the week. I can't wait for a long weekend!