Originally, I was signed up for Deception weekend firearms classes, but GORUCK updated their calendar and turned this into a shooting competition weekend, instead. I may not have thought I was good enough to sign up for it on its own, but since I was grandfathered into it, and since it was an event that one could fully participate in as long as there was no voluntary withdrawal or medical issue or anything like along the way, I kept my registration and decided to go for it. It would've been sad if I got cut for underperforming from a shooting perspective along the way, but since that was not how the event was going to be run, I could at the very least get through the whole event and gain shooting experience from it.
TRAINING LEAD-UP
Monday, May 17:
"Home - Day 1 - Recognize | 30 days of Yoga" with Adriene on Youtube
Tuesday, May 18:
This was my first time trying the GORUCK weight vest with 2x20# plates. I used it on the SRT "99 Problems" workout, which consists of 9x(11 ruck burpees, 11 flutter kicks), in 19:45, followed by SRT "Macho Man" (5x 4 min of 20 ruck lunges then an AMRAP of 3 each of power cleans, front squats, and push jerks with a 40# SB). Flutter Kicks with a weight vest became a getup at the end. The weight in the front made it harder to breathe when lying down. The lack of a hip belt also made the weight more noticeable after a while. I was panting, for sure.
Thursday, May 20:
"Yoga for PTSD" with Adriene on Youtube. This was more about breathing and less about flexibility, which makes sense, given the theme of the practice.
I was super sore in the glutes and hamstrings yesterday and today.
Friday, May 21:
I did a 2 mile in 36:38 40# Weight Vest warmup to start. It was harder to breathe, with more pressure on the shoulders without the benefit of the hip belt. From there, I rolled into the "Devils 15" PATHFINDER Horizon Core WOD with 4 sets finished in 48 minutes. This used to make me sore. This time, my legs ended up being sore from the lunges, but my core wasn't sore.
(just like Ari used to make me)
I chose a body weight workout since the WV+SB work from Tuesday had made me so sore. I didn't want to overdo anything before Bragg Alpha Shooter, anyways.
In the evening, I participated in virtual Friday Night Fellowship for Princeton Reunions.
Saturday, May 22:
"Total Body Yoga Deep Stretch" with Adriene on Youtube. I did a 10 mile trail run in the afternoon for some heat acclimatization in Salomon Speedcross's. I ran Parkway-Smokey-Bandit-Rail in 1:53:27. It was like sensory overload, seeing so many humans in one spot, in the middle of pandemic times. We were all outside, so it was ok, but it's just so different from what I've become used to.
Sunday, May 23:
Range Day at Pete's. Pete has done more firearms classes than SB and I, and has also done the daytime shooter 5K + 10K competition, so he kindly helped us get ready with tips, drills, and time on the range.
SB also got to test out her brand new BCM upper, using Pete's DD lower. It was an exciting day!
Wednesday, May 26:
More range time (this time, with the full BCM build!).
I also went to Marshall's again for the first time since the Pandemic started. It was a big moment for me, since shopping at TJX/Marshalls used to be kind of a passtime for our family growing up.
Thursday, May 27:
More practice.
BRAGG ALPHA SHOOTER
The Night Before
SB came to support, which was really nice of her. We stayed at a hotel the night before, so that I could go into the event well-rested, instead of trying to travel down the day of like I would if it was a shorter or lower stakes event. As a physically demanding 36 hour event, where safety is also important, rest was important.
The dolly provided flashbacks of "apparatus" evolutions at team-building events and gave some good laughs.
The Warmup Drills
There were 12 participants. They started with the usual questioning of whether we were in a mental and physical state to take on the event. We were each assigned random roster numbers, which we applied to ourselves on our leg, shirt, and ruck, for easier identification during scoring. I got number 4, which I was happy about, since that was my lucky sports number growing up, or maybe my lucky bathroom stall number.... one of the two, haha.
The morning was actually spent on drills, which was nice. It was a good way to make sure that everyone who showed up had a good baseline of safety and skill, before proceeding with the rest of the event. That was important to establish. GORUCK had wanted this event to attract a broader competitive shooting pool of rosters, although with limited marketing, it ended up being the hardcore Shooter GRTs who came. That meant we were familiar with the desired clearing and loading procedures and drills and safety protocols. The drills were also good for the participants, though, since it gave us a chance to warm up and reinforce some skills that we'd need for success in the event. It helped to even the playing field a bit.
We did turning and shooting on pistol, and some VTAC board work.
I got my first taste of hot brass during the drills. Someone's rifle round went in my back. I also put my hand down on some hot brass. I kept my cool, though, like we're supposed to, and just let my body cool it off without doing anything dumb with the weapons.
There were many cadres who came to facilitate the event. With that many eyes and hands available, they could help to ensure a very safe event. There was also a group of volunteers who stepped up to help facilitate the event. A number of them were family members of participants. They helped to record scores, man different checkpoints on the rucking route, help with range setup, and monitor obstacles.
The Evolutions
The event was designed to test physical abilities, shooting abilities, and cognitive abilities. All three are required for success if you're in a situation where firearms are involved. You have to be able to get to and stay in the fight, shoot quickly and accurately, and make good decisions and stay situationally aware the whole time, even when you're under stress and fatigue.
We'd do timed movements, followed by shooting (while our HRs were still up). Cognitive tests were mixed in throughout the event, sometimes obviously, and other times not known up-front.
- Slick (with weapons) 2-loop x ~0.5 mile obstacle course with tall rope, balance beam, short rope, cargo net, lake loop, ladder wall, taller wall, shorter wall. We'd come back and shoot a fairly standard course of fire, at 15/10/5 for pistol.
- 20# WV 2-loop x 0.5 mile obstacle course (which made the rope climb harder, for sure). We'd come back and shoot a fairly standard course of fire, at 25/15/10.
At first, we were supposed to stage our stuff in a shoot house, but with the weather forecast, they decided to let us stay in a covered hangar, so we moved our stuff over.
Pete was really nice and looked out for everyone, even though we were all competition. When the screws of my rifle WML fell out and my light was loose, he helped me locate duct tape on the range so that I could tape that thing back on. He used his car to help people transport their gear to their hangar. He offered everyone gatorade. He'd stay with whoever might've been last getting ready and would help them get their stuff together.
- Timed 12 miler, which was a first loop of 6 miles with just weapons, then the remaining 6 miles with the 20# WV, with the last 4 miles having a 60# SB as well. During the first 6 miles, it was easy enough running to be able to focus on the numbers with different colors and rightside-up / upside-down orientations and memorize them. I kept track of the sequence as well as the color and orientation, along with the total sum. I wasn't sure what we were supposed to do with it all, so I tracked it all in my head and rehearsed it along the way. I didn't rehearse it so much that my mind hurt from thinking. Just often enough to keep it fresh.
(Faking a smile... my strategy was to avoid putting the SB down at all costs, since it took a lot of energy to get it back up, and breaks suck up time. Thanks to the soul-crushing sandbags at the
St. Patty's events a few months prior, I knew that I was capable of handling the sandbag for long periods of time. I only ended up putting it down at the halfway point while refilling water.)
(how it really felt)
(you want to push hard at the finish, but you also don't want to jack up your HR and fatigue all of your muscles right before you shoot)
- Pistol and rifle disassembly and reassembly under time, obstacle course, come back for a VTAC night shoot on steel. My eyes had a hard time seeing well in the smallest prone slots. I don't know if it was the angle and my body and neck being skewed, or if it was the night and the lights. It was chilly by now, too. It had been hot during the day, particularly during the Timed 12.
- 10K ruck as it got dark. I finished just as it started pouring down rain. We ended up losing a few participants during this evolution, since it gets mentally and physically challenging to go back out for some unknown distance when you've already covered some tough miles and had a long day, and it's late at night and you don't know how much you still have to do before you'll get any rest. The unknowns are tough, but I suppose in battle, you don't know how long you're going to end up having to be out there. You have to figure out how to pace yourself, stay in the fight mentally, and keep pushing forward even when you don't know what you're in for.
I changed into dry clothes afterwards (fortunately, it was dark in the hangar, so the fact that there were guys in there wasn't a big deal), since we got to go on a rest plan after that. We never ended up settling on a plan, and winging it doesn't really work since people came back from the ruck at different times. It was chilly, and the garage door on the hangar was open the whole time, but it was warm under the sleeping bag. I'm used to sleeping under covers during the winter.
I happened to wake up in the middle of the night and decided to keep watch since nobody else seemed to be up, and I wasn't super sleepy, so I stayed awake even under my sleeping bag and heard when the cadre came in to write the instructions on the board. Pete might've had the same idea, because he was also awake when Dan came by.
- 5K ruck gave me a chance to look for a pen light that I had lost somewhere the previous day. I didn't end up finding it, but it gave me something to do as I travelled along the dirt road.
- Heard a talk from a hero. Ended up being quizzed on content from the talk.
- There was a 4 mile ruck evolution.
- Sandbag PT followed by shooting.
Outcome
During the whole event, I was worried about whether I'd even patch, in case this was one of the events where you had to meet some minimum standard to get an event patch, as opposed to a participation patch.
To my complete surprise, I ended up getting second! I couldn't believe it. I did stay near the front for the movements. My shooting was probably in the lower third. I was the only one who got the 12 miler cognitive test question right, though. It's good to understand where strengths and weaknesses are. If I can improve my shooting, I'd love to be even more competitive.
I'm glad that Pete won. He was far ahead of anyone else during the movements. He probably shot well. More than that, though, I was impressed by how he looked out for everyone else in the group. He's a stand-up guy.
Afterwards, GORUCK brought in hamburgers and fries for everyone to enjoy (family, friends, volunteers, cadres, competitors).
Damage Assessment
Apart from the hot brass, I got some chafing from the battle belt. Nothing that really bugged me during the event, though, fortunately. During the event, you're so focused on just surviving, and there are a bunch of body parts that are under stress, so some things, you don't even realize are there until afterwards.
Marketing
GORUCK had some professional photographers and videographers there. They put together some Instagram videos with interviews and event footage. It was pretty slick.
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