Greenville GORUCK FAD Weekend - Feb 2022

TRAINING LEAD-UP

Monday, Feb 14:

I did a 10 min HDT/Ruck:Fest Feb Challenge AMRAP with a 20#R/40#SB with 160 reps.  I ended up not being eligible for the virtual challenge because I wasn't signed up for the in-person event, though.  I followed it up with 12 pullups (trying to best my previous PR of 13), and then the Feb 14th Ruck WOD 20 min AMRAP with a 30# Ruck.  After that, I did the HDT March Madness 2021 "Sweat" BW 15 min AMRAP with 5 rounds and 38 reps.

Tuesday, Feb 15:

I hosted a Winter Olympics Ruck on the rail trail for CLT ruck club, covering 5 miles in 1:39:32, with a break at the 3 mile mark for Sycamore Beer.  I carried a 20# plate in an RPC and wore a 10# AR pack on top of that.  

My MACV1s irritated my right pinky toe a bit from tightness.  The barrel aged brownie stout was 9.9abv and was apparently strong.  We had some new people join us, which was great fun.

Wednesday, Feb 16:

39 min bike ride, where I tested out riding single track with a map board for the first time.  I did it in the daylight, so that I wasn't mixing in too many new factors at once.  It was actually quite fine.  You can seen plenty beyond the board, and your vision of the track in front of you isn't really obstructed.  You're typically looking pretty far ahead anyways, but even the view near the front tire was ok.

Thursday, Feb 17:

International Yoga Day with Adriene.  I was super sleepy today, so I had a long nap.  I was definitely in rest and digest mode.

Friday, Feb 18:

L1: BASIC PISTOL

Basic pistol class with GORUCK.  It was the first year that this new intro-level class was being offered, since the active shooter intervention class can be a lot to take in, for a newbie.  

What's cool about the GORUCK classes is that no matter your level, you always learn something new, and find something to work on at these classes.

Fundamentals are always something that need to be perfected, since they are the foundation for everything else.  We learned the fundamentals; we did reloads.  We learned that whether you're 3yd away from the target or 10yd away, your attention to the fundamentals should be the same.  We worked on cadence with strings of shots.  We learned how to clear malfunctions.

For the culminating exercise, there was a "choose your own adventure" format, with different stations you could go between to try different drills that tested different skills (El Pres, Bill Drill, one-handed support and strong, chase the bullet).  We started in basic, intermediate, and advanced squads, but you could rotate around the stations from there.

We had 10 women at this class, which was pretty amazing.  It was a co-ed class!  

We created a video, to explain why we showed up.

There was an option to camp overnight.  SB and I chose to stay at a hotel, to leave more energy for the classes, but we did hang out for a while by the camp fire.

Saturday, Feb 19:

We got up early for a 20 minute AMRAP the next morning.  The sandbags were extra heavy from the dew that had become ice.  Those people who camped were brave!  It was nice to meet up for a workout before the class, because physical readiness is as important as having technical skills, when emergencies come up.

L2: COUNTER TERROR RIFLE

I've taken this class several times before, but refreshers on good technique are always helpful.  

We worked on shooting from different positions, turning and shooting, transitions, and multiple targets.

We shot at more realistic than usual looking targets.  It forces you to think about where high percentage effectiveness hits would need to go, taking into account clothing, moving limbs, etc.  It also adds slightly more realism, than to just have a blobby shape that you're looking at.  It would be a person, in a real situation.  

L6: NIGHT COUNTER AMBUSH RESPONSE

This was the first time I've taken Night CAR, which is a combination of daytime CAR and Night Fire with Rifle and Pistol.  We did a lot of the usual CAR drills, but with lights.  We did some daylight VTAC and positional shooting while waiting for the sun to set.  

Unfortunately, my ModLite wouldn't stay on consistently during recoil.  It's been so frustrating.  I go with the "buy once cry once" approach to avoid situations like this.  Here, though, it's been buy once, cry every time I try to shoot at night.  It's not like you have the opportunity to do night shooting often, either, so you don't have an easy way to test how your system works until it's go-time.

Sunday, Feb 20:

L4: TACTICAL DECISION MAKING

This is a really special class because you only use sim Glocks with sim rounds, and are put into various real-world scenarios throughout the day, to see how you respond.  The Cadres and role players will vary the scenario slightly from one class to another, and even from one participant to the next.  Once you're done with a scenario, you either join in the scenario if it benefits from more role players, or you might watch how subsequent people respond.  They typically have newbies to the class go first, so that they can see more examples of how others respond.

Scenarios:

- A drunk guy is the parking lot at your place of work and wants to show you something.

- A domestic altercation in front of your house.

- Friend asks you to come over because she's upset that she just found out about a cheating b/f.

- You enter your house only to find a strange guy sitting on your couch.

- A stick-up in a cafe.

These events are always quite humbling.  At my first one, I died in pretty much every scenario.  It made me really think about the implications and practical aspects of people carrying.  At the second one, I had learned from the first one, so I did better, although I knew more of what to expect.  This one also went better than the first one, although I still made mistakes that I could learn from!

Tuesday, Feb 22:

A little more quality time with my visiting sister...