NJ/NY
I was traveling for the work from Monday through Thursday, so this was the first time I was able to get to the gym this week. On the plus side, I was able to see a little bit while I was there.
Wednesday, September 14:
5 mile run in Ballistic Trainers on the treadmill at a 2 degree incline. I nose breathed the whole time. I had wanted to do some strength work, but the Fairfield Inn didn't offer very many options.
Flew back the next day...
ANDY 2
Friday, September 16:
And on to Virginia for a second session with Andy
We covered gear and stage strategy during the morning classroom time.
In the afternoon, we ran through some mock stages, which we'd do once to get it wrong, get critiqued, and do again better. It was very effective. We also did some more positional work.
The views at ranges never disappoint.
And I got to see my favorite dog!
That night, I created a workout that I felt exercised a lot of muscle groups that I'd use during Mammoth.
That took 22.5 minutes, so I added the 6/16/2022 RuckWOD.com 18 min AMRAP with a 30#R afterwards. That was also a good one for PR strength.
Saturday, September 17:
SB became a member of a local FOP, which has a range that goes just beyond 100yd. We zeroed SB's scope on her new PR, zeroed some hunting rifles for her family, I zeroed my AR at 36 for an upcoming GunRun, we ran through the Kraft drill, and we did a little pistol practice at 12 yards on steel, drawing from holster, since we can't do that at Blackstone anymore.
I might've let SB stand out there a little longer than she really needed to, so that I could snap this picture, haha.
Sunday, September 18:
I'm going to start trying to be more diligent about dry firing. I don't want to build training scars by not following the to-be process closely and get into the habit of not doing certain steps, so I tried to put on realistic kit, and move with all my gear the way I would need to, coming up to a stage.
I did intervals with a 50# ruck in the Rucker 20Lv3 wearing MACV1s. I did a mile slow at 21:24 including lace tying, a mile fast in 13:16, a mile slow in 20:17, a mile fast in 13:16, and half a mile in 10:21 slow to finish. The weight felt easier than it has ever felt before.
Monday, September 19:
Slow Flow Yoga at the USNWC. It felt great, but I need to bring bug spray next time, in case I have to be on my not-preferred side of the pavilion area. It sure is pretty here! We did 2 miles around the parade loop afterwards. I wore the Salomon Speedcross because of trails, and carried 30# plus a yoga mat.
Afterwards, Brandon managed to find something space-themed for us to look for up in the sky again.
Last time, it was the ISS. This time, it was the Star Link satellite release.
For dry fire, I focused on fewer positions this time.
Tuesday, September 20:
I created a workout in honor of my favorite dog, and did 10 dry fire pistol shots after each of the 4 rounds. Heartrate wasn't really a factor for me, and my scores were at about 92 on average. Afterwards, I did 3 rounds of 13#SKB arm strengtheners.
Wednesday, September 21:
At Blackstone, we tried to play some games that would induce mental stress. We might've been a little ambitious about the size of the targets, though.
Thursday, September 22:
Cleaned my rifle for the first time, after about 600 rounds. It's an involved process, and still doesn't look clean. I spent 1.5 hours on carbon, alone.
Friday, September 23:
While my annual car inspection was being done, I explored Belmont. It was fun, but there was too much car exhaust for my liking, and no sidewalk for one portion where I ran on a busy road.
GUN RUN INDIVIDUAL @ DEWITT'S
Stage 1: 19/100 passed. I failed
We got into a giant truck, shot 3x each at 2 really close cardboard targets just below the truck (I remembered sight over bore).
Next, we had to shoot 3 each at 2 silhouettes at a distance. Initially, I used the middle of the wall of the truck bed as a barricade, but after missing, I switched to the corner, which gave me much more stability. I timed out before finishing the second target. This is a stage that I would've loved to be able to redo, since the wall issue ate up so much time.
Stage 2: 26/100 passed. I failed.
This was another challenging rifle stage, not long after the first one.
We started in the driver's seat of the car, and then exited and engaged a close cardboard target 5x with pistol.
Next, we had to hit rifle targets, near to far, with
- 5x @ 50yd
- 4x @ 100yd
- 3x @ 200yd
- 2x @ 330yd
- 2x @ 330yd
I timed out with 2 hits left. There's not a ton that I would've changed. I just can't afford as many misses, maybe, and need to be a little faster.
Stage 3: 6/100 passed. I failed - again!
Shoot pistol from behind a VTAC, using it as cover, hitting 3 targets about 10 yards away, 3x each. I used the square port
Next, we had to retrieve a sled with 2x5 gallon water cans, for 25 yards. This ate up a lot of time for me. I timed out while doing that!
If I had gotten further, I would've had to shoot at 3 rifle targets at 120yd, 3x each, switching ports after every shot.
This stage required lots of speed to finish.
Stage 4: 83/100 passed. I passed one, finally! I was 57th, finishing in 64s.
This was my favorite stage, by far.
We started by shooting 5 rounds at a close cardboard target, where we had to hit in the A-zone.
Next, we crawled under barbed wire through a ditch, got up to shoot at 2 targets, 3x each.
We holstered, and continued to crawl under a tarp. We got up, and shot a Mozambique target, 3x per steel, and then holstered.
We crawled once more, got up, and shot at one last target.
This was fun. One guy holstered improperly, and had to get medical treatment.
Stage 5: 41/100 passed. I failed.
You shot 2 steel with pistol, 3x each. There was also a bonus target that you could go for at any time, to get 30s off your run time. I went for it at this time, instead of waiting for later when I had moved on to the 1-hand phase of this stage, so that I could benefit from having 2 hands. I got sucked in and spent too much time going for the 2 in target at 10 yards, though. I didn't even hit it, and decided to move on.
I got a "rubber ducky" and ammo can, and applied a TQ to my strong arm, and shot at the same 2 targets, weak hand. I timed out with 2 shots left on the second target. I shouldn't have gotten sucked in for the bonus target, where it only helps with run time.
Stage 6: 68/100 passed, and so did I, in 43rd, in 67s.
This was a bounding stage. You shot at a silhouette 3x from prone, moved forward, repeated, moved forward, repeated.
I unslung from the start, since we weren't moving very far. The target was 150 yards, and I was zeroed at 36, but I had to hold surprisingly low to make hits! It was weird. The silhouette seemed to only be half visible from my height, too.
This GunRun had the most challenging rifle course of fire to date, and everyone's results showed it! Good lessons learned for next time, as always, though. Some are lessons where I should've known better, like building the most stable position from the start, and not getting sucked in.
After the GunRun, SB and I killed time before the awards ceremony and prize table (where we only have a shot at the random draw, not 1st) by going on a 3 mile ruck. The terrain was a sand road, which was perfect practice for Mammoth. It was also good that our legs were a little tired from the run already.
I used my Sierra Designs ruck with a SKB in it, in place of a rifle, since I didn't bring my PR to this event, and also didn't want to scare anyone by running with one here while another event was going on. In the heat, with the 56# weight / weight distribution, it was tough. I had to mentally hang on for this one, and appreciated SB telling stories during the ruck. We only did 3 miles, which is all I felt like I could safely manage that day. We did it in 45:21, which was on pace, but it's hard to imagine doing that for more miles, ruck, after ruck, day after day.
It was good to get in some practice with the gear on the terrain with my teammate, though.
We refueled and chilled out afterwards. We tried to read some PR books, but it was difficult to focus.
No comments:
Post a Comment