TRAINING LEAD-UP
Sunday, Aug 7:
Training in SC with Joe, Brandon, and SB.
Tuesday, Aug 9:
6/27/2022 RuckWOD.com in 16 min with a 30#RPC, followed by the 6/25/2022 Ruckwod.COM with a 30#RPC with 120, 90, 75, and 65s OH holds.
Wednesday, Aug 10:
Did the APFT with 47/45 PU, 84/76 SU, and a 14:16/15:54 2 miler in the Adidas Adios Boost, followed by a strict 2 mile ruck with a 30#RPC in the Altra Torin Plush. Still got that 300! My right outer knee needs more collagen, though.
Thursday, Aug 11:
GORUCK Tribe&Training "TYCZ" with a 40#SB in 8 min, followed by "My Invention", a workout designed to prep for OCRs, since I was signed up for World's Toughest Mudder in November...
5 rounds of
- 3 pullups
- 15 Z-presses (with a 30#RPC)
- 15 Swings (with a 40#SKB)
- 3 chin-ups
- 15 SB DLs (with a 60#SB)
- 15 4-ct Russian Twists (with a 13#SKB)
which I completed in 23 min.
Followed by the HDT MM "1st Quarter" 15 min BW AMRAP with 8 rounds and 14 reps.
The next day, I woke up from a nap hearing a loud noise. The wind was blowing like crazy. It turned out that there was a mini tornado that came through!
Bits of fresh green leaves were torn up in the wind, and plastered against the house with the force of the wind. The kayak rack area near me was destroyed, too. Wild! I don't think I've ever experienced a tornado before.
Saturday, Aug 13:
Since SB and I had signed up for Mammoth on 7/16/2022, it was time for me to start training the rucking element. I put on a 50# pack for the first time, and went out to the USNWC for a slow ruck to get used to the weight. On the trail, 50# is more challenging, because all of the micro adjustments you need to make to adjust your footing over roots and terrain are done with a lot more weight on your upper body.
I covered 4 miles in 1:43:16 with a 30# plate plus 2x10# sandbags inside the ruck. There as 500 feet of gain. There were extra downed trees from yesterday's epic storm, too, which added a couple of obstacles to bypass. It was slow, but it was a start! It's a matter of getting used to the extra weight on my back.
Sunday Aug 14:
I did a 7.9 mile neighborhood bike ride in 45 min, followed by a 2 mile easy run in 18:44. I wanted to do something, but it had to be low-impact because my feet were still recovering from yesterday. I'm also bumping up my protein and collagen to help with recovery.
Wednesday, Aug 17:
I also started working on figuring out how I might strap a 17# rifle to the back of my pack, for carrying over 30 miles.
Thursday, Aug 18:
I was able to cover it in 23:29, a 11:45 average pace, which was good. At least 16 min miles would be physically possible.
I added another 2 miles to go back to the car, on the South End Rail Trail, in 45:02 (22:34 average).
To celebrate and re-hydrate, I had a flight at Wooden Robot afterwards. It was a big flight. I drank soooo much water to go with it, too. I did not want alcohol for a good while after that.
Aug 19-21:
Went to WS for my sister's graduation! I was happy for her graduation, but sad that it wouldn't be easy to visit her anymore in the future.
Monday, Aug 22:
Afterwards, I did "My Invention" again, with 5 rounds in 24:49. It was a bit easier this second time around, although I also went a bit slower.
Tuesday, Aug 23:
I did a mile with a 30# ruck and a 60#SB in MACV1s to sneak in a bit of heavy work before leaving for a work trip in NC. I covered it in 15:48, which was good.
Nothing too special about the trip, but you could tell that sniper stuff was on my mind!
Thursday, Aug 25:
Total Body Yoga | Deep Stretch with Adriene on Youtube.
Friday, Aug 26:
Did a mile with 30# in 18:48, followed by the SRT "ROD" 30 min AMRAP slick with a 60#SB for the cleans with 19 rounds and 9 reps, followed by the SRT "High Speed Chase" 14 min AMRAP with 45 cleans with a 20#RPC and a 45#SB plus 160 step-ups with the 20#RPC... a nice one.
Saturday, Aug 27:
Basic Precision Rifle class with Dan Posey at Coleman's Creek. It's good to learn about the fundamentals from different experts. Each person has their own way of explaining things, and tips and tricks that they've learned through the years. It's good for reinforcement, too, and it's good to see what I remembered from previous classes with other instructors. It's good to see that stuff is sticking!
In the morning, we had classroom time, to learn about equipment setup, fundamentals, and basics of PR. We then went to the zero range. After that, we went to a range that maxed out at 1275 to first true our data, and then shoot whatever targets we wanted to from a wide variety of options.
It started raining at the end, after class was over during free-shoot time, and surprisingly, the white painted targets were still visible, although you couldn't really shoot anymore because there was no way to see or hear impacts with all of the rain impairing visibility and audio feedback.
Monday, Aug 29:
I went back to the office gym for the first time since COVID started. I did 10 pullups, a 4 mile treadmill interval session (1 mi warmup to 7.5mph, then 4x [0.5 mi @9mph, 0.25 mi @7.5mph]) for 7:21 average, 10 pullups, then a 5K row at level 7 in 24:24. My feet were messed up for a few days afterwards. I guess that was a lot of plantar-flexed pressure to put on it when they weren't used to it.
Tuesday, Aug 30:
Yoga for Renewal with Adriene
Wednesday, Aug 31:
"The 13" WOD with 2x13 min AMRAPs and 2x1 miles (14:45, 18:10 with kids) with a 30#RPC with the ruck club at Renaissance Park, followed by GORUCK Tribe & Training "Asclepius" in 7:18 with a 45#SB, followed by the GT&T "Grizzly" workout in 23:20 with a 45#SB for the lunges and bear crawl drags with MACV1s to fill out the time and take advantage of being in a nice park.
It's cool when parents are good examples for their kids, and make being active part of their lifestyle.
Friday, Sept 2:
Yoga for Uncertainty with Adriene
PSA / LEADSTAR ARMS SNIPER SERIES EVENT 4
This would be my first precision rifle competition! SB and I weren't 100% sure what to expect, but it would be a good learning experience, no matter what.
It was a 1-day match, with a posted round count of 90 per weapon system. What I didn't know was that the round count was 90, if you didn't miss, so I actually needed quite a bit more than 90 pistol rounds. Unfortunately, the "book" of glock mags in the picture didn't make it into my event ruck, because I had put it in my range bag for an indoor range trip the day before, and hadn't put it back. I only came with 4 mags full. That meant that during the match, I borrowed 50 rounds each from 2 different friends, was gifted 50 rounds from a kind RSO, and bought another 50 rounds from the range's pro shop, which fortunately was open for business. I also scrounged up ejected rounds like a dumpster diver, haha. Oh man, that was an experience I never want to have to repeat again!
We received target distance info the night before, at 9pm. When I got to the match, I measured the DA to make distance-specific dope cards, but SB pointed out later on that we wouldn't know what time of day we'd hit each stage, so the DA could change significantly, by the time we get to the stages that we'd hit later in the day. There were 3 different squads, rotating around stages, and it was luck of the draw as to which stage we'd shoot first.
In addition to getting distance info ahead of time, we also got to look at the shooting positions and targets ahead of time. That was not Mammoth-like, but that did make it a good first match for us, because we got to focus more on shooting and position building, without the additional distractions and stressors of finding and ranging.
Stage 4: Pallets
We went to Sawmill's big connex structure for our first two stages. We received a stage brief, and were given time to see everything. We could also see other teams shoot, as long as we weren't in the way.
For this stage, we started by engaging 2 pistol targets from one balcony on the 2nd floor, going back and forth between a big square at 10y, and a small circle at 25y. We could take up to 10 shots, but we could give up early and move to rifle, if we wanted to save more time for rifle.
Since our goal for the event was to gain precision rifle experience, SB took advantage of the option to not complete the pistol portion, sometimes, which was smart.
Once we moved to rifle, we shot from a stack of pallets that was right behind a window. Our rifle was already staged, but we weren't allowed to sight in ahead of time. I was dialed, had my bipods the way I liked, and a mag in with the bolt back. Based on the distances and holds for the ranges, I pre-dialed to 0.2mil, with a plan to hold 0.5 and 1.2 on top of that, to save time with not having to re-dial. We had to go "near to far" then "far to near" on 5 targets at 209, 201, 225, 291, and 404yd.
My hands were shaking from nerves during pistol, since it was the first stage of the day at my first PR match. It was odd, because I don't have that issue with 2-gun competitions. This was the only stage where I had this issue, though.
I should've pushed my bipods closer to the center of my rifle, to make room for my rear bag on the pallet. I also need to stay in the glass more, by not over-magnifying, and practicing mag changes in glass. I should've had my left hand on my rear bag. I shouldn't have been slapping the trigger like I was each time. Looking back and writing this 6 months later, it's quite funny watching the old videos, now that I know so much better.
(what not to do)
(we know better, now!)
The score is based on points, followed by time. I got 16/20 points.
Stage 5: Rooftop
From the third level, we'd shoot pistol from the balcony at 5 targets, double-tapping each one. After clearing and dumping our pistols, we'd move to a short roof, where we'd shoot at a far right circle target at 98yd, followed by "near to far" on three targets at 102, 135, and 210yd.
It was my best stage of the day, with no misses, even unbraced on pistol. My rifle position didn't look ideal, with the gun's balance and my balance looking precarious, but I managed to get the hits. And even with getting out of the glass quite a bit and taking a while to find one of the targets because of my high magnification, I didn't time out.
Stage 6: Big Window
We went up one more level, and started by shooting at those same white pistol targets, double-tapping again. It was harder this time, because of the sharper angle, maybe. The rifle targets were the same, but we had to shoot from a high window this time. I tried to use tripod rear, but hadn't really practiced it, and tried it totally wrong (with the tripod on the wrong side of my rifle to begin with) and ditched it quickly.
My rifle was rolling off the side of the rear bag that I had stuck on the ledge of the window. My stance was squatting instead of straight-legged and stable. My left hand was also not contributing correctly to the effort. I shot at the wrong target once, too, which wasted time.
(what not to do)
(good idea, but time-consuming to set up, and wobbly for this guy)
I managed 15/20 shots before timing out.
Stage 7: Truck
We moved over to a different bay, and the D/A had gone from 1500 to 2000 now.
At this stage, the rules about the pistol portion were different. We *had* to shoot 3 white circles at a big downward angle, first, left to right, 3x, before we could move on to rifle. I had wanted to quit pistol early, since those shots were difficult for some reason (maybe because of the angle again), but the RO said that I couldn't, so I kept at it.
I got to the rifle portion and started setting up. I had planned to do barricade style off the side of the truck bed, but was told that I had to shoot from the top of the cab, so I switched gears and set back up there. It was probably part of the brief, but I hadn't paid attention to that detail. Since my bag had been tethered to the rifle or maybe since my mind was set on going barricade style, I ended up shooting from the cab roof barricade style, which wasn't as stable as modified prone would've been. Looking back, I probably should've taken the time to properly set up modified prone.
I got through the first two targets at 164yd, and one target at 363yd before timing out. I made 11/20.
At this stage, after the stage was over, one fellow squad member shared a good idea of using a tripod to brace for pistol, since it was allowed.
(what not to do)
(a better idea)
We had 2 stages at a long range shooting pavilion.
We started with 10 knock-down small square targets, which we were allowed to move on from early, if we wanted to. I went for it, wanting to get the points.
Next, we did rifle near to far, 2 targets per distance, hitting left first and then right. I got 2@200, 2@400, 2@600 (with indicator lights), and I started on the 2@800 but timed out before taking a shot. I got 16/18 points.
Stage 9: Mover
We repeated the 10 knock-down pistol targets, and then had a mover going 3.5mph @ 202yd, which was info that the competitors shared with each other. I had milled the width of the target at 1.5-2 mil. I decided to hold 1 mil for the lead. I got 16/20 shots.
During a mag change, I lost sight of the mover, because my magnification was too high (a trend). I should've left a fresh mag next to the weapon for easy access, instead of forcing myself to reach down to my belt for it.
SB crushed those movers!
Stage 1: Sentry Shack
SB crushed it, though, getting 10 shots and 10 hits on rifle. She read the wind well, and held the right edge successfully.
For this stage, we were still on the top of the connex stack. For pistol, we only had to shoot at the 2 big rectangles now, so at least that was easier. We alternated between the two.
For rifle, we would go prone and shoot at 2 targets at 455yd. I hadn't really gotten a chance to see those targets because I didn't spend much time in glass on the previous stage, and I shot the wrong target because I didn't know what I was looking for. I shot once at the wrong target, before timing out. This stage was 90s vs 120s like the others, so it went by much more quickly. I only got 10/20. Another disappointing stage for me, but SB did awesome again on rifle!
Stage 3: The Car
I was excited to get to shoot pistol targets at ground level again. These were painted bright orange and were, too, so they were very easy to see. We had to go R->L then L->R. I cleared the pistol with some misses, and then moved on to rifle, where we had to go near to far, far to near. We had to shoot from the hood of a car, which slopes towards the front of the car and towards you, which makes it a bit challenging. I used modified prone.
I got 18/22 and got some redemption after the previous 2 stages. I hadn't remembered to put my mag in at the start, too, and still had the cap on the front of my scope. That's what pre-stage checklists are for, especially at the end of the day when you're tired!
Overall
This was a great intro to the world of PR competitions. We got to shoot from a variety of positions and props. We got to learn from how other shooters prepared and executed the stages. The group was very welcoming and helpful. The ROs were nice, too. We reviewed video footage with Scott afterwards, and learned a whole bunch of things we could improve on, too.
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