18A "Dynamic Warmup" for 30:29, "Pull-ups" with a burpee finisher in 46:27.
Tuesday, June 6:
18A "Dynamic Warmup", then a 49# ruck in MACV2s in the Rucker v3. My lower back got chafed with Grunt Style shorts because of the pleats in the elastic band. I covered 4 miles in 58:42.
Wednesday, June 7:
18A "Dynamic Warmup" for 18 min, then a 3 mile run on a 2 degree incline treadmill in 21:47 (7:15/mi) in yellow/turquoise Kinvaras.
Thursday, June 8:
18A "Upper Push / Core / Cardio" in 67 min
Friday, June 9:
18A "Kinstretch" mobility work for 52 min during lunch. At night, "Lower Body Prep" in 18:28, then treadmill interval work with 4x (0.25 mi @ 7.5mph, 0.5 mi @9mph) = 3 miles in 20:58 (6:59/mi) in Saucony Kinvaras.
Saturday, June 10:
Range day...
I passed my first GORUCK Shooter Drill for the 2023 series, on the first try, even. I did try two more times to see if I could clean it up, but it only got worse as I got more tired and less focused.
Afterwards, I did some moving and shooting with rifle, practicing a tip that my BB from the Sheepdog Shootout gave me, about pulling the trigger while on one foot.
I got chrono data on my 22LR
I also tested how fast I could get my new Geissele trigger to squeeze.
I finished with some more pistol drawing practice.
Sunday, June 11:
18A "Hanging Abs" in 18:15, then "Kettlebell" in 27:47, then "Plank Series" in 21:25.
Monday, June 12:
18A "Upper Body Prep" in 31:31, then "Upper Push / Chin-up" in 53 min.
Tuesday, June 13:
"Self Love Yoga" with Adriene. Needed a rest day today!
Wednesday, June 14:
18A "Dynamic Warmup" in 26 min measured with an LRF this time, then "Dip Abs" in 21:54, and "Lower Push BW" in 42:39.
Thursday, June 15:
Finished reading "Roar" by Stacy Sims.
18A "Dynamic Warmup" in 21 min, "Lower Body Prep" in 17:25, 4x500m row in 2:15, 2:16, 2:15, 2:13.
GORUCK SPECIAL FORCES TOUGH
I went to Raleigh for another Cadre LDB special. I was looking forward to this. We had a good group show up, and everyone looked ready to do work.
We started with admin and some usual warmup and mobility work... so important for injury prevention. There's no reason to increase the risk of injury and cause someone to have to potentially be out of commission for months for the sake of expediency. We all do this for fun and to stay healthy, so I appreciate leaders who understand that.
We filled up water bladders that were in sandbag shells and filled up jerry cans. Before we set off into the city, we did our first rendition of the Ballad of the Green Berets, which we had been asked to learn for the event. We had also been asked to watch the movie "The Green Berets", which helped us build our background on the type of work that Special Forces do.
Our first stop was at town hall, where we did a workout to commemorate 10th Group with 10 sets of 10 reps of 4 exercises.
For one segment, we had to farmers' carry the coupons. We thought that was bad, but then it changed to zercher carries. We worked together and survived, though.
At one park, we did a WOD for 7th group. We'd learn about the different groups' history throughout the night.
One of our WODs was at a beach, which was surprising to see in Raleigh. Fortunately, we didn't have to go in the water.
Raleigh is surprisingly a little bit hilly in parts.
We went by NC State, which has a belltower monument for their alumni who gave their lives in service of their country.
Towards the end of the event, we visited the gravesite of MoH recipient SFC William Maud Bryant from the Vietnam era at the Raleigh National Cemetery, sang the "Ballad of the Green Beret" again, paid our respects, and left pennies as a tribute (after learning the significance of that act and what different coins mean).
When we got back to John Chavis Memorial Park, we finished with a 30 min hero WOD to honor one of LDB's teammates, Captain Mike Tarlavsky. It consisted of 12 ea of pushups, squats, mountain climbers, step-ups (substituted lunges), and burpees. We did it slick, although the standard is with weight vest.
IN BETWEEN
In between, I changed clothes, tried my best to rest in the hot car, and then I went to Cava towards the end for some satisfying fuel.
GORUCK SPECIAL FORCES BASIC
I decided to test out some new shoes for the Basic - Garmont T8's, whose tag I ripped off right before the event. It would've been too bold of a move to try it for the Tough, but the Basic is short enough where you can get by if you have to. They seemed reasonably comfortable when I just tried them on at home, though.
I was stiff going into it, as usual after a Tough, but you always feel better and loosen up once you get going. We did some exercises to warm up.
There wasn't much PT during this event, but we did have the same kinds of coupons. I had a good 3-person team to swap with.
We stopped at a shaded area at a YMCA and learned about codes that they'd use to communicate with each other when captured.
More walking.
At a park, we did a relay event that commemorated a memorable SERE school incident.
Our half lost, but the other half joined in on the bonus PT at the end.
I went to a local nature preserve to get in a ruck with 50# in the V3 rucker. The park isn't big, but there's a nice 1-mile loop that has water views along half of it. I was appalled by how much trash there was on the trail. How can people be like that? Fortunately, one of the pieces of trash was a plastic bag, so on my later loops, I picked up trash along the way. It wasn't a fast ruck, but the main goal was getting my back and feet used to the heavier weight again.
Monday, May 22:
Flew out to Indiana to help with another team's project for work.
Tuesday, May 23:
3/30/2023 RuckWOD with 2x15#DB for 26 min, followed by the 4/21/2023 RuckWOD with 2x15#DB for 14 min, followed by 2:30 low plank, 2 min 2x15#DB OH hold, 1:30 wall sit as a filler, in the hotel gym at 6am.
On a morning walk to get Panera for later, I found this poor little guy.
And I grabbed a Geocache, although it wasn't my first for Indiana. That came on 1/12/2017.
Wednesday, May 24:
4 mile run on a 2 degree incline treadmill in Ballistic Trainers in a 62* hotel gym in 34:15, 8:34 pace. I went at 7mph the whole time. It felt way harder than it should've, since I haven't trained running in forever. It was mostly fastest, with just a morsel of chocolate beforehand. Afterwards, I did 3 min of arm strengtheners with 2x10#DBs, 2 min high plank, and 2 min of OH hold with 2x15#DBs.
This was a fun car to park next to.
And this Mexican restaurant had some intense decorations!
Thursday, May 25:
Went home, after first getting some froyo from a robot!
Friday, May 26:
I assembled a skateboard for the first time, which I was pretty proud of myself for. I had gone to a shop to get it done the first time. The guy at the shop was really nice, taught me the process, and hooked me up with a skate tool so that I could do stuff myself in the future.
I also went to the range, to try out and even buy buy some Q products. They got some good ROI from their demo day!
At night, I rucked 4 miles at 13:22 pace with 50# in a Rucker, wearing the Salomon X-Missions around the neighborhood. It was maybe my first time going at pace and weight since Mammoth. I could've gone further, but this was a good way to ease back into it.
Saturday, May 27:
Gun cleaning in preparation for the Sheepdog Shootout, which was going to be taught by GORUCK Cadre. I think my bullets were disintegrating again at the last PRS match, because I wasn't getting "impact" calls on shots that I thought were perfect, and didn't show any splash from misses.
Sunday, May 28:
More Blackstone, and I loctited my pistol mag holders, after the screws had come undone again at the Land Nav Team Match.
Monday, May 29:
Began with partitioned Murph, which was done slick, aside from the 1 mile runs.
Then range day with SB and SW, doing the May Shooter Drill, in which I was too slow and not accurate enough. Scott gave us some good tips, though, on how to shed time.
We also did a nice pistol drill with him, with an efficient use of ammo, because every other shot is dry fire.
We then went to the 400yd range to get dope on our 22LR RPRs for the first time.
I also tried out my new Geissele SSA-E trigger on my LMT for the first time. Not a crazy difference, but it was fine.
I closed out the evening with the "White" WOD.
It was a very "America" day, one to honor the heroes who have made our freedom possible!
Wednesday, May 31:
My arms, core, and legs were still recovering from Murph and White. I did a 30# recovery ruck in the neighborhood. I hadn't planned on it, but my dad asked me to do some recon on new housing developments. 3 miles in 1:01:29 wearing MACV2s.
Thursday, Jun 1:
Did a baseline fitness test with 38 HRPU in 2 min, 9 pullups in 1 min, a 14:29 2 mile run in 79* temps in Saucony A4's, and a 6 mile ruck with 49# total wearing MACV2s.
I started taking Creatine and increasing my protein today, too. Let's see how far I get in 16 weeks!
Friday, Jun 2:
"Yoga for Renewal" with Adriene, 18A "Dip Abs" in 21 min, "Dynamic Warmup" in 38 min, "Lower Push BW" in 39:39.
Dry fire practice with the Mantis X included some pushups, too.
Found this cute little guy away from his nest, too. I hope he made it ok. So many little birds out of their nests recently!
SHEEPDOG SHOOTOUT
I wasn't 100% sure what to expect, since this wasn't a GORUCK class, but the instructors were from GORUCK, so I at least knew some of what to expect.
This was a charity event used to raise funds for the Sheepdog Coalition, which helps SOF veterans get whatever kind of help they need after they come home.
About half of the class was made of up of GRTs, and the other half were instructors in non-precision firearms disciplines. We paired up with someone from the opposite background, which was really cool, because we each had stuff to teach and learn from each other.
Saturday, Jun 3:
I drove overnight, took a little nap in a parking lot near the destination city, and then went the rest of the way in the morning. It is a long way over to Eastern NC.
For fundamentals, we learned about NPA, the natural respiratory pause, shot processes, grip, parallax, and the importance of the level.
We zeroed. Even though I had just cleaned my barrel, the three shots that I took were on, so I didn't change anything.
We collected dope out to 400.
We learned how to shoot standing and seated and learned some tricks for stability.
We practiced shooting from the VTAC board, which I've done with AR15s before, but not precision rifles before. It is much harder to get the gun to fit in any of the ports.
We played Battleship, and my cool-headed partner with lots of competition experience helped me get the best outcome yet.
We split the class in half to practice movers and poppers, which is always a neat experience, whether you're the one getting to shoot or work in the "butts".
Even in the evening after class, I was focused, doing priorities of work with cleaning the gun again, in preparation for the next day's mini competition.
We were out late at a Mexican place, but even with only 2 hours of sleep the previous night, the few hours of sleep that I got Saturday night were a dream.
Sunday, Jun 4:
Sunday was competition day, where we got to put the lessons from day 1 to the test. Most events would be individually scored, but there were a couple of team-based ones thrown in, since Snipers often work on teams, and that teamwork element, with communication and strategy, are important skills, too.
On Saturday, we had already gotten our first points under our belts with Battleship, so things were off to a good start.
We did a cold bore shot in the morning, where you just had to hit the head.
Next, was a 6-round drill from standing, kneeling/seated, and prone. I somehow managed to make 6/6, even with standing. I knew I had to keep my arms fresh for that to maximize my chances.
We did VTAC next, where I just dropped 1 point by timing out. Otherwise, it went pretty well.
Spears to Success went really well, and I did almost as well as I could've. Even my miss landed in a good spot that still earned me 2 points. I was very glad that my gun was "on" today. Maybe the cleaning helped. At first, I thought I had bullet disintegration issues again because I couldn't see the hits, but upon closer inspection, they were on the little spears as intended.
There was a side match where the goal was to get as close as center to possible on a playing card, and you could buy extra rounds by donating extra. I wanted to make a big hole. I ended up tying with another guy. It had been hard to figure out where center of the card was, since the card was white and the background was white, and the joker image on the card doesn't necessarily have an obvious exact center mass to go by. It worked out, though, if nothing else, by sheer volume (11 rounds in 60s).
We had a 4-person team event, where you had to shoot at balloons at 4 different distances. You take turns shooting, but your team has to work its way up from 100 to 400 the fastest. We tied with another team, and each team got to send 1 representative for a tie-breaker. I felt confident in representing the team and got my 2 shots off at 100 and 400 faster.
We did movers and snaps with the VTAC steps. There's always a bit of built-in risk with human-powered targets and variability, but fortunately, it worked out.
The last evolution was Pick Your Poison, where you got to choose from 100, 200, or 300 yards at a 3x3 target, with 1, 2, or 3 shots to correspond with the three distances. The points values were different, too. I had won every single event other than the 1 shot that I dropped on the VTAC stage from timing out, so I had a huge lead. This last one was worth a bunch of points so that everyone still had a chance to make big moves. For me to not win, though, I had to miss all three shots, and someone else would have to do really well. I made 2/3 shots, though!
Back at the lodge, we celebrated a birthday...
Had auctions to raise more funds for the charity...
And I won a sweet AR15 from Patriot Ordnance Factory from the competition...
