TRAINING LEAD-UP
Sunday, September 3:
Uptown recovery ruck while hitting a bunch of Pokegyms using 50# in the v3 rucker, wearing the Salomon XA Comps due to all the sidewalk I'd encounter. My goal was to maximize the number of items I could get, and restock my supply of Pokeballs. I covered 5 miles in 1:43:32.
Monday, September 4:
18A "Lower Body Prep" in 20:25, then interval run with 4x (0.25 mi @ 7mph, 0.5 mi @ 9mph) for 21:33 in the Adios Boost on a 2 degree treadmill at the gym, which was a little warm.
Wednesday, September 6:
Glute and Pec PT v2 for 30:15, then 18A "Kettlebell" in 35:47 (big cardio effect) before work.
Thursday, September 7:
18A "Plank Series" in 21:25, "Hanging Abs" in 16:48, Glute and pec PT v1 in 25:54.
THE PROVING GROUNDS @ SAWMILL
I've done TPG events multiple times before, but this was my first time being able to make it to one of their Sawmill events. They do change up venues, which is awesome, because having different bays, props, and capabilities from each venue keeps things fresh, and I'm all about that. They do such a good job of designing fun and creative stages at this event series, too.
Stage 3: Oh Baby
- Start by lying on a cot with all your gear staged by the bed.
- On the buzzer, get out of bed, put on your gear, grab the sand baby (~40#), and exit your connex room.
- Go to the second floor, where you shoot pistol at 4 targets from the left window, and again from the right window. Unload show clear.
- From the second window, shoot at 7 rifle targets left to right, starting from the blue car. It was the same targets as the ones from the Tactical Sniper series.
- Go to the third window and shoot at a silver car and 2 big targets by the bus. Unload show clear.
- Go downstairs and return the baby to the connex.
- Go around the corner and shoot at the popper to finish.
Learnings/Results:
- I missed about 6 pistol shots, surprisingly. Nothing felt obviously wrong.
- Gear management was the name of the game here. I tried to hang on to all my mags, although I could've left it. My armboard fell off at one point, and I had to pick it back up. There was also the rifle and sandbag to deal with.
- I missed a lot on the small rifle target before finally hitting.
- I shouldered the sandbag when carrying it upstairs, but I should've spent the time to shoulder it for all the moderately long movements, instead of farmers carrying it for one of them. It's so much faster.
- 4x power worked fine.
- I set my watch for the timer for the 7 min par time stage, but never checked it.
- Pistol mag retrieval from my belt beneath the plate carrier was difficult. It would be easier to pull it from the plate carrier itself next time. Putaway was also a challenge.
- Earbuds make gear management a bit easier.
- A dump pouch might've helped me with faster mag dumps.
- Overall, it was a good stage for me, though!
Stage 4: Long Way Around:
- Exit the car with mags in but with nothing chambered. Grab the scuba tank from the back of the pickup.
- Go along the path, hitting 2 shots per cardboard pistol target, some partially covered by no-shoots. You were allowed to get really close to the targets.
- Put the tank down on a torso and then run up the hill to the long range bay.
- Move to the prop and shoot at 10x 200yd targets (No restrictions on position).
- Move to the sandbag and shoot prone at 8 targets @ 400yd
- Run back and return the tank to the truck, then shoot at a last popper to end the time.
Learnings/Results:
- One guy who went before me noted that it's better to have an even number of rounds in your first pistol mag, since we had to double-tap each target, and the number of targets meant that we were sure to run out. Super smart!
- The wires from the scuba pack got all tangled up on my pistol when I tried to take the pack off. I should've calmly taken my time to fix it, instead of fumbling fast as much as I did.
- It took me many tries on the 400yd target to get the right hold. I should've taken the time to check my dope before shooting. I needed a full 1.5 mil, but I was under-holding.
- It was good that I took the time to wear both straps on the scuba pack on the way out, especially while I was shooting, but I should've taken the time to put on both straps instead of just 1 on the way back, too. It was a long way to run, still.
- I don't even remember if I shot the pistol targets along the right side of the path one-handed or two-handed. Based on the pictures, I went one-handed!
- I used 46 rounds of rifle, although 20 rounds would've done it if I hadn't missed.
- I used 77gr 5.56 for the farther targets. I brought 3 rifle mags but didn't touch the third. The pre-emptive mag change that I did when switching from the 200yd to 400yd target position was smart, though.
Stage 5: Back and Forth
- Run to the high rock, and shoot at 10 targets at 100yd. Put the rifle on the table on safe.
- Grab a different Atlas stone on each round trip, with each trip's distance getting further. After each pistol trip, go back and do the rifle series again.
- For the first trip, shoot 2 pistol rounds on a giant silhouette.
- For the second trip, hit the 6 plate rack, then 3 big targets.
- For the third trip, hit the small popper, a dueling tree, and a silhouette.
- Go back and do the rifle engagement again at the end.
Learnings/Results:
- I fought the 9th rifle target for a while, even though it was th esame size as the others. It was odd. I eventually skipped it and took the penalty, since a "miss" was worth 30s, anyways.
- I wanted to be able to carry all the same weights as the men. The Atlas stones were tough, and I did time out before doing the last series of rifle shots. I gave it what I had, though.
- My pistol wasn't as good as usual, especially by the third trip when I was gassed from all the balls.
- During rifle, I tried to pan the upper part of my body instead of taking the time to adjust my base. I should know better.
- I could've taken a 60s penalty for "failure to do work" with the balls, but that didn't seem to be in the spirit of the match to skip it completely like that, although it would've been equal in time impact, but I wouldn't have been gassed.
- It's not easy to always remember to chamber a round when you have to start unchambered! Each match and sometimes each stage has different starting condition rules.
- Normally, lower positions are more stable, but I felt much more stable from the high rock position for rifle. I think I was using my muscles to support the gun for the low position, which was the root cause.
- This was a messy stage for me... but I tried my best.
Stage 1: O-Punisher:
- Shoot from the low barricade, kneeling with 2 knees, on 4 rifle targets R->L, 1 hit per target.
- Repeat standing.
- Repeat from prone through a hole in a low wall.
- Abandon the rifle on safe and do the O-course with a balance beam, over then under the sternum checkers, barbed wire, go through the window, over the RR tie wall, cargo net, and tyrollean traverse.
- Go back to the three shooting positions but do them with pistol this time, on closer pistol targets, going L->R, 2x from each position.
Results/Learnings:- I had to fight with the #4 standing rifle target, oddly, even though it was the same distance as the others.
- I ended up using exactly 30 rifle rounds, but I did have a spare mag in case I needed it.
- I went through 3 pistol mags plus 2 rounds. I should've taken more time on my shots to be more accurate, but I tried to push the pace a bit too hard vs my capabilities.
- My pistol mags stayed in, even when I went inverted on the cargo net on the O-course.
- The obstacles weren't too bad, so it didn't impact my HR much.
- My right glute had gotten a bit strained from the Atlas stones in the previous stage, but it was OK during this stage.
- It was nice resting my left elbow on my plate carrier while shooting standing, like I saw someone else doing. I think it helped a bit.
Stage 2: Magic School Bus
- Exit the car and from the table, shoot N->F on 5 rifle targets 2 times through, and clar rifle.
- Run to school bus in the next bay, and shoot 5 pistol targets, hitting 2x each. Clear, go to the front of the bus, and drag Rescue Randy (they did scale this one part, so that the womens' division didn't have to drag as far)
- Shoot some close rifle targets from inside the short connex.
- Run all the way to the red truck overlooking the cliff, get into the truck bed, and shoot 2 close targets and 2 far targets (the far right one is small)... I did decide to skip that one after struggling enough with the bigger far target. It would've taken 30+ seconds anyways.
Results/Learnings:
- After shooting the 100yd rifle targets with 55gr, I did a mag change on the run to a fresh one with 77gr, which I thought was a good plan.
- I was looking into the sun for the far rifle targets, which made it harder.
OVERALL
- 29th out of 56 overall, first and only woman. Not bad, even with the bad stage 5.
- Key takeaways: take the extra time to properly check dope, don heavy items properly, adjust positions.
- Need to back off on speed enough to actually make all my hits. It's worth it.
THE NEXT DAY
"Quantified Performance" had a match the following day, and some friends were competing in it, one of them in his first ever longer range match, so I stayed to spectate in the morning. It's a series that I've never shot before, so I wanted to check it out. They did sponsor one of the stages at my very first TPG and at a later one... they have some challenging rifle courses of fire!
I also collected range candy.
I went to my friend's range afterwards. For GORUCK Shooter, this was makeup month for drills, so I
retried the April 2023 drill, this time in the daytime.
I did pass this time! Getting the course of fire right and getting the timer to pick up my moving and shooting shots made some for some extra attempts. Heart rate wasn't a big issue this time, though. It was cloudy every now and then, and I drank cold water and wore a sun hoodie.
The May 2023 drill reshoot wasn't quite as successful. I tried about 30x and was doing my "sprints" very slowly by the end. I estimate that I ran about 3300m. I used about 21 sheets of targets, too.
I did kind of pass once, if grease marks count, but I accidentally deleted that video when trying to free up space on my phone. Very disappointing to realize. But maybe it's better in the long run that I try again later and pass with 100% certainty, anyways.
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