TRAINING LEAD-UP
Monday, Mar 31:
18A "Upper Body Prep" in 25:34, then HDT-KB 12.1.1 (arms) in 33:24
Tuesday, Apr 1:
I went to Blackstone with my trainer CZP10C to shoot a little as a tune-up before Moons Out Goons Out.
I did 7 mags of ball and dummy and stopped when I started to feel some fatigue, to avoid diminishing returns.
7 mile zone 2 run in 2:03:54 (17:42 ave) at Renaissance Park in lime green Saucony Kinvaras. It was nice and cloudy but light enough outside after work.
TRIP
I got to spend a couple of days with my favorite dog friend. His favorite activity is eating. He spends his time going from one sitting/laying spot to another. He goes nuts when delivery people come.
He has an internal clock. He likes to be fed at 7am. I woke up to him licking my hand at 6:59am.
KINGS MT STATE PARK O-MEET
After DNF-ing an O-meet for the first time last month, I was looking for redemption. This would be the last O-Meet of the season, before thick vegetation, high temps, and poison ivy, thorns, snakes, ticks, etc, would make bushwhacking less appealing. My friends had signed up to do an easier level map, but I really wanted to do red course, solo, to regain confidence.
I got my map and made a plan, making route choices, measuring bearings, and measuring intermediate distances.
To find point 1, I took the hardball road for a good chunk of it, before heading into the forest where the road curved south and there was a reentrant to the north, pace-counting as a backup. I followed the reentrant up for 100m, before following the contour to hop over one reentrant to the east. The route took me right to it, even if I had cut over earlier.
From there, I got to point 2 by following the reentrant down towards the creek. It wasn't immediately visible, but I found it.
To get to point 3, I'd follow the creek northeast and hop across it to avoid swampy stuff. I happened to see my friends on the course. They had set off earlier than I did, and they were doing a different map anyways, but they seemed to be having a good time.
CP3 was no problem.
To get to CP4, I followed the right branch of the creek, pace counting landmarks like a side-creek along the way, for 490m total. You had to cut away from the creek and go uphill at one point. It didn't hurt that there was another team in the area, coming from the point, but towards my direction. Maybe they were doing a different map.
The point was at the top of a creek, so it would be pretty clear when I got to that area. Once I got there, I had to search up and then down the creek to find the point, though. I hit it a little too far north at first, and had searched all the way north before determining that it had to be south from there.
I saw a couple other teams come into the area right afterwards, including a girl and guy who were running the course, stomping through challenging terrain like it was nothing.
CP7 would be easy, since you could follow the creek down. CP7 would double as CP13... the first time I had seen a doubled up point was at the last event.
CP8 was a little more complex to get to. I hopped over a spur to get to the other fork of the creek and followed it up. That creek forked, and I had started following the wrong fork before realizing that I wanted to be on the other fork. Then, you were in a land of reentrants. It was a little swampy in parts. I was on the wrong one at first, and I wasn't exactly sure which one I was on, but I checked the next one that I could see, and the point happened to be there. I kind of stumbled upon it, and I was lucky.
CP9 wasn't bad, now that I knew where I was based on CP8's location on the map. I went south, then went west and crossed a creek, then followed the creek for a bit.
CP9 was another pretty straightforward one. Follow the creek all the way up. Then, you had to go a little further. It was actually kind of hidden in a depression, so it wasn't visible until you got pretty close.
To get to point 11, I took a bearing and planned to follow it the whole way. Along the way, I'd cross a creek. I saw the fast team again. There was a summit that I'd also pass through, which helped me know I was on track. The point itself I almost missed because I was too far left, though. Fortunately, the fast team had caught back up, and they had found it first. I was a little ahead of them. They probably wondered why I had passed it, but I noticed that I seemed to be off and saw them get the point.
For CP12, I followed a dried up creek for a bit, before cutting over to the east and finding the point on a different creek. There are a lot of creeks here.
Then, back to the finish, with 39 minutes to spare! I covered 5.38 miles in 2:21:50, with 1,060 feet of ascent.
I had already driven south to get to KMSP, so rather than going back home and coming back down, I stayed here to kill time, before heading further south for MOGO.
I got in a 5 mile ruck. I had paid the entry fee for the state park anyways, so I might as well get my money's worth. I wish state parks didn't charge entry fees. They should encourage people to go outside and get healthy.
I switched into dry shoes and put on my 30#RPC while letting my pollen-covered, wet MACV2s dry.
It's a pretty big park. I felt like I walked for a long time and was tired by the end of it, but I only did the Historic Farm Trail, wandered around the re-created old timey buildings for a bit, I did a little section of the CCC trail, then took King's Mountain National Recreation Trail back up to the start point. I covered 5 miles in 2:08:26, 25:42/mi average.
MOONS OUT GOONS OUT
The brief was scheduled for 7:45pm, but it ended up being a little bit later. They had a team DMR match earlier in the day, so they were running slightly behind.
All stages would have 90s par times. Quick! I guess it helps with throughput and getting people home at a more reasonable hour.
Stage 1:
- run up to the left box and shoot 5 cardboard torsos on the right side of the bay, with 2 hits each
- run to the right box and shoot 5 cardboard torsos on the left side of the bay, with 2 hits each
- run up to the table where your rifle was pre-staged with mag in bolt forward, and shoot 5 steel at 100yd minus however far up the table was (maybe 40yd), left to right, 2x through
- run to the right box and shoot 5 cardboard torsos on the left side of the bay, with 2 hits each
- run up to the table where your rifle was pre-staged with mag in bolt forward, and shoot 5 steel at 100yd minus however far up the table was (maybe 40yd), left to right, 2x through
Learnings/Outcomes: 13/20 NV, 32/45 Overall
- I happened to be first up on the first stage of the day, but it was fine
- I didn't check ahead of time if you had to holster when moving from the left box to the right box, so I did anyways, but you didn't need to.
- Some people drew their gun before getting to the box... I should also clarify if that's allowed next time
- I used passive pistol all night because there was enough illumination in the sky
- I braced on the table with my mag for rifle and used the low MAWL setting, since the middle setting was too bright. I pressed to turn it on, but I should've just used constant-on
- I had a few misses while rushing rifle, but it wasn't to bad
Stage 2:
- leave the chair and run to the left box
- shoot 3 steel with rifle, 1x each
- run to the right box and shoot 3 steel with rifle, 1x each. Clear
- Go into the house and from the rooms, shoot 3, 5, 2+ 2 popper, 3, 2 cardboard targets, 2x each (except poppers that only need 1)
Learnings/Outcomes: 11/20 NV, 29/45 Overall
- I missed a few times on the second rifle array for some reason
- I shot an extra 3-4 rounds across the cardboard targets, just in case. I ended up having to do a 2nd mag change because of wasted ammo, even with 17 round mags for pistol, but I wanted to be safe.
- I used a mixture of passive and MAWL on rifle
- I cleared right before time ended
- Some people surprisingly didn't get to the last arrays of cardboard... I'm not sure if they ran out of ammo or ran out of time.
Stage 3:
- Shoot rifle at 3, 2, 2, 2 cardboard from 4 different boxes, going across the bay from left to right, with 2 hits each (avoid no-shoots on the last 2 arrays)
- Clear rifle and put it on the table.
- Use pistol to shoot 2, 2, 2, 3 card suit steel with pistol from L->R, 2x through per array, from each of the 4 boxes coming back right to left along the bay
Learnings/Outcomes: 15/20 NV, 33/45 Overall
- I shot extra rifle a few times to be safe, but I didn't have any rifle misses, at least
- I went passive on rifle all the way to be sure of my holds and to avoid the no-shoots
- I did a pre-emptive mag change on pistol on the move between boxes, which worked out well
- I missed pistol a few times along the way
- I timed out on pistol with 5 targets left
- The time hack was tough on this one.
Stage 4:
- From rocks, shoot 6 steel @100-200yd, 2x through
- Repeat from the tires. Clear and lay rifle on the tire.
- Shoot 5 pistol near to far, 2x through
Learnings/Outcomes: 7/20 NV, 16/45 Overall
- the further targets seemed small, and it was hard to tell where it was vs its shadow, even on the high-powered MAWL setting, but "spray and pray" worked
- I chose the farthest right rock as my prop to minimize the moving distance to the tire, and I liked it because low positions are more stable
- I had a rifle mag change, which caused me to have to reset my pint-sized gamechanger, which fell onto the loewr tire during the change
- I timed out before getting to pistol
- I did the best in my squad other than the RO who was also shooting, though!
Stage 5:
- Shoot 3 left berm steel and 3 right berm steel... from 1) tank trap, 2) barricade, 3) saw horse. Clear rifle and lay it down.
- Complete the Texas star with pistol.
Learnings/Outcomes: 4/20 NV, 19/45 Overall
- Used the MAWL on the low constant setting
- Borrowed a larger gamechanger for more contact on the small tank trap
- Targets were hard to see but manageable
- Fog was accumulating from teh shots, mostly on the tank trap, making it hard to see... I had to wait a bit for it to clear when it built up
- I accidentally racked the rifle before dropping the mag to clear while clearing... I felt the mistake and re-did it
- I also wasted time turning off my MAWL after shooting, for battery's sake... kind of dumb
- The Texas Star was clean until the last target. I went through it pretty quickly, because it was a slow spinner
- I timed out before getting the last plate
- I was the best in my squad... nobody else got to the Star.
- It was my first time doing the star in the dark!
Overall: 12/20 NV, 31/45 Overall
- This was my best finish yet at a MOGO... it helps to have a zeroed laser, which I re-tightened with a binder clip every other stage.
- I didn't re-tighten my pistol WML, but I should've, since it did get loose
- Lots of lum was out tonight, but the MAWL was still necessary on longer distance stages
- The MD did try to keep targets closer this time, after our previous experience with not being able to see targets, even with good IR lights and NODS.
- I should continue bringing the GC
- I was afraid that the 90s PAR times wouldn't be worth the trip out to the match at first, but it was fine.
- I actually have an advantage on longer distance stages with the MAWL and the NODS
- Continue to do proactive mag changes
- Another benefit of dry practice on mag changes (not that I do them) is that you can't see in the dark, so you have to go by muscle memory then anyways.
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