Monday, Sep 7:
5.5 mi ruck with a 30#RPC in 2:29:18 wearing MACV2s, playing Ingress, at Rocky Branch Park for Labor Day.
Then Home - Day 3 - Awaken & Yoga for Anxiety and Overthinking with Adriene.
For dry fire, I did 8 mags of draw and shoot. It took 4 mags to go from inconsistent process and times to being better about snatching the gun and doing the left pinch grip, leading to better times. The other 4 mags went back to not being great, though... not a fruitful day.
Tuesday, Sep 8:
Glute and Pec PT v1 in 30:16, then HDT 31.1.2 (core) in 31:13, which I survived by being careful with my back
Wednesday, Sep 9:
Worked with Emily on shooting with an elevated HR, carrying 2x20#DBs or 1-2 44#SJKs. I was still a little sore from yesterday's workout, too, which made the session more realistic for TTG conditions.
- Need to land stable and with a wide stance
- Take the extra half second to get a stable shot on target, because it'll make the difference between a hit and a miss
- Use my sights
- Actually grip with my left hand
- Follow through on the last shot at a position before moving
- Smaller steps in walk and shoot prevents bouncing
Thursday, Sep 10:
3.5 mi ruck in 1:36:35 at Ren Park and a nearby cemetery, wearing Brooks running shoes that are near the end of their life, playing Ingress and going really easy, since my nervous system might be fried. I didn't go on the trails for long today, because many mosquitos were out.
GORUCK CLT 9/11 25TH ANNIVERSARY LIGHT
There are so many good event options available where I live, every weekend. It's tough to pick. The GORUCK event schedule this time around was different... Friday night light, Saturday morning 12 mile city ruck, Saturday evening Tough. I was used to Friday night Toughs, so I scheduled my flight out to Denver on Sunday morning, thinking I'd be able to do all the GORUCK events. When I discovered that the Tough would start Saturday night and go into Sunday morning, I had to change plans.
I ended up only signing up for the 9/11 Light, and I signed up for the Gun Run at Dewitts for my Saturday activity.
We started at Elizabeth Park and rucked to Moo and Brew. They had a nice outdoor area where our big group could order food and drinks. There were a number of newbies, so I did my best to try to make them feel welcome. I know it can feel weird showing up at a place where you don't know anyone, and even one friendly person can make a world of difference.
On the way back, the 9/11 memorial lights were visible, and we got great views of it from the bridge.
I would say that spending time with other great Americans is a good way to spend 9/11 and honor those that we lost that day and remember everything that's happened since then, with the sacrifices that so many have made for the cause of freedom.
DEWITT'S INDIVIDUAL GUN RUN
To me, the theme of this one was fundamentals. That's what was being tested with the shooting.
Stage 1: <Rifle Only>
- Started loaded at low ready
- On the beep, shoot from the wobbly barricade at 4 targets, L->R, 3x through
Learnings/Outcomes: FAIL (11/114 pass)
- This one was an early kick in the teeth
- The board was wobbly, since it was nailed to tall t-posts in soft ground. I think that was the main cause of my misses.
- I only tried the upper board, since I wasn't sure that all of the targets would be visible from the lower board due to the vegetation
- I had the option to get a third pallet added for more height to minimize the extent to which I'd have to tiptoe, but there was a rifle on that pallet, and it was on the other side of the tent, so I opted to get to shooting.- I only got through 1.5 strings, so it wasn't even close
- I shot from the left corner of the board and t-post for the first 2 targets, but I shifted to the middle of the board for the other two because that felt natural based on the angle of the targets and the position of the pallets
- I couldn't see my misses due to the trees in the background, so there wasn't much feedback
- The targets looked surprisingly small, even with 10x
- I shot 22 rounds during this stage
Stage 2: <Rifle Only>
Coleman's
Since I ran in the morning, I had the afternoon to go over to Coleman's for some more practice...
- Start loaded, at low ready
- On the beep, use the VTAC board to shoot at a 100yd target across the pond (12x20), with 2 hits per port
Learnings/Outcomes: Pass in 57.04 - 48/78 passers/114 total
- I looked through my offset dot for a moment to see if that would be a viable option from the diagonal port, but the target was too far away, and I wanted more magnification. Holds would be hard as it was.
- Initially, I did hold towards the mag like I should, but I forgot to hold high as well... once I added that, I hit
- For prone, I wondered at first if my scope would be too tall, but it was fine. I'm not sure if I had to cant at all.
- The MD said that many people were putting their barrel or suppressor on the barricade, causing high trajectories
- I probably only missed once or twice
(Photo credit: Jimmy Nutt)
Stage 3:
- From low ready and hot
- On the beep, shoot 5 rounds on the cardboard target with t-shirt with rifle, then go on safe
- Transition to pistol and make 5 hits on a 12" gong at 30yd
- Go back to rifle, and using any position (through prone might not have been an option due to vegetation), shoot diamond, left torso, diamond, right torso, 2x through
Learnings/Outcomes: Pass in 57.39 - 49 / 90 passers / 114 total
- I used my offset dot for the cardboard, and it was fast
- Pistol wasn't clean, and I thought it was me, but the MD said during his AAR that the target was hard since it wasn't big but it was somewhat far... also, I discovered post-match that my pistol dot was loose
- I didn't try prone for rifle, since vegetation seemed high. I used kneeling while sitting on my right foot, which was not perfect, but acceptable
- The rifle CoF was a bit complex, but the RO helped out
Stage 4: <Rifle Only> with 60s PAR time vs 90s for the other stages
- Load rifle on the clock
- Shoot 1 standing, 1 kneeling or seated, 1 prone on a 12x18" torso @100yd
Learnings/Outcomes: Pass in 21.24 - 45 / 108 passers / 114 total
- I had to do unsupported prone due to vegetation... it's good that I've had to practice that before!
- I might've shot it clean?
- On a stage this quick, you want to have everything squared away with your gear, since every second counts in the rankings
Stage 5: <Pistol Only>
- On the beep, shoot the array of 4x8" gongs, L->R
- Holster and move one of three implements to the opposite stick (sandbag, jerry can, or ammo can)
- At the other stick, draw and shoot the array again L->R
- Optionally keep the gun out and downrange and run back to the first stick
- Repeat until all three items are at the other stick and you've shot the array one last time at the other stick
Learnings/Outcomes: Pass in 76.01 - 35/68 passers / 114 total
- I shot 27 rounds (24 would've been clean)
- Beforehand, I undid the bungee on my belt for easier reloads
- I missed 2x on the rightmost target from stick 2 on the first go, and 1x on the same target on the last go
- I forgot L->R at first, since the right target was closest to me
- The objects were slightly heavy but doable for this short distance
Stage 6:
- On the beep, go prone and load rifle
- Shoot 3 on the torso, drop mag, and shoot 1 on the diamond at 50yd
- Crawl forward 1 yard under the "barbed wire"
- Repeat the rifle CoF
- Crawl forward 1 yard
- Stand up and shoot the torso with pistol 4x
- If you missed the diamond with rifle at all, do makeup shots as needed, standing unsupported
Learnings/Outcomes: Pass in 83.24 - 59 / 70 passers / 114 total
- I shot 16 pistol rounds trying to get my 4 hits (learning later that my dot was loose)
- I shot rifle clean
- After I did my first mag release of rifle for the HVT, I had one round sticking out, which I had to strip before being able to load that mag again
- When I did hit pistol, I was using something close to my 100yd hold, even though this was at 50yd maybe
- Shooting the HVT prone with no mag was like shooting unsupported again
(Photo credit: Jimmy Nutt)
Overall
- 23/114 overall, 15/114 run, 39/114 shoot
- I didn't feel like I was running that fast
- I did hang out and talk to more people than usual after I finished my run
- There wasn't much pistol shooting today, so I didn't even need to top off my mags
Coleman's
Since I ran in the morning, I had the afternoon to go over to Coleman's for some more practice...
I did the U-shaped movement drills again. I realized that the ported pistol's dot was loose, so I switched to my backup gun with occlusion to do the drills. I'm messy on the middle target for some reason, vs the left and right ones, so I need to take my time and follow through on the transitions.
After about 500 rounds, I realize that my shots were all towards the right because my zero was towards the right. I thought it was me the whole time. I wondered whether it was due to occlusion... I think I've heard that some people will get a POI shift. I'd have to test that later un-fatigued.
Next, I went to the forest bay to do some tripod rear practice with a Schmedium GC. I figured out my process.
1. Bag on prop
2. Gun on target
3. Cheek on gun
4. Left hand paw
5. Right hand grip
I only worked this standing and stuck with pure barricade for kneeling, since I don't have enough mobility and strength while kneeling/seated to deal with the heavy gun plus the tripod.
I did need to start with the tripod not so far away, to make the dragging easier.
It was harder to get the tripod on the stock when I was wearing my binos, but I normally made do.
I did comparisons of barricade only to tripod rear, and tripod rear was definitely more stable.
I could see the benefit of having a big soft pad on the stock, since I was working with the thin strip of rubber on the butt stock.
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