During the week, I went out to Ohio for a work trip:
I squeezed in the HDT Round 35 baseline PT test of 42 prisoner squats in 1 min, 40 pushups in 2 min, 65 situps in 2 min, 62 burpees in 5 min, and a 7:42 1 miler at a 2 degree treadmill incline. You get to pick your running distance, so I went the easiest route I ever took, with 1 mile. Often, I'll do 2 miles, since that matches the APFT, but since I was traveling and still recovering from pneumonia, 1 mile was awesome. Some people even do less than 1 mile, I think. My mileage for this test has decreased over time. My first round of HDT, I did 5 miles. After that, it was typically 2 miles (once, it was 5K). HDT is already a lot of work, even if you do the bare minimum for 100% completion.
After the baseline test, I did 7:48 of 2x10# dumbell work for 4 rounds. Each round consisted of 10 curls, 10 OH press, 10 "monkey curls", 10 high pulls), followed by 3 rounds of (2 min high plank, 1 min wall sit) for 40 min of total work.
Thursday, Dec 8:
My trip was near Cleveland, which happened to be near Cuyahoga National Park, so I stopped by for 6 miles of walking before my flight home. Running would've been more efficient and a little more fun, but I couldn't get sweaty right before I got on the plane.
(Brandywine Falls)
(Beaver Marsh)
(Ledges)
ANDY 3
Friday, Dec 9:
Went out to Virginia again to train with Andy.
Got some great packing tips...
Did some mock stages:
Mock Stage 1:
Always do pre-stage checklists
If you see wind, take it into account, because it will bite you as you try to shoot farther
For every 100yd further, add another 0.1mil hold for FV
I can halve whatever wind a 5.56 holds, for my 6mm
Mock Stage 2:
Call "primary" or "secondary" along with your target, before shooting
The person not shooting first should be on binos for finding and ranging, for efficiency
If you know that you shot the wrong target, say it, so that your spotting partner knows why they saw nothing when looking at the correct target
Writing dope, and not the range, is more helpful, once we range and figure out dope
Spotter can "leave" the shooter if they're comfortable going on alone, so that the spotter can prep their next shot.
Mock Stage 3:
When you have a choice, go for closer targets first.
Don't repeat the same hold over and over again if you're missing - move 1/2 a target plus 0.1 mil in the most likely correction direction, at a minimum
Practice intentional misses to help your spotter understand what misses in different directions look like, relative to the target on different backings
You can put binos on the GC for extra stability
Mock Stage 4:
Binos in the middle work, when you need to share and you're close enough to each other
Mock Stage 5:
For defilades, ideally, you find a landmark of some sort that is directly above the target, so that you only have to worry about holding in one dimension.
Dialing is easier to manage and adjust from than holding
Overall:
Don't question firm orders from your partner on the clock... they must see something that you don't. Do first, discuss later.
"Find work"
You don't need to worry as much about a level bubble, if your target is close
Practice build and breaks to get faster each time
Scan to get different range readings, to verify which number really belongs to your target
Also picked up some tripod tricks:
MORE RUCKING
Saturday, Dec 10:
Strict ruck for HDT with a 50#R in MACV1s. This was the first time I used a strict ruck distance for HDT that was >2 miles. So while I decreased my running distance, I increased my rucking distance. The weight was also bumped up, from my usual 30# to 50#, since this round and the previous round were about Mammoth prep.
I was too tired to do this the previous day, after being awake for about 36 hours straight, between Ohio and Virginia, but it I got it in today. PATHFINDER has a back-to-back rucking challenge, which goes up in distance with each one (vs going down, like you'd see in most training plans), so I started with 4 today in 55:24. My goal was to do it all within a 16 min/mi pace, since that's the requirement for Mammoth. This challenge is good for Mammoth, since Mammoth is 3 days of rucking.
Sunday, Dec 11:
50# Rucker 20Lv3 wearing Altra Torin Plush, which I had to stop and re-tie 3x within the first mile. I went for 6 miles in 1:27:54, bordering between strict rucking and shuffling. Played lots of Pokemon.
Monday, Dec 12:
Wrapped up the back-to-back challenge with an 8 mile ruck in 1:57:04. It was good that I managed to finish this challenge, although it will be much more mileage for the real thing, plus shooting and not getting ideal rest each night from camping and being outdoors 24/7.
I had dropped my wallet one the plane, but there is goodness in the world in the form of the cleaners checking the plane in Charleston where the plane had gone after it landed in CLT, and I got it back intact. When I got the call while I was at Andy's, it was the best news.
Tuesday, Dec 13:
Yoga Camp Day 2 | Create with Adriene. Good and slow, lots of free-styling.
Wednesday, Dec 14:
HDT BW&R 35.1.1 (arms) for 40 min, followed by HDT 35.1.2 (core) for 47 min. It was decent active recovery. This was my first time doing HDT with the body weight and ruck variation, instead of the sandbag and ruck variation. HDT is known for its sandbag program, and that's its differentiator, so if you're going to spend the extra money for HDT, ideally do SB. But I was nearing Mammoth and needed to taper, and it wouldn't hurt to have some BW&R workouts in the bank, so it was good timing to give it a try when I was able to get the program at a discount. I flew solo again this round, since I wouldn't get all the work in when Mammoth came around.
Friday, Dec 16:
I carried about 30# in the Mammoth ruck to mimic its actual ruck-only weight, and I hand-carried a 20# sandbag as a substitute for the rifle. Due to the shape of the Osprey Ariel 55, a shoulder carry wasn't going to work for the sandbag, anyways.
I tested out Salomon S-Lab trail racing shoes, but they didn't provide enough arch support, which was good to know. I'd stick with my Salomon Speedcross or the Altra Lone Peaks (it ended up being a fresh pair of the former).
I went 4 laps around the USNWC with the ruck club, and then did the Lights trail at the end. This year, the Lights trail had a bunch of lit-up balloons, instead of artwork inspired by nature. Each balloon's design was themed after one of the USNWC's competitions or events, or local outdoor spots.
Saturday, Dec 17:
HDT 35.1.CP (God of Chaos) 30 min ruck AMRAP with 30#, with 1 round and 157 reps, followed by a 1 mile run in 8:07 in the Kinvaras.
Sunday, Dec 18:
Yoga for weight loss - Strengthen and Lengthen with Adriene. I was sore in my hamstrings and even in my upper body.
going through different DFAT targets at 100yd intervals, practicing a shot process of
bolt back
dial next position
move
find target
bolt forward
level
shoot
I used the pint-sized gamechanger, which was easier to move, although it is a bit harder to always get the height that you want.
Thursday, Nov 17:
1 mile warmup ruck, then CHAD1000X, then 1 mile back, with a 20#RPC. Brandon had already done his, so he did other exercises, instead.
Friday, Nov 18:
Yoga for Beginners with Annie Clarke from Lululemon. Slow is good when your body needs it.
Saturday, Nov 19:
HDT 34.5.1 (CORE) in 51 min in the morning before precision rifle training. I've had a sore throat since Monday. I did 4 miles with 50# using my new Osprey Ariel 55 at a 15:52 pace, though.
Some older guys at the FOP let us play with some of their rifles with suppressors and shoot skeet, which was fun. I didn't hit a single clay pigeon, though.
We practiced some 90 degree canted shooting with PRs for the first time. We've done it with ARs, but with PRs, depending on how far it is and how big the target is, I feel like you might need to be more exact in your calculations.
We ran through some mock stages. We also practiced talking each other onto and ranging different things that we saw at the range.
Sunday, Nov 20:
HDT 34.5.3 (ARMS) in 50 min, then I got a drink, then I did HDT 34.5.2 (Legs) in 40:39 for PT with a 1 mile coupon ruck with a 30#R and 60#SB in 20:15.
HDT 34.5.CP (Jump Release) 25 min BW AMRAP, followed by 2 mile run in 23:57, then 2 mile ruck in the Altra Torin Plush in 39:52. My voice was half gone today.
Wednesday, Nov 23:
HDT 34.6.3 (Core) in 54 min, then HDT 34.6.CP (Sanddoom) 20 min AMRAP with a 30#SB with 11 rounds and 29 reps. I was doing HDT solo, since I knew my focus wasn't 100% strength and program completion. HDT was just going to help me in my goals of getting strong enough to manage the rifle and ruck. With WTM in play, as well, not overtraining and getting adequate recovery was #1. When I'm serious about HDT and plan to complete everything, then I sign up for a battle buddy.
Thursday, Nov 24:
12 mile timed ruck in 2:58:40 with 30# in the v3 Rucker, wearing Salomon X Missions. I drank about 1/3L at 6 miles and again at 9 miles. I didn't eat, but craved carbs and salt in the last miles, wanting corn soup and apple. I was still sick, but at least I could cough and spit on the ground easily while I was outside, instead of using infinity tissues.
Friday, Nov 25:
HDT 34.6.2 (arms) in 43 min, followed by HDT 34.6.1 (LEGS) in 58 min. I had sweet bean soup in between, like my parents used to make when I was a kid (with a different kind of bean, though).
Free donuts at Blackstone!
I did dry fire on Saturday and more live fire on Sunday, too.
I had been having trouble sleeping from the amount of mucus that I was generating, though. I finally went out to get some OTC stuff one night, when I was desperate for rest. Not being able to sleep, even when you're tired, is torture. I don't know how people deal with it. The experience made me so grateful that in America, we can just drive a few miles to go to a 24/7 pharmacy to get some relief, and to have money to afford it. And if I was extremely desperate (which I was, on and off), I could go to urgent care.
Monday, Nov 28:
3 miles with a 50#R in a 20L v3 Rucker wearing MACV1s, on pavement, with 246 feet of gain, with no poles. I stopped brefore feeling like I needed to dig deep, because I was just starting to recover from the meds. I went at a 12:54 pace. I could've done 2 more miles at this pace if I dug deeper.
Tuesday, Nov 29:
Yoga Revolution - Day 24 - Practice Patience with Adriene. It was harder to focus on proper form, and I had more trouble breathing than usual, after being diagnosed with pneumonia. I didn't notice breathing issues during that fast ruck yesterday, but I felt it during yoga! Odd.
I didn't go to urgent care because I didn't think it would get better on its own, but SB urged me to go, so that I'd be 100% by Mammoth. I guess if I had pneumonia, it was a good thing that I went.
TPG @ THE ARENA
This was my third TPG event. I love this series, for a variety of reasons.
- Each event takes advantage of unique features of the venue, to give you a special experience that you don't normally get (ex: car rollover simulators, ATV rides, live fire shoot house, etc).
- Nice swag
- Good branding of the venue itself, with logos and stuff everywhere, making it feel like an experience.
- Day and night shooting stages
- Photo packages available, for some cool action shots
- Awesome prizes for top 3 in each division!
I drove 6.5 hours (plus breaks) down to Blakely, GA, for their December event.
I drove most of the way down on Friday, and then slept in a parking lot for a few hours before finishing the last bit of the drive on Saturday morning. After my previous TPG experience where I encountered "minimum" round counts instead of exact round counts for the first time, I brought 3x the published round count this time... at least that was the intention, which I did for pistol ammo, but I forgot to bring my extra rifle ammo, so I did worry about conserving that during the event.
We had mixed squads this time, so the one other female competitor was with me, which was good, along with 1 elite male, and a bunch of intermediate males. I didn't even know that I'd have another female competitor until the morning of, because nobody else showed up in Practiscore when I had checked. The more the merrier, though! I want to see the sport grow, with more females, in particular, and I want people to beat, haha.
I had gone to the Arena for the Guardian Long Range team match a month prior, so I knew the route and had a sense of the layout of the range, which was good.
I planned to try 77gr IMI 5.56 for the first time at this match, since I had encountered some longer range (up to 500yd) rifle shots at the last TPG and wanted to do better at those. I used JBM Ballistics to get some baseline numbers for holds, using the chrono data that I got at my last trip to the FOP.
At this match, the IPSIC shots would be scored a special way:
A zone = 5pt, C zone = 3pt, D zone = 1pt
You can shoot as many times as you need, to get 8 points to effectively neutralize a target.
Stage 3: Get a Grip
- Jog through the woods
- Chop a railroad tie segment between your legs
- Move to the shoot area, and hit 3 targets from the right side (2 IPSIC and 1 Mario target), and hit 1 target (1 IPSIC) from the left side of a taller wall, with pistol.
- Move to the pavilion and shoot IPSIC steel, followed by 6 plates in a rack, followed by the IPSIC steel again, with rifle. You're allowed to brace on a vertical post, but you must shoot standing
- Move forward to shoot 4 targets (3 IPSIC, 1 MARIO) with pistol.
- Push an ATV to the next bay
- Shoot 2 steel movers alternating targets from 25yd, going at 5mph, 4 hits total, move up to the 15yd line and repeat.
- Push the ATV back
10s penalty/miss, 60s penalty for failure to do work.
I was the first to go. A few feet into the start of the run, my calf cramped up, and it stayed cramped for the remainder of the event. That was really weird. It seems like it can't be electrolyte-induced, since it's not like I had done anything yet that day, and nothing was that abnormal about my diet leading up to teh event. It caused me to limp, whether I was walking or running, from then on. At least I could still move, though. I did have an energy drink, but that was the only thing that I don't do on a day-to-day basis, but it's not like I never have caffeinated drinks. I will, before big events. I did sleep in the car the night before, but I do that at many events, too.
I lost my hat while slinging and unslinging for the ATV part, so I stopped wearing my hat after that, for stages where I'd need to unsling.
My rifle was going everywhere during the ATV push, which was challenging. I gave up on the push a few feet into it, so that I could get to the pistol portion and earn 8 more points.
They decided to change the ATV push part for the women to make it less impossible, and gave me a chance to rerun if I wanted to. We got to start the push from on the concrete, which actually added a few more inches of push distance, but may give us a bit more of a chance at a rolling start. I had shot clean, but I decided to go for it anyways, if only for the experience of running the stage and shooting movers again. I cleaned it the second time, too, and got in one leg of push, at least. It did take energy, so it's a gamble, but I'm in it for the shooting experience, and I'm reasonably fit.
I did forget to hit the IPSIC the second time on my second run, but the ROs help with that. I had been surprised about others making that mental mistake, and had not made that mistake during my first run, but it shows what being tired or distracted does to you.
The movers weren't hard, since the targets were big. I could point and shoot, and didn't need to worry much about ambushing.
Stage 4: Run Forest Run
This one was complicated.
- On the beep, run down the hill, but balancing on a series of tires. If you touch the ground, it's a 30s penalty. If you know you're likely to fall, especially on the last leap between tires, it's not a bad plan to "fall" onto the ground early on. I went for it, though, in the spirit of the game, and made it.
- Run up the stairs to the second level of a connex stack, and then a 90s timer starts for you to shoot 6 steel from the door, ranging from 10-25yd. Then, move to a window with a table in front of it, and shoot the same steel.
- Go down the stairs and up to the third connex level, on the roof, and shoot at 10 rifle targets at 280, 100, 125, 489, 400, and 280yd, from a tire. You have 90s max.
- Go down to a series of rocks and shoot at the same rifle steel, with a 90s time cap.
- Run 0.75mi out and 0.75 mi back, collecting proof at the far end, that you got there
Pistol was fine, and I even braced when a solid object was available.
The rifle targets were so difficult for me to hit. I prepped a dope card based on my rifle, ammo, and chrono, but it didn't help. Based on the results, I probably had 12 missed targets and 8 hit targets. I did take into account wind. It was windy, but mainly at 6 oclock, with some small angles sometimes, though.
Stage 1: Be Nimble Be Quick
- 6 min PAR time
- On the beep, run up to the hill and shoot 6 paddles on the dueling tree about 15 yards away.
- Load the rifle and shoot 4 IPSIC targets at 200yd from either behind the tunnel or on top of the hill (shooter's choice)... I chose to prone out on the hill.
- Unload rifle and go through the tunnel and over a gazebo railing
- Go up to a barrel wall and shoot through the barrel wall window at 5 pistol targets
- Move left to a grate, load rifle, and shoot at the 4 IPSICs again, which are now about 150yd away, from prone.
- Move left to a 3-sided shooting position made up of tires, and shoot at the rifle targets again at 150yd
- Move forward to a wooden bunker with a window, and shoot unsupported pistol at 5 targets kneeling, then switch to unsupported rifle to hit the 4 IPSICs at 125yd.
- Crawl through the bunker window, under the grate, over the gazebo railing, through the tunnel, and back to the start.
This was the only stage that I ended up cleaning, and I was really happy about how it went.
In a bay with many props and barriers, you may need to shift to see your target, sometimes.
Stage 2: Soccer Moms
- 6 min PAR
- Start in the driver's seat of a minivan.
- On the beep, move to the middle row of the van, and shoot 3 IPSIC silhouettes and 5 steel with your pistol, ranging from 7-25yd away
- Grab your rifle from the shotgun seat, and shoot at 5 rifle steel at 220, 220, 220, 330, and 330, left to right.
- Drag a 120# dummy about 10yd
- Low crawl under "barbed wire" string for about 5yd, with your rifle
- Carry a 40#SB and put it in the back of a dump truck, and climb into the truck
- From the truck, shoot 2 IPSIC cardboards and 3 steel from 7-25yd with pistol
- Shoot at the same rifle targets as before, which are now about 30yd farther due to the distance you've moved since your last position
- Carry the SB back, low crawl again, and drag the dummy again to finish
I had to give up on some rifle targets to not end up timing out. About 3 tries is the max you can afford.
I knew from Guardian that I would have trouble shooting from the top of the dump truck due to my height, but he said that the targets would be visible from the left wall, which it was, surprisingly.
I missed about 6 rifle shots.
Stage 6: Night Mobility
- 90s PAR
- Start on a platform with hands on the rail.
- On the beep, shoot 3 close IPSIC cardboard targets and 5 steel, including a piano key at mid-distance, with white light
- Turn off the light and go down the platform and up the hill to the KD pavilion to shoot at 4 steel at 100yd through a hole in the railroad tie wall.
- Then move over one lane to shoot off a hose slack line at the same 4 steel targets
I took my time on pistol, because I expected to time out during the movement to the rifle area. Plus, I could barely see the rifle targets with my rifle light when I was testing out the light before the stage. My rifle lights give me so many issues.
The white cardboard targets nearly washed out my red dot. The steel that was farther away didn't give me this issue, though, because there was less light bouncing back at me.
I do wonder whether I would've pushed my run and speed more, if there was more competition in my division.
Supposedly, the rifle targets would've been easy to hit, because the position was very stable.
This was the first TPG match where they made NVG a side match from the start, so the primary match is with white light, to create an even playing field. I didn't have NVGs, so I just observed people with NVGs blaze through the stage (observed as much as one can in a no-light situation).
Stage 5: Night Moves
- 90s PAR
- Start at the barrel wall with window, with hands on the wall
- Shoot through the window at 5 pistol targets
- Switch to rifle and shoot 4 IPSICs at 150yd
- Move to the wooden hut with the window, and shoot the same 4 IPSIC at 125yd
- Switch to pistol and shoot 5 pistol targets
I timed out before the second pistol portion.
Rifle was good when I had light.
After I finished shooting, I hung around to watch what I could from NVG competitors. It's crazy that so much can go on without you being able to see it with your naked eyes.
Takeaways:
Pistol is solid.
Rifle at distance needs a lot of figuring out. I had a fairly large spread even at 25yd, though, so maybe I shouldn't be surprised when I shoot that way at a target that's a similar size but 20x the distance.
I need to figure out my rifle light situation.
Sunday, Dec 4:
Yoga for Creativity with Adriene. Slow, just like I needed it. Easy but effective movements. I was perfect, after TPG and after sleeping in a car for the last 2 nights. I had slept in a parking lot Friday night after driving down to GA, and after TPG ended late at night, I slept there again before making the drive back home.
