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Friday, April 4, 2025

Mammoth Lead-up Prep 2025

TRAINING & PREP LEAD-UP


Cramming on rifle dope prep!  Fortunately, we had an extra week of prep time this year.


Sunday, Dec 29:

After getting home from Denver, I did 4 miles around the neighborhood at a 13:39/mi pace.  I wanted to get back under a ruck with a little bit of intensity.


Monday, Dec 30:

Field stripped my Peak Meals and loaded up my pack with the new rifle for the first time.





Tuesday, Dec 31:

Even though we couldn't be together in person for NYE now that I was back at home, we did a Family Facetime.




Wednesday, Jan 1:

My friend posted a little IG challenge to do this song with movements... the "Sea Shanty Challenge".  It was fun to figure out, kind of like learning the steps to a dance.  I'm not a dancer, so this is about as close as I get.  You want to visualize it and practice it in your mind as much as possible, and even move your body slightly without actually doing it, so that you don't smoke yourself with a bunch of failed attempts.  Make the attempts count!




Afterwards, I did 18A "Upper Body Prep" in 27:51, followed by HDT 31.1.2 (core) in 29:34.


Thursday, Jan 2:

Flow - Day 16 - Kindness & Prana - Day 1 Yoga with Adriene


Friday, Jan 3:

It was time to get more comfortable with using my new lightweight gun on props while shooting at steel.  I kept it at 242yd and 580yd, since I'd be chasing further targets and rather focus on the props with hittable targets.



A bonus of night shoot weekends at Coleman's is that you get to enjoy some beautiful sunsets, too.





Once it got dark, I headed to the 2-gun bays, set up my own steel, and shot pistol and rifle, from various positions.  My MAWL is off, and I need to adjust its zero.


Saturday, Jan 4:

I stayed overnight nearby, so that I could get in another day at the range the next day.



Zero

I started with zeroing and made a 0.2 mil adjustment left.  


KD Range

Then, it was time to hit the KD range to try to figure out dope for Mammoth.

- I figured out what I needed for 100yd, 600yd, 1200yd, 800yd, 900yd, 400yd, 600yd again, 1200yd again.
- I tended to need about 0.3 mil of elevation difference at 1000yd (with about linear deviations) from what Kestrel was giving me, which was a bit confounding
- I'd later end up trying out a few different BCs that others had inputted in the bullet library for my bullet, to try to make the numbers line up better.  I settled on 0.285.


Prop Bay

SB and I did repeated build and breaks from modified prone and a cattle gate, on 242yd and 580yd targets.  We did some live and did some dry.  It is good to see times go down after a few reps.




Always do pre-stage checks!  It's a lesson you'll learn often, if you don't!


Pistol Bay

Did a little pistol tune-up, just 2 mags worth, from 10 to 30yd... "slow squeeze back" is the ticket.


Check Zero

Did 5 more shots, to see where my velocity was... it was about 9fps lower on average with 5 shots... factory ammo is all over the place anyways.


Sunday, Jan 5:

It was chilly in my house!



I worked on dope cards from the comfort of my bed.



I also did Glute and Pec PT v2 in 30:06, followed by Glute and Pec PT v1 in 26:30.


Monday, Jan 6:

Prana - Day 2 & Day 4 Yoga with Adriene


Tuesday, Jan 7:

I had to re-loctite my red dot on my new CZ, after it had somehow gotten loose with just the built-in blue material during my last Coleman's trip.  

I made a trip to Blackstone to check zero after the re-loctite.  Zero held, fortunately.

I also tried out the iron sights on the new CZ for the first time.  Sprays a little high at 7yd, but passable, I guess.

For Mammoth, though, I combined the new CZ upper with the old CZ lower, since I liked the smushiness of the trigger on the old CZ better.  It's good to have options!

Load-out picture time!




Wednesday, Jan 8:

Yoga for Concentration and Mental Focus & Prana - Day 3 Yoga with Adriene

Thursday, February 20, 2025

Denver Holidays 2024

Thursday, Dec 19:

Flew into Denver.

Picked up my sister after she got off of work.


Friday, Dec 20:

While my sister was sleeping, 


I went to the gym and did HDT-KB 10.1.2 (core) in 19:52 with a 30#KB, followed by HDT-KB 10.2.1 (core) in 47:35.  It was my first time signing up for Heavy Drop Training's KB program.  It was some good stuff!  I hadn't realized how many different variations of pretty unique KB exercises there were!

We went to the nice rooftop lounge area in her condo complex for some tea...


and then we hiked at Boulder, making it to the Royal Arch this time, after an abandoned attempt last time in summer 2023 when the rocks were wet.



It was actually more slick this year because of some patches of ice.  We made it, though!



My mom didn't come all the way to the top.  There were some pretty steep parts on the back portion of the trail.



When we reached the arch, one group happened to be leaving, and we got alone time up there for quite a while before a flood of other groups all came in at once.  We had arrived just at the right time!  My sister said that in the summer, this trail is soooo crowded.


We reconnected with my mom and made our way back...





We covered about 4 miles in about 4 hours.



Saturday, Dec 21:

More delicious decaf...





And more gym, with my parents popping in for some gym time, too, which was fun to see...




I did 18A "Lower Prep BW" in 19:52, then I ran 4 miles at zone 2 on the treadmill on a 2* incline nose breathing, in 53:09 (13:17/mi).  I had to stop after that for a bathroom break, but I came back to do another 4 miles in zone 2 (pushing into zone 3) in 54:15 (13:34/mi) in GORUCK Ballistic Trainers.  The shoes felt great, even though they're not made for running specifically.  It does help that treadmills are a forgiving surface.

In the evening, we took the free mall bus deep into downtown and watched a drone holiday show.  The show featured many landmarks in Denver, which was fun.  It was a good show.





We hopped back on the bus to go to the Christmas Market.  It's fun to hand out under the light tree and watch the show that is accompanied by music.



I also got to see the souvenirs and crafts portion of the market this time.  I didn't know it existed the last time I came.  Last time, I had only seen a handful of German food vendors with long lines, so this was more fun.


Sunday, Dec 22:

One unintended great thing about PATHFINDER Ruck Training is that it gives me extra incentives to read books, since it's worth challenge credit.  Now was a great time to finally get to "With Winning in Mind" by Lanny Bassham, since it's about how you can train by visualizing and improving mental self-talk.   This is perfect while on vacation and away from my guns.  I had lots of great takeaways from the book.


  • Importance of "pro" words in communication, since it's spoken words that will stick (don't waste time talking about what *not* to do, especially on the clock)
  • Tunnel vision and auditory exclusion are easy to fall into during the stage, when I'm so [rightfully, in some ways] focused on executing the process.  There's a strong possibility that the process is taking 100% of my subconscious and conscious mind.  If someone has something important to tell me, they may need to do something more drastic to get my attention.
  • Have patience as I make my shot.  Let me focus on executing my process and doing what I can do.  It may take more time with a lighter gun, but I'm working on making the perfect shot that will hit.
  • The goal (which should be process-focused, not outcome-focused and related to rankings) should be pistol hits.  Take all the time in teh world to make all the hits.  Any rifle points are bonuses after that.
  • Having less gear is a strength.  There's less decision fatigue, less to think about and deal with, less to physically carry and be slowed down and fatigued by.  We know our handful of tools and can use them well.  The others will be fumbling with gear that they don't know as well and will waste time trying to switch among all kinds of choices.
  • Competitive advantages that we have: sleeping better, recovering better, staying warm and fresh.  This will allow us to perform better during rucks and shooting.
  • The book reinforces what I've discovered this year about the value of visualization before the first stage of the match, to get rid of first stage jitters, since the first time will be in my mind, and I'll be fully in the zone when I actually run the first stage.

We went to a big Goodwill store.  I got a mini weight plate to help me meet weight for a GBF 14ers event.  I also got Quiddler, which is pretty fun.


At the gym, I did HDT-KB 10.1.1 (arms) in 24:00, followed by Glute and Pec PT v1 in 24:50.


Monday, Dec 23:

We took my sister to Dinosaur Ridge.  She had never been there before, but I had, with my dad, back during our Geowoodstock trip in 2016.  The story behind this place is that while they were constructing a new road, they discovered dinosaur footprints, so they preserved it and turned it into a park.  Pretty cool!









We covered 3 miles in about 2 hours.


Later, I did Day 10 - Uplift | MOVE & Day 30 - Pause | BREATH Yoga with Adriene.


Tuesday, Dec 24:

In the morning, I did HDT-KB 10.2.2 (legs) in 38:28, which was mostly BW and good for stabilizer muscles, though too much for my left knee, in retrospect.  Afterwards, I did HDT-KB 10.3.CP "Santa's Baby", a 25 min BW AMRAP with 9 rounds and 2 reps, including a minute of helping my mom take a video of her on the rower.

Play time with my mom...


and with my sister's BF's cat "Daisy", who I call "Biscuit"...


Biscuit isn't really a people person, but she was cool with me snuggling with her.


Wednesday, Dec 25:

Christmas morning!


And then a trip into the Dungeons of the condos, to retrieve a Hedwig stuffed animal that had been stashed away in storage.  

My sister and I watched a Harry Potter movie each night over a projector, and we wanted to have Hedwig with us.





Thursday, Dec 26:

At around lunchtime, I did a mini treadmill interval workout on a 2 degree incline.  I started with a 7mph warmup for 1 mile, then 2x [0.5 mi @ 8.5mph, 0.25 mi @ 7mph], 1x 0.25 mi @ 8.5mph, 0.25 mi @ 7mph].  I had to stop after that because cardio was my limiter.  The GORUCK Ballistic Trainers worked well again.  I covered 3 miles in 23:43 (7:54/mi average).  

Afterwards, I did HDT-KB 10.2.3 (ARMS) in 50:45.

I had already wanted to have 6 Warmies to sleep in the bed with me.  I happened to come across one on sale at Whole Foods after Christmas.  

After having such a good cuddling experience with Biscuit, I couldn't resist!


My mom liked him, too.  


I named him "Triscuit", since he's that color, and it rhymes with "Biscuit".


Friday, Dec 27:

My sister has books in her bathroom.  I found one that I had been wanting to look into, so I took the opportunity to read that.  "How to Win Friends and Influence People" was written by Dale Carnegie.  I had always pictured him as a Machiavellian rich guy, but he actually seems like a genuine dude with some good advice.




In addition to finishing the book, I also did Yoga for Text Neck & Dedicate - Day 15 - Reveal Yoga with Adriene.


Saturday, Dec 28:

In the morning, I did HDT-KB 10.3.3 (core) in 54:16.

In the afternoon, my dad, sister, and I went to Mount Falcon Park to do a little hiking.  My mom was catching something, so she stayed behind.  

It was a neat little park with some ruins.  It would be a good place to run in the summer, because it wasn't super technical.














We spotted an albino deer from far away.


We covered 4 miles in about 2.5 hours.



We also saw a fun sign.



My sister and I worked on a puzzle over the holidays, but it wasn't an easy one, and we didn't finish by the time I left, and my sister gave up on it after I left.



I went home early in the morning the next day.  As fun as Denver was, I was also eager to get back to Mammoth prep!