TRAINING LEAD-UP
Sunday, Jan 9:
HDT SIAS 15 min AMRAP with a 40#SB, covering 4 rounds and 27 reps, followed by the Green Beret Fitness Operation Endure Hansen+ WOD in 32 min with a 30# ruck. I wanted /needed upper body work today.
Did 3 miles afterwards with 30# in the Speed Rucker, wearing Ballistic Trainers, for active recovery and blood flow.
Monday, Jan 10:
Adventure Race Brick: (inspired by SB, who got the idea from her past triathlon training)
- Biked 5.75 miles on the road and on the wooded trail for 38 min
- Ran.1 mile in 8:24
- Biked 4.5 miles in 34 min, with a bike mounted light because it was dark by then
- Ran 1 mile in 7:47
No chamois, no issue. Did take a bathroom break after each bike session.
Gear prep for the Sea to Sea Adventure Race:
Thursday, Jan 13:
Mobility | MOVE - 30 day yoga journey with Adriene for 23 min.
Friday, Jan 14:
PATHFINDER Compete PT Test #4: 48 pushups, 81 situps, 13 squat cleans @60#, 14 push press @60#SB/30#R, 110s dead hang with 30#R.
GUN RUN TEAM MATCH @ SAWMILL
This year was the first year they offered an HTB version of Bragg, the king of all rucks. The HTB finisher patch looked really cool, but I had to make the tough but necessary decision to only do the T/B, so that I wasn't still smoked by the time the 72 hour Sea to Sea adventure race rolled around. I needed to be at my best for that, for the team.
It's still cool to get to do the T/B, though, and I know that I'd be a welcome sight for the HTBers who would need fresh reinforcements by the time the Tough rolled around.
Another benefit of only doing the T/B was that I could squeeze in a GunRun Team match on Saturday morning. My usual battle buddy SB couldn't make it, but that meant that I could try the event with a different partner who I also enjoy hanging out with and all around fantastic guy - Pete. This would be his first time doing a G&R event, so I was excited to introduce another tactical athlete like him to this event format. G&Rs are so much fun, especially the team variation. We had a 9:50am run time, which would allow me to run and then head out from SC to Bragg afterwards.
The minimum round count was 40 rile, 35 pistol, but I brought 7 mags of pistol and 4 of rifle, to be safe. I finished with 10 pistol, 45 rifle left over.
We began with a litter carry with a log, over to the obstacle course, where we did a cargo net, wall, and pommel logs (sternum checker), and then we carried the litter back to the start line.
Stage 1:
The first stage was the connex, which we failed, but 65% of the teams failed this, too. The PAR time was 180s... it's typically longer for team matches, than it is for individual matches, where the cap is usually 90s.
Shooter 1 goes to the third floor to hit a silhouette target at 130yd with 3 shots from each of 3 shapes on the VTAC board, onto a 2/3 IPSIC torso. Bottom right = big triangle. Top left = diagonal shot, where I struggled to see the target because the port was so high, but the RO pointed out that there was a pallet nearby that I could pull over and stand on, but I wasted about 40s in the meantime. The middle port was a big square.
While I was doing all of that, Pete had started with pistol on the ground level, hitting 2 shots on the body and 1 to the head, on 2 targets, before he grabbed an ammo can to run up the stairs to where I was still working. He had to wait there on the side until I finished.
Once I finally finished my rifle shots, he could come over, and then I had to communicate to him what ports to use and which target to hit, but I wasn't allowed to name any shapes, or point, so you have to get creative with your wording. I made a mistake and forgot that where the target was wouldn't be obvious to him, so it took a while for me to explain it to him and for him to find it, so we lost another 30s doing that.
Stage 2:
We ran to the riverside, for another 180s stage, which we did pass, along with 81% of the field.
Shooter 1 engages 4 targets with 3 hits each, at about 150yds, I'd guess. Once they start shooting, shooter 2 can move into position farther down the horizontal line, and start engaging the same targets once the first shooter finishes. I was able to take what I learned about seeing the target and squaring up from precision rifle.
Next, the RO would pick one of us to be the casualty, and the other would apply a TQ and then drag the casualty about 15yd on a skedco. I could pull him OK, with Pete being allowed to use his feet to help. It would've been easier if I had been the casualty, so I'm guessing the ROs were told to pick the bigger/stronger one to be the casualty.
After that, I shot 2 circle targets with pistol, with 2 rounds each.
Stage 3:
The next stage was at the long range bay, with a 90s par time. We failed, along with 68% of the field.
Shooter 1 hits the closest target (175yd) with 3 shots, standing. Shooter 2 does the same.
Shooter 1 hits the next farthest target (215yd) with 3 kneeling or sitting. Shooter 2 does the same. I timed out during this. I was very unstable in my posiiton.
If we had made it, we would've continued with the pattern to prone at a 340 yd target. We weren't told what the ranges were until after the event during the Instagram AAR.
I had an LPVO on my rifle, but Pete just had a red dot. We were allowed to share a rifle, so Pete tried it, but he couldn't get proper eye relief and went back to his red dot.
Stage 4:
In the forest bay, I held a punching bag while Pete did 3 strong hand, 3 support hand, at a 35-40yd target with pistol. Then, we switched.
We ran halfway down the lane and faced left down a perpendicular lane. Pete was still carrying the dummy, so I started on pistol. The target was about 50yd away. I struggled to hit it with my support hand. Pete never got a chance to shoot at that one. I was supposedly missing right and high, and I tried to aim off, but not enough, I'm guessing. I spent so many rounds on this one.
Stage 5:
At the school bus bay, both of us started simultaneously, shooting towards close paper targets that we shot with rifle for 4 rounds. I did forget about sight over bore, but the targets were big enough that it didn't matter.
Next, we got behind a car, where Pete made 3 hits each on silhouette targets that were bigger (since he had a red dot), and I went for 8-in circle targets. From my spot, I had to tiptoe to see over the roof enough.
We put the rifles down and moved down the berm to the bus. Shooter 1 held the dummy while shooting at the big square steel in the back of the school bus, while shooter 2 shot at 2 circle targets.
We ran back to the start and finished. It feels good to finish a stage.
I noticed after the stage that I had lost a full mag somewhere because my mag holster had lost a screw and flipped upside-down :(
Stage 6:
This was my first time using the bay with the small connex structure. We passed within the 90s par time, along with 75% of the field.
Pete started downstairs, opening the barn door and hitting 3 each at 8-in circle targets.
While he worked on that, I went upstairs and shot 3 each at 3 silhouettes.
When Pete finished downstairs, he came upstairs, to repeat what I had done.
BRAGG TOUGH
The Heavy had taken place away from the Special Forces Association campus, since they had gone to the museum and to parks, but the Tough was back at the SFA, the old stomping grounds with which I became intimately familiar during the Bragg HH the previous year.
Since it was the first time back at the SFA for the year, the event started with a recon ruck around the gas line and powerline trail.
After that warmup, we got a welcome party which was SUPER FUN. I loved it. We split up into groups, and were assigned to different cadre stations. Cadre DS led us in a workout where we had to accumulate 6 min of dead hang, with a little run and a set of pushups each time we had to take a break. I ended up going for 4:30 for the first go around, and then finished it up in the second go-around. After that, I got a nice long break. The monkey bar pipes had small diameters, which made it easier than usual to hang, I think.
Next, we went to Cadre Steve, who had us stand on a picnic table bench and jump into gravel in ways that mimicked parachute training, looking left, right, back left, back right, and rolling safely. The gravel was perfect for this. It was fun to roll, and we did little laps each time.
We did 1 loop around the gas line/powerline trail, and I swapped a 60#SB with Megan while I peppered her with questions about her experience last year with Sea to Sea. It was really helpful to hear about what gear she used, and what the event would be like. It was a very productive mile!
Next, we picked up logs, moved it over to the Lest We Forget sign, and used straps to do a log low carry around the campus mini-loop.
We did log PT with picnic tables, messed up a bunch, didn't meet standards, and got a bunch of punishment PT for it.
For a Kims game-style challenge, we had to memorize a song from Encanto, called "We don't talk about Bruno". It was just after the movie had come out, so the vast majority of us had never heard of it before. Our Team Leader, Megan, fortunately had watched it. To help us remember the song more easily, she set the stage for us by explaining the plot of the movie. If you've seen the movie, you can just imagine how crazy the plot must've sounded to us. I didn't even know that it was an animated movie and Disney movie at the time.
We decided to have our 4 squads each take a verse in the first part of the song, and just focus on that verse. Within our squad, we decided to each take a line. Having done events with Chuy before, I knew that we'd have to really get into it, so we also planned gestures and stuff. We were huddled in a hut while doing this, which was nice for getting out of the elements, because there was cold rain the whole time. The rain was actually ice during the second half of the event.
We rucked another loop while practicing the songs. The whole class learned the chorus part. Another thing - if you have heard the song before, you know how syncopated the rhythms are. Its's a very challenging one to learn, but cool to listen to. Some struggle getting the timing of different word intonations right.
We did another lap with the log low-carried with straps:
We performed the song at the end, and we had a quick patching ceremony, to keep us on track with the timing between events.
In all, we covered 11 miles in about 12 hours.
My ruck was iced over by the end, as was my car! The door made a big cracking sound as I opened it, because of the sheet of ice breaking up.
BETWEEN EVENTS
Fortunately, I had a friend who let me refit at his place between events. A warm shower and dry clothes are always such a blessing after a cold and wet event.
BRAGG BASIC
The event started with Chuy in SFAS mode, wearing his green beret, and we began with the APFT. I did 48 pushups, 78 situps, and a 13:32 2 miler. I hadn't done the Heavy + Tough like some of the others, so it wasn't as hard for me.
We did picnic table "log" PT, with lots of punishment PT in the middle of puddles. After you do a number of these events, you learn that failure is nearly guaranteed, because dealing with the failure is part of what you're being tested on. How do you respond to being told that you're not doing it correctly or fast enough, over and over again, and having to get punished repeatedly for it? It rained for the first half of the event.
After a bit of railroad tie PT, we did movements with railroad ties.
We rucked to the power line, and we performed the star spangled banner. I was the TL for a time, and led the class in a modified wedge patrol (which is like a ranger file, it seemed to me). We sang again when we finished our patrol.
At the end, we did the Chicken Little WOD, a 24 min AMRAP, led by Joe Baker. Even the Cadres joined in for it, since it was a memorial WOD for one of our own. The pushups were the most challenging part of it for me, so I rested in downward dog when I needed to.
I didn't eat during the event, because there was no time for it, especially as the TL. I also barely drank, only right after the run.
We covered about 4 miles in the 4 hours.
I think we had a BBQ after-party afterwards. The HTBers celebrated their bolts. I was happy to have another good set of events under my belt, and some new patches.
I carefully drove home through the abnormal conditions, to a snowy home:
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