GORUCK Trailblazers Tough CLT

TRAINING LEAD-UP

Saturday, Feb 18:

Back in CLT, it was good timing to do the Paperman WOD, which honors Wes Scott, the father of a local GRT, who had been killed 6 years a 1 day ago.  We met at Latta Nature Preserve to do "2 miles" (1.5 on the trails), followed by the PT with a 30#R and 45#SB in 30 min.  

Afterwards, I did 15 min of SB tosses wearing the ruck, as a filler, followed by 5 miles in the MACV1s.

Sunday, Feb 19:

To prep for the upcoming Night Ops Gun Run using my new night vision kit, I made a trip to my friend's place.  I zeroed my Aimpoint T2 mounted on a new Unity FAST 2.26" mount and zeroed the laser (I don't think I adjusted anything and considered the parallel offset about right) as the first priority.

Then, while waiting for the evening to arrive, I spent a lot of time on a modified El Pres drill (using the steel that I had).  It's crazy what pressure to perform will do to you.

Baby steel's stand got shot through enough times that it broke, but I made it still work afterwards.

I did rifle reload drills with 1/2/1 mag loadouts.

And I did some moving and shooting with rifle.

I snacked while the sun set.  

At last, it was time to break out the NVGs!

• Pistol shooting was comparably easy.  
• Rifle with an offset parallel laser makes the "go up along the side to the middle and move horizontally to get the bloom" only really work in one direction (left), since going right could cause you to get a laser to steel bloom even though your muzzle isn't on target yet.
• I can get away with shooting "from the hips" with arms straight and down, since you just point and aim the laser.  That actually helped, because my arms couldn't hold up the rifle with the extra  heavy accessories for very long.  The armpit seemed to be another option.
• I gave up on the Modlite as a white light.  It still flickers.
• I walked around a bit, to get used to moving with NODS.  It wasn't terrible.  It's hard to imagine myself running with it, though, especially on uneven ground and trail.  I'd at least have to walk 4K soon!

Tuesday, Feb 21:

HDT IR35-36.1.3 (arms and core) in 34:30, followed by RuckWOD.com 8/11/22 with a 30#RPC in 13 min (a great one!).  I also did the GORUCK Shooter 2/21/23 dry fire workout.

GORUCK TRAILBLAZERS TOUGH

This was the first time that this theme of event came to CLT.  The original one was part of an HTB in Houston.  It honors the contributions of minorities in US military history, especially those who served in minority units in the early days.  We started at Romare Bearden Park and covered 15+ miles, mainly going south to South Park.  

We started by going through "The Green", a cool public square with lots of unique sculptures around.  Somehow, I had never been there before, in all the time that I've lived here.  I've been closeby, because I've seen the Firebird sculpture before, but not all the ones in the park across the street.

This was my first Tough in a while, maybe even since Bragg T/B in 2022.  There were fewer GORUCK events on the calendar, and I was doing more firearms stuff with a focus on Mammoth training for the second half of the 2022, I guess.  I had already withdrawn from the Bragg Heavy because of my strained right butt, but this was a chance to see if it could at least do OK in a Tough.  I felt it during the event, but it was manageable.  After an early leg where others carried the coupons, I carried a lot of the 60#SB, but also a bit of the team weight, a 40#, and an almost empty water bladder.

There was a decent number of first timers, which is true at many events, which is always cool to see.  New people to get into this crazy hobby and tribe.  It's interesting how people first learn about it.

A couple times during the event, we did a workout.  Joe got to lead it and demonstrate the movements, of course.  Each time, we did 2 rounds o 25 lunges, 25 American twists, 25 pushups, 25 flutter kicks, 25 mountain climbers, 25 OH squat, 25 burpees slick, 25 clean and press, and 25 swings.

Right before the event, I hadn't been feeling it 100%, but once you're there and with your buddies, that's what it's all about.  Cadre Hand gave us the perfect balance of making it a good, meaningful time without making it a beat-down, while still making it challenging.  It was about remembering the legacy of the minorities who served and were willing to lay down their lives for our country, even as they dealt with the challenges that come with being a minority, and yet they performed valiantly and remarkably.