GORUCK GVL FAD Weekend 2024

TRAINING LEAD-UP:

Monday, Aug 19:

No Fear Yoga & Yoga for Runners: 7 min Post Run Yoga with Adriene.

After dinner, HDT 31.1.2 (core) in 35:01, followed by 10 min of arm strengtheners with a 13#SKB

Tuesday, Aug 20:

18A "Dynamic Warmup" in 25:09, then Peloton 45 min Power Zone Endurance Ride with Matt Wilpers covering 11.5 miles, 280 cal, going 15.4 mph average.  I went easy for most of it and picked it up at the end.  I could feel some soreness in my core from yesterday's HDT workout, during the ride.

Thursday, Aug 22:

Glute nad pec PT v2 in 26:02, then 18A "Dip Abs" in 23:23

GORUCK COUNTER ACTIVE SHOOTER PISTOL DAY & NIGHT

During the day, we covered 

- clearing and loading procedures

- fundamentals of marksmanship

- mag changes

- slow aim fire

- turn and shoot

- kneeling, seated, standing and transitioning among them

- prone right side up and upside down

At night, we covered

- shooting around a wall

- shooting from a VTAC

- shooting one-handed (including a fun drill with 10 shots alternating between 2-hand, left hand, and right hand, with a SB OH toss before each shot)

- shooting with a light at chest and a light out and up, with mag changes

- skills from the daytime, but at night

GORUCK COUNTER ACTIVE SHOOTER RIFLE DAY & NIGHT

SB and I picked up doughnuts for the group in the morning.  I do enjoy doughnuts.

During the day and night, we covered

- Zeroing (I didn't make any adjustments)

- The Alt C drill at 40yd but this time, "supported" meant with a SB, and "unsupported" allowed the use of the mag.  I was able to get 40/40 this time.

- Alt C but with prone, kneeling, and standing... only 25/28 attempted shots, and I timed out before getting to standing and didn't attempt the last 12 shots

- Turn and shoot

- Shooting from high and low walls, and from VTAC... learned about "junkyard prone" and "brokeback prone" for the first time... also, the rule "outside knee up"

- Rifle to pistol transitions

- Prone, seated, and kneeling from 100yd, 75yd, 50ydqz

- Tried different types of rounds through ballistic gel

- Walk, stop, and shoot

GORUCK TACTICAL DECISION MAKING

We learned about room clearing for corner-fed and center-fed rooms.

It may not seem to tie in directly with TDM scenarios, but those concepts do inform how you might handle positioning yourself or moving through a room, whether you're in the mindset of the assaulted-upon or role playing as the assaulter.

Scenario 1: 

Carjacking, where I'm the participant's kid in the backseat.  While as a role player you don't get to test how you'd respond, it is a unique experience to get to watch many others and how they respond.  Some fight, some flee, some freeze.  Others don't act naturally and deprive themself of the training experience.  Some break the law without realizing it.  Some are overconfident and make poor decisions.

Takeaways:

- There's no perfect answer, but find the best option among all the less than ideal options.

- Don't be afraid to make a decision quickly

- Training helps you make decisions faster and understand 2nd and 3rd order effects

Scenario 2:

Cafe... I did choose to act this time, and feel like it was appropriate, and it worked out.

Scenario 3: 

School shooting scenario that you happen to come across.  Non-threats.  Dark room.  It's tough to see well without lights, and with a lot of bodies and noise.  I ended up as a casualty after waiting far too long at the door, trying to figure out who was who and what was going on.  At least I didn't harm any innocents, though.

Scenario 4:

Cafe with a domestic dispute...

Jenny just walked out after getting her coffee... very Brooklyn of her!

I never escalated because the situation never warranted it.

Always a great group to hang out and learn with...

GBF Operation Tiny Dancer

TRAINING LEAD-UP

Monday, Aug 5:

Day 14 - Closer - MOVE & Yoga for Change and Drain with Adriene

Tuesday, Aug 6:

APFT for Pathfinder, with 49/40 pushups, 75/76 situps (99 pt), 2 miles in 14:57/17:00 in the Saucony A4S = 299 (a non-300 for the first time in years... maybe since 2018 or something).  I've been having poor sleep and less protein recently.  I also had a big steak a couple hours before taking the test.  There wasn't anything at stake here, so it's good to learn about what affects performance and what I can vs can't get away with.

I wrapped up the baseline assessment with a 2 mile ruck in 31:23 with 30# in teh Salomon XA Comps in the rucker v2.

Wednesday, Aug 7:

18A "Upper Body Prep" in 26:41, followed by "Push-ups" in 42:52, then Glute and pec PV v2 in 28:06.

Thursday, Aug 8:

Power and Balance 30 min yoga practice & Regulate Your Nervous System 30 min practice with Adriene

Plus dry fire to reinforce what I had learned from Andy...

• "Eyes, Muzzle, Target"
• "Bolt back, breathe in, bolt forward, breathe out"
• "I see the bullet"

I focused on being upright and squared up, and I did micro-adjustments if needed.

Friday, Aug 9:

3 mile ruck at Iswa Nature Preserve with 50# in the v2 rucker, wearing 8" MACV2s.  It was slippery, and there was a downed tree to get around from a recent storm.  I covered it in 1:11:42.

Saturday, Aug 10:

Range day at Coleman's with SB and Scott, to practice some more.

We zereod our rifles and our Impacts.

We confirmed where our Vortex Fury reticles were vs the actual laser center.

We drove from range to range, ranging and drawing range cards for 5 min at each one, and sharing notes to compare results afterwards, by having one person talk the others on through each target.

Through this exercise, I gained confidence in my ranging abilities.  

I liked my technique of dropping down onto the target from above.

We did a little shooting, practicing speed, but I feel like I generally already go as quickly as I can have my accuracy keep up with.

We ended with pistol arcade play.  By 2pm (after starting at 9am), my hands weren't as steady, due to the fatigue and heat, though.

After my friends left, I zeroed my Honey Badger and used it for the first time, with Supers.  I did a little standing, too, to start familiarizing myself with it.

Sunday, Aug 11:

18A "Upper Body Prep" in 30:19, "Pull-ups" in 31:59 maybe the worst yet, but better to get back on the wagon now vs later, especially with OCRWC coming soon.

I then did Glute and Pec PT v1 in 27:16, because I was still feeling fresh, followed by a 90s 60#SB OH hold palmed.

I then did a recovery ruck with a 40#WV in the Altra Torin Plush, for 2.5 miles in 55:26.

At night, I was still fresh and craved VO2 work, so I did a 5K of intervals with a 1 mile warmup at 7mph, then 2x (0.5 mi @ 9mph, 0.5 mi @ 7mph), with 0.1 miles at the ned to round it out at 24:16 for 5K at 2 degrees of incline with the Saucony Vitarras.  My stomach was knotting up in the last mile, so I probably couldn't have gone on, but it's best to not go crazy before GBF, and I'm just getting back into speedwork.

Monday, Aug 12:

Cabarrus Ruck Club, the first active ruck club in the area in my generation (Team Spearhead might've done stuff before, but I wasn't around then and am not sure), was celebrating their 5th anniversary.  I joined them for a 3 mile ruck in 51:42.  A good number of people came out.  I used a 30#RPC.  The route was nothing special, but it ended at Cabarrus Brewing, where I splurged on chicken and waffles.  

Thursday, Aug 15:

Tapering this week.  

Did Flow - Day 17 - Rinse and Day 28 - Intuit Yoga with Adriene

For dry fire practice, I did build-and-break, gaining a few seconds and more consistency with fewer critical errors through practice.  Keeping my eyes on the target as I lay the gun down helps a lot.

GBF OPERATION TINY DANCER

This would be my first GBF mountain event.  I've done their shooting events and their dog event.  I'm generally not a big ruck running person, but I can shuffle if the terrain isn't treacherously downhill or risky on footing.  

I had done recon on the route, and it seemed OK enough to try.  It took 5:15 including wrong turns when I did it with my dad, but I'd have a little less weight and no dad for the real thing.  I also knew the route now.

My dad came along, since he could find small trails to do by himself while I did the race.

There were two events that day.  Tiny Dancer was the 10 mile short one, and Dragon's Dance was the 26-28 mile big one.  I'd start with a short one and see how it went.  Most of my friends were doing the long one, but I also had some doing the short one, for fun.

I wanted to go for dog tags.  To be considered a "finisher", you needed to complete the route in 5 hours or less.  To get dog tags, you had to complete it in 3:30 or less, though.  Dog tags or bust!

We had our rucks weighed.  We were asked to attempt to check in via text during the race, but I knew from the recon trip that there were very few spots where we'd get signal.  We also had the opportunity to carry a name of a fallen soldier with us, organized by Captain Charlie, a volunteer with GBF.

I set of on a mission and led the field the whole time.  I used trekking poles for the first time, and they were amazing.  It was like they allowed me to extend each stride by 10% distance.  My arms were able to help my legs do the work.  They were doing so much work that I felt like my push-up muscles would be sore by the end of it.

I was carefully watching for the turn, although I started looking for it way too early and wasted a little time looking way too early.  I found the spot, took the opportunity to mark my territory, and did the big descent followed by the big climb.

I drank water a couple times along the way.

I got to the end in 3:01:21.  Maybe if I hadn't stopped to look for the turn too early, I could've broken 3, which would've been nice.  Maybe that will be my goal if I do it again.  Dragon's Dance may be good to try, though.  I'd want to do recon to be 100% certain about the route and also to see how technical the footing is.  I've heard that some parts have big rocks that are not easy to run on.

The next person to cross the finish line wasn't too far behind, but he had missed the infamous turn and ended up looping back around early.  He says that he did cover 10 miles, but at the very least, it wasn't on the prescribed route.  He was considered a VW.  He regretted not turning back and looking for the real route, since he could've potentially fixed his mistake in time.  

The others didn't come back until about 4:45 into the event.  I got to spend about 1:45 hanging out with Gregg's pack of dogs and chatting with him, which was one of the highlights of the day.

The others did finish in time, thankfully.  Afterwards, after having waited around for so long, I was ready to head home with my dad, and didn't stick around to jump into the river.

I enjoyed the event much more than I expected to.  Rucking in the mountains is something that you can do for free any time, but it is fun to go after a standard and to achieve it.  I also like the planning, preparation, and strategy aspect of it, which is one of my favorite parts of any event that I do.  I'm not the biggest or strongest or fastest, but I can try to make up for it with smarts and preparation.

I have my eyes on other NC events, and maybe some Colorado ones, too.  Not the heavy ones, but 20# isn't bad.

Andy 4 & Asheville Spartan Super and Sprint 2024

TRAINING LEAD-UP

Monday, Jul 29:

5.5 mile ruck in 1:19:49 with 30# in the v2 rucker, wearing Salomon XA Comps.  My legs were sore but decent right after a long weekend of activity.

Thursday, Aug 1:

Played pickleball with co-workers, as a little goodbye get-together for someone who was leaving the company.

ANDY 4

Got another great lesson from Andy at Pigg River Precision.  

After classroom time to review fundamentals, corrections, and discussing potential opportunities to be more efficient, we zeroed, and then moved on to the long range for some simulated stages. 

We got to run through them as solos or in pairs, and then we'd talk through what went well vs what we can learn from.

We also worked on position building.

It started to rain, so we spent the last bit of the class talking about a potential lightweight Mammoth build.  We then took a trip to Andy's shop to look at some wares.

SB and I were pretty happy about how we did at the sim stages today.  We've improved over time and didn't embarrass ourselves or let Andy down.  We're learning something!

SPARTAN SUPER

Since I was participating in OCRWC this year, it would be good to get in some obstacle course practice.  Tryon Equestrian Center is a fun venue, since they have some nice props from their horse jumping events, and the venue is well manicured.  

I wasn't going for speed or anything.  I wanted to get in a good workout and conquer as many obstacles as I could.  

I got there early and ran into Jonathan.  Many of my GORUCK friends also enjoy Spartan racing.

During the Super, I failed the spear throw, got Olympus for the first time since Tahoe 2016 (maybe going right to left helped, since my dominant hand was the trailing one that hung the most), and failed the updated Z-wall which now has no footholds and only straight up-and-down short rope segments for hand holds on the last board.  The Z-wall was already pretty challenging, and now it was extremely challenging.  

SPARTAN SPRINT

The timing worked out pretty well, and I was able to refit without being rushed while also not having to wait around for a long time, before the Sprint.  The line to pick up bibs was the longest I've ever seen it, though, so it was good that I had some buffer.  They must've been short on volunteers, or maybe they changed something in their process which made everything take longer.  Spartan does tweak their process continuously, typically leading to significant efficiency gains.  That's something they're great about. 

 

I was much less peppy for this one.  The lines were longer on spear throw, and I ended up lining up for a spear that had no tip on the end, but the pole did hit the hay, though!

There was a gigantic bottleneck exiting a river crossing and going up a steep slope with a narrow bushwhacked pathway.  As long as there's a slower person anywhere on that, the entire field will get stopped behind them.  We were probably there at least 20 minutes.  I didn't mind, since I wasn't in a competitive heat.  It was pretty, too, near the river.  

SUNDAY VOLUNTEERING

The next day, I went back to volunteer.  It's not too far from where I live, so I drove home overnight and got to shower and everything.

I was originally signed up for the info table, but they were fine on staffing there and re-allocated me to the finish line.  It was foggy in the morning, but the sun came out, and I sought the tiny sliver of shade that the finish line arch offered.

I finally realized what the little poker chips redeemed at the Reign tent were from, after not knowing what they were at Fayetteville.  You do a little extra something after you cross the finish line, and you can redeem the poker chip for a commemorative "Extra Mile" pin and another can of Reign energy drink.

The one that they had was a maze where you carried KBs.  When I did it after the Sprint, I didn't realize that it was an actual maze with only one correct answer.  I should've followed the well-trodden path, but I blazed my own trail right into a dead end.  Extra workout.  It is kind of funny for spectators, I guess.

Highlight of my day volunteering: getting to put a medal around a dog's neck.  There was a second dog that I attempted to medal, too, but it wasn't as cooperative, so the owner ended up doing that one.

We helped out with tear-down afterwards.  Also a sizeable workout effect.