I just saw a post about this in a local firearms forum. Looks fun. I might give it a go.
Edited to add, if’n I do, it’ll be the 50+ class. I ain’t TMac, and I ain’t showing out to compete against people half my age or younger lol.
This is another aspect that makes TG so awesome. There are more than enough maniacs out there who are willing to invest the time and money to attend. I think last March was 125 competitors.
It looks similar to a mash-up of Goruck-Crossfit-Spartan-A&S, and reminds me of the workouts we did in the service. I think it would be a lot more fun when my job does not depend on my performance lol.
I think it’s worth pointing out to some people who are saying they don’t want to compete against 30-year-old pipe-hitters: It’s not about that… at all. You’re only competing against yourself. If you give a flying French eff whether or not you get a plaque out of it, then you missed the point. If you think anyone cares, notices, or breaks your balls if you finish dead last, know that they don’t.
It’s all about camaraderie and pushing yourself to see where you are at in your own life. Nothing else.
While I agree that for most of us it should be an opportunity to challenge and improve ourselves, if your statement was completely true they wouldn’t give out plaques in the first place… but they do.
Tough Mudders are about as helpful, non-competitive an environment you can get, and people are still competing against each other, even if non-officially (“I’m gonna beat this guy beside me over this next obstacle”). Not sure I’d confer pipe-hitter status to people who do these events, either.
Once upon a time I was in units and jobs where there’s winners and losers, no points for second, and everything is a competition. These days I am all about doing events like this just for fun, but I’ll still pick a few people out to compete against.
Update with what a years worth of work got me in OP.
How’d you get your head right after the failures? I’m struggling to do that right now. I failed an academy for the second time in January. I busted my ass during the recycle phase and thought I was ready to return and pass. Got there in January and failed again. I’m struggling to get motivation to restart pt and struggling to get my mind right to reapply. What did you do?
I have failed far more than I have been successful. Me, I am too stupid to give up.
I have a good friend, a senior NCO in AF pararescue, he and a couple other dudes run a website and YT channel geared for aspiring AFSOC candidates. One of the YT vids is on failure, mindset, etc. It’s generic enough that everyone can learn from it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-Dwy-1USkI&t=3727s
May I ask, what’s keeping you from being successful (i.e., what are you failing?)? I am no zen master, nor do I have a magic bullet. For me, I find those things at which I am failing, or making me fail. I don’t overthink it: is it a physical thing or a mental thing (academic, emotional, etc.)? I isolate that ‘thing.’ What needs to happen to be successful? Do I need to call in someone who can help, or can I do it alone or with resources I have or can get? For me the key is, be analytical, but don’t overthink it. Overthinking leads to dwelling, and dwelling leads to a recurring cycle of negative self-talk.
Chuckman is right. If you’re pushing yourself you should be failing more than you’re succeeding.
The important thing is to learn from your failure, and then adapt and overcome… thus, you never truly fail: you win, or you learn.
WHY did you fail the academy the first time? HOW did you adapt? WHY did you fail again? HOW will you adapt this time?
Trying the same thing under the same conditions but expecting a different result is one definition of insanity.
Freaking pushups and old age with and tear to an extent but mainly pushups. Came back in Sept and hit it hard but wasn’t enough or maybe it was too much. I’m going to get a legit strength coach and dietitian (I think I was overdoing cardio and not taking in enough calories). So it was a physical issue that has morphed into a mental issue. I’ve had to fight back a lot of self negativity and depression. I think I’m finally starting to pull myself up. And I also gave up booze for Lent which took away my self medication.
Thanks for the talk guys. Chuck thanks for the link. I’ll give it a listen.
First, if you meant to type “tear” as in you have an injury, get that fixed or find a work around.
I know what you mean by old age… I attended the police academy at 43, and I’m now 50. I can’t do things the same way I used to, and some I can do but have to take the next day off.
I have an elbow injury right now. I want to go play at the Tactical Games, but it’s pointless to train hard right now… I’ll just make things worse. I have to get it fixed, if it can be, and then drive on from there.
If you’re talking about a police academy, remember what they call the guy who graduates last in his class at medical school: Doctor. Once you graduate nobody will care whether you have the record for PT or barely passed… or the highest academic score or whatever. All anyone cares about is the diploma. You need to be fit to do the job, but there’s no point in overdoing it. Do what you can, see the doc for any lingering issues, see the coach for ways to work around long term problems you may have.
For example, I know a guy who has shoulder problems. He can’t do normal pushups very often, his shoulder can’t take the full body weight routinely, without causing problems.
He does knee pushups and some other stuff and only does strict pushups when he has to… in his case every six months or so for his military PT test.
Solve the problems that can be solved, work around the ones that can’t, don’t give up. If you have to, find a different academy that does things differently… some are less paramilitary, others use drill instructors trained by a travelling USMC team. My academy was college-like: khakis and polo shirts more of the time.
Mindset is everything. Think ‘failing forward’. If you learn something, you are not failing. A coach/dietitian are great resources. So is physical therapy/sports medicine. In any case, you need a plan. Getting better at pushups is pretty easy, but definitely harder if you have a tear or are injured. Stop the negative self-talk. Every time it creeps in, do 10 squats or 10 pushups or something.
Yup, this. Make sure your body is right.
To this end, I am staring down the barrel of a significant back surgery. I am kicking the can as far and as hard as I can. Yesterday was my second physical therapy appointment with a sports med PT. He’s working wonders. I had to totally stop running because of my injuries, which bummed me out (not because I like running or am good at it; quite the opposite, I loathe it, but it helps me keep my weight in check). When I stopped I focused on HIIT to compensate. Shifted my mindset. This dude said he can get me back to running. Now I see it as a side dish and not the main meal, whereas before, it was the main meal supplemented by everything else. In my head it’s a win.
Congratulations on your outcome! I know you worked hard to get there! Thank you for your AAR and ‘lessons learned.’ Question: what were the shooting stages like?
Shooting at this one (COF varies as with everything else at each match) was fairly straightforward. Longest rifle shots were around 200 yards, with the majority being around 30 yards. Most pistol work was in the 20-30 yard range.
One stage was a generic 2 Gun style stage shooting on full size targets. All other stages were reduced sized targets. Close in rifle targets were index cards. Pistol targets were folded in half printer paper.
I assume the close and reduced sized targets were looking to find people slipping mentally on POA vs POI. It obviously worked. I would occasionally peek at other peoples targets and see tiny groups below the actual target.
I believe that every firing sequence was rifle first then transition to pistol (when pistol was in play). If it wasn’t I screwed up cause that’s how I shot them.
All shooting had some sort of rule or sequence that tended to change depending on where a person was at in the completion of the stage. I.e., Standing for this leg, weak hand this leg, left target for these legs, right targets for these legs, while holding a sandbag this leg, kneeling, sitting, etc.
Only shot a VTAC on one stage and port numbers for legs were easy (0,2,3. Lol, still ready) all of which could be shot kneeling.
The “Long Movement” stage was only around a mile with no additional weight (Armor, ammo, rifle and pistol only). We even shot before the run. The shooting was from multiple “tank barricades” that wouldn’t allow a person to see all targets from one position.
Round count was approximately 200’ish for handgun with rifle being around 250’ish.
Thanks a bunch, that’s an awesome report.
Once a month in one of my units on a Friday, we would do a five Mile run, 2 mi swim, obstacle course, 3 mi run, and a shoot. This sounds very similar to that kind of thing. I hope to get myself in position to be able to do this by the fall.