CIOR 9,10,11,12

Day 9

You will have by now seen a pattern to the training.

AM

C7 and 9mm Range. We fired from the 20m line today for the first time with the Pistol. I begin to focus on one aspect only to forget one of the other very important ones. I really enjoy the range practices. The next one we will be putting away the C7 and start working with the Turkish G3 (?). I shot pretty well with the C7 and moderately well with the 9mm.

After the range it was O-course time. Today on the course was complete pain and suffering. It was about 33 degrees and humid. Very humid. We started at the beginning and ran the first obstacle 3 times. On the 3rd time you went straight into the 2nd obstacle. Complete that 3 times and on the 3rd time move to the 3rd obstacle… On so on until the course was complete. There are 25 obstacles so it was a long time out there in that heat. I seriously thought I was getting heat exhaustion. We were all bagged while doing this. After it was done it was time for a cold shower. Just to get my temp down.

We were to have a track workout but instead we had to get our vaccinations to go to Turkey. I got two, one in each arm. One fellow had to get 12. Sucker!

Pool in the PM

100m Crawl
100m Arms only
2x50m one leg kicks
2x50m 2 leg kicks

100m = each 25m progressively faster

2 rounds of:
150m crawl
150m arms only
100m legs only

4 x 50m (12.5m underwater, 25m crawl, 12.5m underwater)
4x 25m Sprints with a Dive

We then practiced the Water o-course. Fairly difficult to complete. I will try and get video to show what it is like.

Changed my eating just a bit. Trying to increase fat intake and upped the starches a bit. Will see how it goes.

Day 11

Orienteering again today. I will spare you all the minor details. We travelled 1.5 hours to get to our destination for the day. We were handed maps like usual and headed off into very hilly terrain. Up and Down and Up and Down till lunch.

I started to get some serious knee pains today as I ran back to parking lot of lunch. So much so that I had to walk some. I took and Ibuprofen and after lunch away I went. At first the knee was still sore but as time went on the running became more frequent, especially on the downhills. It is fun to run full out in the bush going downhill.

I completed the 2 maps fairly quickly and was given another to work on. This map only had contour lines on and nothing else. At first I was pretty concerned but I started slow. I made a few mistakes and had to back track to get my bearing again. After the 3rd point I had a system down and I really began to motor. It is very satisfying to be in the bush with only a compass and a map with just contours and not get lost. During this nav ex I was accompanied by Simon the head coach. I think he was surprised that I did so well. I managed to finish the day in second overall. I was lucky to finish before a 6 year veteran and after the faster runner ever! That will put me in a good position when the teams are selected I think.

That was my day. Tomorrow promises to be a good one. Ouch!

Day 12

Range in the AM and The O-course. The range was fun. We started firing the G3 and it is quite different from the C-7. The sighting is different to zeroize. Complete opposite of the C-7. This is taking some getting used to. The biggest difference is physical. The recoil slams the upper part of the butt into your cheek. It is very hard to not flinch with each round. You just have to lay there and take it. That sucks.

The O-Course was pretty good today as well. I have noticed a shift in my physical stamina. It seems to be improving to the point where I feel really good about completing the workouts with max effort. It was not as hot today so that made things easier.

PM

Track workout. I was dreading this one. It was quite good. I feel like the running is coming along well.

4 rounds
700m in 3:00 minutes
3 minutes Rest

Jog 10 minutes

4 rounds
700m in 3:00 minutes
3 minutes rest.

Pool

The pool was a good one. I am feeling like my swimming is starting to come around.

200m Crawl
20 x 25m (6 crawl, 4 arms only, 4 legs only, 6 with hand paddles arms only)
300m crawl

3 rounds of:
100m crawl
100m arms only
100m easy swim

After the swimming we started to practice the water o-course. Pretty fun as well. We have to do this one in combats so that does make it a little more challenging. It is a 50m course and at 25m there is a platform that you have to pull yourself out of the water onto and then dive into the water. It was like weighted muscle ups while totally soaked.

I am loving each day and the challenges it brings for me and my conditioning.