Another shooting log

7 yards and 10 yards. This is post Nevada.

If you compared this with my 7 yard targets from July, there doesn't seem to be a discernible difference by the numbers. Got about 55% bulls eye, which is comparable to July's shoot. But my grouping has tightened a bit, I don't land shots outside of the 9 circle as long as I stick to the technique. Plus I have much better stamina and don't take as long to get these shots off now. But I keep cutting myself short when I don't give myself a proper platform, so I will need to keep practicing until I can aim true.

The 10 yard, really good grouping, but a lot of them hit a tad high. Not sure if that's poor sight reading or a tiny flinching habit. But if I can just bring those shots in closer, this would have been something to boast of.

But I ought to be shooting a lot better than this after taking a four day course, so I will keep doing drills until I get it right.

Swimming log #1

There are some sports that just doesn't feel natural to your body. Swimming is one of them for me. I don't know if it's nature or nurture, but in the spirit of competition, I'm going to have to drill and train myself to swim better. Our next triathlon is next summer, which is still ten months away. That's plenty of time to dive in and get into swimming shape.

At the pool on Monday, I was winded after two warmup laps. Meanwhile three lanes over, the water polo team was cycling through laps like well... the chain on my bicycle when I climb hills. It's going to be a long ten months.

I did start wearing ear plugs, which drastically improved my comfort level in the water. I am able turn my head and roll my body more without worrying about water entering my ears. And now that I removed every possible excuse for poor technique, it's time to start building proper technique into my muscle memory.

I also started taking cold showers to adapt my body to cold water. Nothing feels as emasculating to a 200 pound guy as hyperventilating and panicking in cold water. Cold showers also have the added benefit of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and reducing your water usage significantly (as you scramble to finish showering).

Swimming goals for myself to accomplished by June:
1) Develop good technique, elbows bent, fingers piercing the water, S-shape underwater.
2) Swim comfortably on the left side.
3) Swim comfortably taking breaths every two strokes.

Laps laps laps!

Shooting log #5

Actually, there's no shooting log. But I got into the 4 day defensive handgun training course in Nevada, scheduled to happen in two weeks. It's going to be 90 degrees out there, but hell, stressful conditions only make you better.

In the past two months, I've actually burned through 900 rounds of ammunition from personal practice and taking friends out. So I'm conserving my remaining ammunition and won't be shooting, since I will need about 800 rounds in Nevada. If I keep shooting at this rate, I won't be able to sustain buying ammunition even off the internet, may have to resort to loading my own. We will see, I think I'm better off cutting back and practicing more dry-fire.

I'm excited to go to Nevada. I heard the training is top notch; they have comprehensive lectures on the legality of defending your home, the emotional trauma you may go through and the moral decisions you have to make for yourself. Besides teaching you how to double tap somebody, they also train you to shoot in nighttime conditions and maneuver through your house (while the instructor is doing his best to distract and stress you further). Apparently, even police officers and soldiers benefit a lot from this. This is going to be awesome. (Especially if I become a better shooter than most police officers, shame on them!)

Now I just need to hope that my holster and extra magazines arrives safely from UPS.

Running log #4

I got up at 6AM to run 6 miles with a coworker this morning. We decided to practice run the 10k route that we will be racing in next Saturday at the Hayward Shoreline. This was one of the best runs I've ever done, we clocked in at about 45-50 minutes for our 6 mile run. My best time ever before this was 1:05. Essentially, pride instantly shaved 15 minutes off my time.

So did a healthy dose of trash talking. "Hey Nate, let me know if my pace is too fast for you." "Aw man, I don't think that's gonna happen today." My coworker runs 5-6 mile every morning at 4AM, but I just didn't want to lose. Throughout the run, we were exchanging leads, but he still burned me at the last 50 yards of the route.

The competition helped me hit a level today that I normally don't reach when I run by myself. I was running at such a speed that my lungs could barely keep up and my legs were starting to cramp. (They are officially cramped now, I can't walk up the stairs without sounding like a sailor.) But it's those fast twitch muscles that need training that they're not getting when I go on a long endurance run.

I wore my old Adidas shoes and found out with proper mental discipline, I didn't need the Vibrams to maintain technique. (And I also enjoyed some cushion.) I also noticed that when I sustained the proper technique, I started pulling slightly away from my coworker without any extra effort. It gives some validation to rumors that this technique gives you about 4% more efficiency, because I can feel that I was springing directly forward, instead of rocking through my feet and losing some energy in my ankles. I can't wait to try out the technique for the full 6 miles.

Shooting log #4

I'm skipping shooting log #3 because I'm too lazy to post the pictures for it. But today, I went shooting with a former ballistics research lab buddy from college.

My accuracy was really off today and I attribute that too switching up to different stances and shooting rhythms. Today I switched back to the weaver stance and experimented with a shooting rhythm where I fire one shot, lower my pistol, keep my eyes on my sights, lift up the pistol and squeeze the trigger instant my sights swing over the bulls eye. I was trying to figure out a way to avoid aiming the pistol at the bulls eye for too long of a time, because the arms start to get tired and waver more.

I scored very little bulls eye shots with this shooting rhythm, but I had a lot of shots that grouped near the bulls eye. So for a timed match where squeezing off shots quickly with moderate accuracy is more important than dead on accuracy, this technique could help me rack up points.

I also started noticing why people dislike the trigger of the Glock. It does have a very long trigger pull, which totally throws off the first shot if you aren't careful. I think this will be the only handgun I will purchase, so I will stick to the Glock and perfect it.

After our shooting session, we strolled over to the outdoor range where people were shooting rifles at targets 100 yards away. It was a bit incredulous to watch them shoot without scopes, because targets 100 yards away are really tiny. The rifles at the range included two AR-15 variants, one AK-47 and some sort of bolt-action gun. What can I say, except I want a rifle now?

Golf log #1

Today I was introduced to the sport of golf by a friend. It's amazing how different sports emphasizes different skills. Golf heavily emphasizes good technique and mental relaxation. The technique alone has so many variables to tweak that it's definitely what my friend calls a "lifetime sport." For a beginner's level of golf consciousness, there was already body rotation, foot movement, foot balance, arm movement and head movement to adjust for. I can't wait to find out what more I need to tweak and adjust for when I become proficient at golf.

I found it interesting that golf had more in common with shooting than it does with other ball sports. And here I decide to analyze the different sports I have been dabbling in and list the components emphasized: physical strength, physical endurance, mental focus, mental endurance, and technique consistency.

1) Running emphasizes physical endurance, mental endurance and physical strength. It doesn't require much mental focus nor technique consistency.
2) Swimming emphasizes physical endurance, technique consistency and physical strength. It doesn't require much mental focus or mental endurance. Technique consistency will help you save energy, but missing a beat won't drastically hurt you.
3) Biking emphasizes physical endurance and mental endurance. There's practically no technique involved and only some physical strength (unless you are touring).
4) Golf emphasizes technique consistency, mental focus and mental endurance. There is a little bit of physical strength involved, but nowhere near the level needed in the above sports. However, technique consistency is key, because one wayward hit may literally put you in the pits.
5) Shooting is similar to golf where it heavily emphasizes mental focus, technique consistency and mental endurance. There's little physical component to shooting, but mental focus is extremely critical. If the barrel wavers one millimeter, the shot will waver inches on the target.

Edit: My number one fan asks, "what about dragonboat?" I'd say dragonboat is similar to swimming, where it emphasizes physical endurance, technique consistency and physical strength. I just noticed that so far I've only listed characteristics for solitary sports, and dragonboat is different from swimming in that you need a level of team chemistry in order to perform well.

Shooting log #2

Well, today I introduced two friends to the sport of shooting. It's cool being the coach and them being the students. I actually had to sign a coach waiver at the gun range, making me responsible for everything they do. Heck at this rate, I might as well work towards becoming a certified instructor.

But thankfully, shooting is pretty easy to pick up. And a gun like the Glock is designed to be so simple that there's really not much to it. And after a couple snap cap drills, my students started to dial in around the bulls eye. :)

Anyways today I started shooting from 13 yards out and accomplished a 30% bulls eye rate. It's encouraging for a first time try because what is an orange circle at 7 yards is an orange dot at 13 yards. How people dial numbers at 20 and 25 yards is beyond me, just the movement of your arms from breathing is enough to move you halfway across the target.

I also started experimenting with different shooting stances. I notice that a lot of IDPA and IPSC competitors use the isosceles stance, but I was more accurate shooting from the weaver stance. This probably means that there are different layers of learning curves and I am on the newbier one.

Running log #3

5 miles.

I was pressed for time so I only ran 5 miles today. There's improvement in my left foot strength; I was able to run more on my balls and my arch only gave me problems about three times. Each cramp was less severity in pain than it was in my last run, so I am making improvements in this area.

Other than that, the run was great. I was cramping in both sides of my torso but I still felt enough power to run full speed and catch up to this lady who was keeping a good pace herself. Cramp pain has become merely another sensation of running, such as the smell of cut grass, the wind blowing across my face and the sound of cars and bikes rolling by. So ignoring the cramps, I ran and sprang off the balls of my feet like I am suppose to. Of course just when I was about to catch up to her, my left arch gave out and I yelped in pain. Overall though, the run felt great and I could feel that my feet are getting more accustomed to landing on the balls of the feet and using the arch as a springing mechanism.

However after the run, both of my feet were in a state of numbing pain, especially in the front areas of my foot that have been pounding the ground. Also, my right ankle was sore and crickety after the run. I am crossing my fingers that these are normal to the Vibram learning curve, and are not causing permanent damage to my body.

It appears that running techniques vary dependent on the speed of the runner. When I was in near sprint, the mechanics of landing on my balls and springing forward felt really good and smooth. But when I decreased my speed, it just didn't feel natural to continue to do that and I landed in a more neutral/horizontal heel/toe position before leaning forward to spring off again. These Vibram shoes definitely require me to listen to my feet and adjust my foot mechanics throughout my run. Hopefully the mastery of these techniques will really pay off and help me become a more efficient runner.

I haven't been balancing out my running with upper body training and I can see the consequences. My arms have noticeably shrank and I feel weaker in the upper body, so I will have to go back to sprinkling pushups throughout my week.

Running log #2

6 miles.

I went for a 6 mile run yesterday and it was terrible run. My left arch felt sharp pains about every mile, which forced me to walk and stretch out my left foot while ladies ran past me. (Have you ever noticed that when your pride is hurt, nothing else seems to hurt as much?)

I don't know how I ran 12 miles the other week but running 6 miles right now has been a struggle. So far I have three possible culprits and I'm trying to narrow down the source of my pain:

1) Do I need just need to loosen the strap on my Vibrams? I noticed that my feet felt freer to flex when the straps were looser.

2) Is my left foot just weaker and needs time to develop? In that case, I should probably tone down my distances or go back to running on the sand until my left foot becomes stronger.

3) Is it the fact that my left leg is half an inch shorter? I've always had some sort of motion difference with my left foot and it has caused me pain with some other shoes. From talking to the UCSF physical therapist student, my length difference could be the result of a shorter left bone or a misaligned pelvic bone. I will need to measure one day and find out which it is.

In any case, it's been really frustrating running 12 miles once and feeling like a champion the same one time, and not being able to reach that level again. It's even worse because it's not a cardio problem, nor a muscular problem, but a foot problem. So one tendon in my foot is causing me to cut my workouts short and I go home feeling restless and frustrated.

Running log #1

So my max running distances for the past couple months has been something like this:

3 miles
6 miles
12 miles.

After conditioning my body with a good baseline strength/endurance (3 miles with good old SF hills), my body has been able to hit new milestones pretty easily. I've been doubling my distances, running the new distance a couple times to get my body over the shock, and then doubling my distance again.

And the Vibram 5s were the key to helping me reach this far. When I first hit the 6 mile milestone in regular shoes, my legs developed shin splints on every run after that. So when I switched over to wearing Vibrams, my shin splints went away but I started developing foot pains.

Foot pains are normal with new users of Vibrams because your feet isn't used to being able to flex all of its 26 bones and joints when it wore regular shoes, so it is as if my feet are still babies and learning to walk/run all over again. Every run so far, I've had foot pain in my ball and arch area from the foot springing and flexing (which it doesn't do in normal shoes).

My feet are now my limiting factor and the only obstacle to doubling my distance again. It's difficult though when I have to wear normal shoes most of the week and then only slip on the Vibrams for running. Every first mile, my feet have to relearn the technique all over again but sometimes it decides to sprain itself instead. There have been rare sightings in SF FiDi of businessmen wearing a suit and Vibrams on their way to work, but I think it will take time before I can do that at work.

New Chuckie, Shooting log #1

I am tired of politics. It's fun mocking the liberals who whine about the President they hate, but when it's conservatives doing the whining about the President, I want to facepalm myself. It's embarrassing... really.

I've learned one thing about myself that I improve on something a lot more when I am blogging about it. So now I will blog more about the sports I have been training in. I like to post progress logs, analyze deficiencies and talk strategies for getting better. So far, I've been training for swimming, running, biking and shooting. (Would make an awesome QUADTHLON!)

Today's range reports at 7 yards:
1) 88.75 (12.5% bulls eyes)
2) 94.76 (52.4% bulls eyes)
3) 96.8 (76% bulls eyes)
4) 94.66 (53.3% bulls eyes)
5) 79.54 (13.6% bulls eyes)

One notable achievement is that I got rid of my tendency to hit upper right. Last time I shot, all of my shots were grouping in the upper left area of the bulls eye, which meant that I was pushing the gun and anticipating recoil. This time, I followed some advice I found on the internet and mixed snap caps (fake bullets) with real bullets in my magazine before I shot. When you don't know if it's a real or fake bullet in the chamber, the motion of the gun on a fake bullet when you pull the trigger tells you a lot about how you are holding the gun.

So that technique helped me to keep the gun pretty steady. The first set you can still see me anticipating recoil, but my second through fourth sets I got rid of that bad habit.

On my last set, I rapidly fired 24 bullets to simulate how I would react to a home invasion situation. A lot of my shots went low, which means my fingers are tightening on the pistol and I am drooping my head. Only 22 bullets hit the paper, so that means 2 shots were off. It's a small piece of paper so I am not too worried about it. Lots of room for improvement, but not to the point where I maddeningly suck and would be a huge danger to bystanders. I am more worried about the people next to me today who were hitting the edges of a large paper!






I am most proud of this one, I connected 7 shots and 6 shots. If I got one more in between the two groups, that would be a 14 shot group. I deserve to have a hit rap song because I bet most rappers can't do this.