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I apologize in advance for what's going to be a rather lengthy post!  

Thanks to @rustedace for hosting & running us again, @captain_morgan and @renegadeburrito for running people, and a special thanks to @maxtherabbit, @40delta and @landraider for fixing the plumbing.  I also want to acknowledge @KaiK handling the provisioning (aka lots of bourbon, energy drinks and junk food, but virtually no water or gatorade ).  And, I can't skip @pbjunkie, @landraider, and @codym (and any others) who helped prepare food for the long weekend.  

This event marks a couple of personal milestones, and it seems fitting that Cola Warrior X is my 10th event.  Failing all the obstacles at Classic III (my second event) opened my eyes.  I joined a gym a few days later and began working at correcting some of the issues.  There have been ups and downs,  particularly recently given the coronavirus shutdowns, but I've seen progress. This year, I've been trying to challenge myself on a couple of fronts, and those efforts paid dividends at this event.  I ran with more people than ever, and, as a result, I ended up with nearly 1000 pictures. I'll be going through them in the coming days and trying to get them posted as I have time.

The ayatollah always seems to find ways to make the course more difficult and provide lessons to those willing to learn.  For example, the loaner carrier and plate combo is miserable, and it inspired the purchase of a nice carrier and lightweight-ish ceramic plates a year or two ago.  This year, several people suffered through a loaner helmet, too, making me quite glad for my bump helmet.  Past events also showed me that my offhand and positional shooting needed work.  I built a reliable AR15 rifle with an ACOG late last year after having issues with my 308 rifle at an event or two, and it's really been paying off on the range.

This is the second time I attempted a 2L - the first was at SE earlier this year, which ended in failure around the halfway point.  This time, I was determined to succeed, and I did.  I also joined the "I got an obstacle at Classic club" this year, which felt great, even if it was something of a gimme, especially for this course.  The shooting side of things went well enough, although seating rifle mags properly can help.    I ended up tied with @landraider, so we competed in a tire shoving contest to see who would get the upper slot.  He put up a good fight, but my additional height and weight paid off - it would have been even more epic had it been for 10th and 11th places.   We also had a tie between icrpdmeself (despite his insistence that @ORJeepguy is his name) and @UniqueSND - I like this new method of settling placement!

Then I went on to win the Macon Armory shoot-off - a single standing shot at an unknown distance, unknown size target.  We learned it was roughly a 3x12" target at 282 yards afterward, and I'm still surprised that I knocked it over using a 3x ACOG and Wolf steel case ammo.  

After these event, I always think about what I could have done better.  Could I have come up with an extra 19 seconds to move up to 10th place?  In retrospect, yes, I could have spent a bit less time on (failed) attempts at the obstacles, pushed a harder on the run, shot just a bit better, or chugged a little faster...but I'm still happy with my run and the improvement that it showed over previous years.  

Quoted:
I apologize in advance for what's going to be a rather lengthy post!  

Thanks to @rustedace for hosting & running us again, @captain_morgan and @renegadeburrito for running people, and a special thanks to @maxtherabbit, @40delta and @landraider for fixing the plumbing.  I also want to acknowledge @KaiK handling the provisioning (aka lots of bourbon, energy drinks and junk food, but virtually no water or gatorade ).  And, I can't skip @pbjunkie, @landraider, and @codym (and any others) who helped prepare food for the long weekend.  

This event marks a couple of personal milestones, and it seems fitting that Cola Warrior X is my 10th event.  Failing all the obstacles at Classic III (my second event) opened my eyes.  I joined a gym a few days later and began working at correcting some of the issues.  There have been ups and downs,  particularly recently given the coronavirus shutdowns, but I've seen progress. This year, I've been trying to challenge myself on a couple of fronts, and those efforts paid dividends at this event.  I ran with more people than ever, and, as a result, I ended up with nearly 1000 pictures. I'll be going through them in the coming days and trying to get them posted as I have time.

The ayatollah always seems to find ways to make the course more difficult and provide lessons to those willing to learn.  For example, the loaner carrier and plate combo is miserable, and it inspired the purchase of a nice carrier and lightweight-ish ceramic plates a year or two ago.  This year, several people suffered through a loaner helmet, too, making me quite glad for my bump helmet.  Past events also showed me that my offhand and positional shooting needed work.  I built a reliable AR15 rifle with an ACOG late last year after having issues with my 308 rifle at an event or two, and it's really been paying off on the range.

This is the second time I attempted a 2L - the first was at SE earlier this year, which ended in failure around the halfway point.  This time, I was determined to succeed, and I did.  I also joined the "I got an obstacle at Classic club" this year, which felt great, even if it was something of a gimme, especially for this course.  The shooting side of things went well enough, although seating rifle mags properly can help.    I ended up tied with @landraider, so we competed in a tire shoving contest to see who would get the upper slot.  He put up a good fight, but my additional height and weight paid off - it would have been even more epic had it been for 10th and 11th places.   We also had a tie between icrpdmeself (despite his insistence that @ORJeepguy is his name) and @UniqueSND - I like this new method of settling placement!

Then I went on to win the Macon Armory shoot-off - a single standing shot at an unknown distance, unknown size target.  We learned it was roughly a 3x12" target at 282 yards afterward, and I'm still surprised that I knocked it over using a 3x ACOG and Wolf steel case ammo.  

After these event, I always think about what I could have done better.  Could I have come up with an extra 19 seconds to move up to 10th place?  In retrospect, yes, I could have spent a bit less time on (failed) attempts at the obstacles, pushed a harder on the run, shot just a bit better, or chugged a little faster...but I'm still happy with my run and the improvement that it showed over previous years.  

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Comparing the visual suffering from X while enduring the drive back to our homeland...

https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/439934/20200823_201636_jpg-1559672.JPG

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@splat2013
What the hell are y'all listening to???

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Hahahahaha I noticed that after I posted it and was curious who would see it first.

When I graduated high school my dad made me a bunch of CD's with songs that came out every year of my life...he named them all. When I uploaded everything to I-tunes I just used the CD names that he used since I was too lazy to go through and name them all individually. This CD was entitled "Chillin with Elmo in my Pooh Bear Shirt"

Edit: went back and looked for the purpose of this post, the song was "This Kiss" by Faith Hill

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I was with you until that part. Oof, what an awful song.

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Faith Hill has some good songs, but the chorus of "this kiss, thiiiis kiiiiiiis" always makes me want to kick puppies.

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Explain why I should be nicer next year and not go full nightmare mode?

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Explain why I should be nicer next year and not go full nightmare mode?

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Explain why I should be nicer next year and not go full nightmare mode?

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Make skipping obstacles more than a 5 minute penalty? Maybe 10 or 15? Something to discourage out of shape good shooters from touching obstacles and walking the half mile?

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How dare you try to penalize my strategy.

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Why did Dr Fauchi want to shoot Old Gregs AK?

Gross

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How dare you try to penalize my strategy.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9tXjayWvyI

When every obstacle smokes you.  

Stupid phone ran out of memory.

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Is this not timed? Just to wear you out/raise heart rate before a shoot stage?

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Not sure exactly how you fucked it up, so I saved and hosted it myself.

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Cola Warrior, where a 5 minute penalty isnt enough.

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Each obstacle could have an associated weight. Failing said obstacle means that weight needs to come with you for the rest of the course.

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Sorry if this was addressed in the FAQ, but why is everyone drinking Mountain Dew at Cola Warrior?  Is this like the thing where all carbonated beverages are called Coke?

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Each obstacle could have an associated weight. Failing said obstacle means that weight needs to come with you for the rest of the course.

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Each obstacle could have an associated weight. Failing said obstacle means that weight needs to come with you for the rest of the course.

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Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9tXjayWvyI

When every obstacle smokes you.  

Stupid phone ran out of memory.