So....
Speaking only of my personal experience here. Appleseed (AS) events are by far the most fast paced 3 position shooting events I have ever done. This is also to include the National team match at Camp Perry, also referred to as Rattle Battle.
At an AS event, you will put anywhere from 100-500 rounds down range in a weekend. Likely around 250ish.
It can absolutely wear you out.
I know my first event ever, and also my first intro to 3 position shooting (an AS event) I could barely walk at the end of day 1!
Why?
Let's tackle the easy one first. Hydration.....
It is a well known and accepted fact that the first thing to go when you start to become dehydrated is VISION.
Coupled with the fact that you are taxing your vision significantly, if you start to get dehydrated it will absolutely manifest itself on the target.
I am an "across the course" high power (HP) rifle competitor. We move from 200 yards to the pits, to 300 yards then to the pits, then to 600 yards and to the pits.....or some combo. It is a lot of walking and hauling your gear between yard lines and also performing scoring/pit duty.
I have "forgot"/"neglected" to remain hydrated before and boy do I pay dearly when I get to 600 yards to shoot slow prone....or in the case of an AQT the bottom row. Slow Prone is the $, and if you are fatigued/dehydrated your score will absolutely suffer.
Dehydration can really sneak up on ya. If your not peeing somewhat clear every 90 minutes or so....you are already getting dehydrated. If you pee and it is yellow/orange...you are dehydrated.
So.....
HYDRATION STARTS THE DAY/EVENING PRIOR TO AN EVENT
Beer or any form of alcohol will dehydrate you....so it is advised that like with most things in life, if you want to be successful, curb/do away with the alcohol the night prior at a minimum.
Coffee....a dehydrator and I LOVE my coffee in the morning. On match day I get up very early and have 1 to 2 cups. I have to or I will be a BEAR.
But....I have also hydrated the evening prior. So, it is a very slight effect with the coffee.
GATORADE is not the answer. It has sugar and stuff in it. Caffeine is bad for pulse.....
What I do the night prior is force down a grape flavored pedialyte. Then I sip a pedialyte or NUUN tablet disolved in water (Google NUNN tablets), and constantly drink A LOT of water during the event.
I know several High Master national level competitors that swear by coconut water! I have tried it, but do not care much for the taste. It does work well though.
Staying hydrated will also help with the muscle pain at the end of the day.
What else...ahhhh....fatigue/muscle pain.
I take MOTRIN the night prior and typically an hour before I shoot slow prone. It seems to help, and my scores are pretty good if I am hydrated and have a bit of motrin in me.
Lastly, exercise. Building up stamina thru exercise can help a lot. I suck at this. So....at a minimum, DRY FIRE....that will absolutely get you more comfortable with the positions and you will hurt a LOT LESS if you regularly get in the seated and prone positions.
Energy.....gotta eat! Range Snacks is what I call em. Peanuts, Jerky, etc....not too much sugar....but need protein. An Army Marksmanship Unit shooter I know....she eats bannanas before every match! Do what the AMU does! LOL
Figured I'd share..., dehydration can seriously ruin a score and many are baffled when they shoot poorly...and have no idea that it probably was simply lack of hydration!
R/
Chris
This is so true.
I found this out the hard way when I got heat exhaustion in the Military.
25 Mile road marches a day x4 under the July sun while hitting the Camp Heumensoord Beer tent at night will put you down.
My family is so sick of hearing me tell themto hydrate that they bought me a shirt that says
"All of your problems are because your not drinking enough water"
Hydration can greatly effect the elastisity of the eye which determines how fast you can focus back and forth between different focal planes. This can radically effect your ability to call your shot precisely due latency in your feedback loop. A mission critical capability for precision shooting. On a personal note I am noticing the effects of hydration on my vision more and more as I age.
Bob