5 Q’s with Mel
| July 22, 2014 | Posted by Melinda under Uncategorized |
I adapted this list of questions from the blog over at ultrarunnerpodcast.com. If you are so inclined, would love to hear your responses! Leave a link in the comments to your own blog post, or answer all or some in the comments I think I managed to create the mysterious blog Link up you’all have been mentioning. So while you can still leave responses in the comments, you can theoretically directly link your blog post to this one by clicking on the link at the bottom of this post! Let’s get to know each other a little better.
Me in 1300’s peasant garb at a Medieval horse fun day last weekend.
Name: Melinda Noelle Faubel
- I used to be sneakier about my full name and making sure my blog and my name couldn’t be casually connected, but nowadays I’m less concerned.
Age: 29
Where do you live: Yuba City, CA
Family Status: engaged with 3 dogs, a bird, and 2 horses
1. How long have you been riding? Endurance?
I joined the horse club in 4-H and rode other people’s horses as they let me. In high school and college I “catch rode” as much as I could – polo, summer internships at ranches, civil war reenacting. After I graduated I was given my first horse and I knew immediately I wanted to do endurance, and specifically Tevis. I did my first 50 (and failed) the next year, at the beginning of 2007.
2. What does a normal training week look like for you?
1-2 pony rides. If it’s been a couple of weeks since I went on a “several” hour trail ride, then maybe I’ll be out there logging 2 or 2 1/2 hours in the saddle. Most weeks I average under 10 miles on horse back.
2-3 runs. A tempo run and an interval run. If I didn’t do a longer run in the past 2 weeks than I’ll get in 2-3 hours, otherwise I might get in a “burro style” leadline run. One session of cross training per week – hiking, weight training, cycling etc. Typical weekly average mileage runs about 15 miles if I’m lucky.
The problem with trying to describe an “average” week is that it’s so variable depending on where I am in a training cycle – preparing for or recoverying from an equine/running event, or trying to maintain during a long interval between events. I work in cycles that are 14-21 days in length, not 7.
3. Any advice for endurance riding spouses?
Riding keeps us sane. Help us to place endurance in the proper spot in our lives (less than all consuming is ideal), make sure we go out and get some riding in, and don’t roll your eyes when our horse is lame and we are completely freaked out.
4. Where will this sport be in 10 years?
- I see more intermediate distances between 50’s and 100’s being added.
- I also see an emphasis on treating more horses post ride as riders are educated on the benefits of early intervention and the culture in this sport gradually shifts from pointing fingers, to doing what’s right for the horse and not the egos of the rider.
- We will probably continue to develop methods for evaluating the “fit to continue” that go beyond the physical exam.
- The apps that can be used to digital mark trail are getting better. In 10 years we may still be marking with trail ribbons, but I see more rides offering electronic markers as well.
5. What was your best race and why (AERC endurance – or if you are primary in another discipline, than your best ride in that sport).
Twenty Mule Team 100 miler 2011. Ironically I was pulled at mile 92 because Farley was lame. But it remains my best race because we rode our own ride every step of the way. For the first time, we had a true partnership when it came to pacing and we were focused on each other for the entire ride. She was forward, happy, and content with her job. The weather was marginal (rainy cold desert February….). She got cold and crampy early on and I was very mindful that the next vet check could be my last and so for the first time at a ride I rode “in the moment” for every mile, never knowing if it would be my last. And it was wonderful and a ride I treasure to this day.
Bonus question: What’s your favorite beer?
I don’t particularly like beer. There are beers I like better than other beers (Guiness draft comes to mind) but it would be a stretch to call any of them my “favorite”. So I will reword my bonus question to: What is your favorite post-50 mile meal?
Rare tri tip. With a really good mixed fruit salad. And a soda.
That just hits the spot.
—————————————————————————————
Update (7/26/14)
Someone suggested I try to create a link up, whatever the heck that is. So, I’ve created an account over at Inlinkz.com and created what I *think* is a link up.
I’m going to paste a bunch of code here and see what happens!!!
[inlinkz_linkup id=430309 mode=1]
If you want to post the link up at the end of your page, you can get the code here: get the InLinkz code
Name: Elizabeth Gray Stout
Age: 25
Live: Elkins, WV
Family Status: Single (in a relationship though currently) with 1 dog 2 cats and 2 horses
1. How long have you been riding? Endurance?
– Riding for 20 years. Started endurance in 2007, though I entered college in 2007, as well. I ended up taking a 4 year hiatus from endurance and almost all forms of horseback riding during college. As soon as I graduated I was at it again, though I didn’t get a ride in until 2012. Haven’t looked back since.
2. What does a normal training week look like for you?
– 2 rides on each horse
– hangboard workout, 2 if I’m lucky
– re-started some p90x mixed with yoga mixed with HIIT/tabata
– a bike ride
3. Any advice for endurance riding spouses?
– What you said was perfect! I had a giggle about the “don’t roll your eyes when we freak out” caveat. Too true. Too true.
4. Where will this sport be in 10 years?
– I agree with each of your points. I also hope that the mentoring program will develop and evolve into something bigger and better across the country. The green bean movement is really having an affect it seems from the west to the east, too, which is terrific for recruiting. Social media support groups are really playing into that and helping to better educate the next wave of riders.
– In addition to your digital trail marker option, I hope we can move toward developing better maps as a whole. As someone who works with mapping technologies, I have witnessed a horrible lack of *good* maps at rides that are provided to riders. It is really SO simple to make a GOOD map. I would like to see more of that. There is a lot of information that can be included on a paper map and passed out to folks; these could easily be stuffed in a ziplock in a saddlebag and be useful in a pinch. When I made our ride maps last year (and when I do this year again as we nixed a WHOLE 18 mile loop and created an entirely new one!) I leave a big white box along one edge of the map for “notes” from the ride meeting. Everyone gets to mark areas on their map that may be important to them to remember from the meeting if they’re the kind of person who needs that type of thing.
5. What was your best race and why (AERC endurance – or if you are primary in another discipline, than your best ride in that sport).
– With only 300 endurance miles so far, I’d say my best ride was on a friend’s horse at VA Highlands last year. It was the ride where everything clicked for me. The weather was perfect, the trails were AMAZING, the horse I was on knew her job, and I was finally able to predict what I needed to do and when. I took better care of the horse and myself during this ride. Everything just fell into place for that ride and in my mind for future events.
Bonus question: What’s your favorite beer?
– I’m an IPA girl. Hoppier the better. Added bonus to IPAs? Usually high alcohol content, so I can have one or two and be done because I’m already in a happy place (light-weight status FOREVER <3). As a result I don't over-consume alcohol and end up dehydrated or experiencing any other longer-lasting effects from it! I hate hang overs and having to put great effort into getting my body back to "normal" from drinking.
You should make this a blog hop!! Would be really fun to do. You can create the link through InLinkz and then any blogging friend can link their blog post answering the same questions.
Definitely make this a blog hop! I’m working on my answers on my blog, since I haven’t posted anything at all this week! I’ll come back to share the link when I’m done. 🙂
Here’s my link: http://waitingforthejump.blogspot.com/2014/07/5-qs-with-mel.html
Hey, I actually managed to get on board with one of these in a timely fashion!
http://gopony.blogspot.com/2014/07/5-qs-with-mel-go-pony-style.html
My link!
http://topaz-dreams.blogspot.com/2014/07/five-qs.html
My Link 🙂
http://slowisme.blogspot.com/2014/07/five-questions.html
http://haikufarm.blogspot.com/2014/07/in-which-we-hop-around-bit-because-mel.html