IRL November 2016
| December 1, 2016 | Posted by Melinda under Uncategorized |
Oh boy oh boy OH BOY. Finally a look at a month where stuff HAPPENED.
Let’s start with running.
Running
I RAN 100 MILES!!!!!!
But what else did I do?
- 9.5 miles 3 days prior to the 100 mile race
- 2 weeks of complete rest where I did not run or cross train
- 2 runs of low easy miles (total of about 6 miles)
- and then…….more nothing due to having a kidney infection and being very adamant that for the month of November I WOULD NOT RUN unless I felt good.
Total mileage for the month was: ~115 miles.
Which is the highest mileage month I’ve done all year, just barely beating out July’s 111 miles.
In December I plan on focusing on some interval training, running the annual free 5K that’s a couple miles from my house (anyone want to join me? It’s free AND there’s food), and cementing my plans for the 2017 season.
100 days of Horses Challenge
I started this challenge mid-month and in the 16 days available I saw my horses 13 of them. Woot!!!! That’s the most consistent pony time I’ve gotten in a long time. It feels GOOD. Exciting things are happening with the ponies and I feel like I’m back on track. Here’s what I learned this month during Days 1-13 of the 100DaysofHorses Challenge.
- It’s really important to be definite about my plans to go out to the stable. I was confusing being accommodating when I went out to the barn time with being flexible with my intentions. One is OK, the other is not.
- Whether I make time for the ponies really does boil down to my mindset and the excuses I make for myself.
- Setting a goal (100 days of horses without missing a day!) is an important motivation. Even more important is getting back on the wagon ASAP when sh*t happens. It’s not going to go perfectly. It’s life. But when it doesn’t go the way you thought get back on track as soon as possible!
If you follow me on instagram or visit my facebook page you’ve been able to see the pictures as the challenge unfolds. Here’s a quick summary.
Days 1-13
Farley
- A couple of ground driving sessions (2?)
- 1 bareback ride in the arena
- 2 trail rides that were 1 1/2-2 hours each.
For the first trail ride we went out solo. With apologies to everyone that I have an invitation to ride with….I wanted to ride alone. I wanted to listen to my horse, really listen and see what she had to say. It’s hard to do that with a lot of distractions. I also needed this ride to be more about training and less about socializing.
She took about 40 reluctant minutes to warm up, acted like certain parts of the trail was the land of Mordor, and then attempted to bolt back to the trailer when we turned around. On the plus side she certainly didn’t seem to lack energy or fitness. Which was a shocker since the last time we actually did anything significant was the beginning of September.
Breathe deep, lean back, don’t pick fights, AND NO BOLTING DOWN HILL WHILE TRYING TO BUCK.
Whew!!!!!
A week later I went out with friends Nikki and Aurora and had an incredible ride. Forward, sane, horse who moved well and did NOT act 18. Most of the time she motored along on a loose rein. Heading back she was hot but not pissy. Let’s GO!!!!!!! Hocks, hooves, and brain seem to be in fine shape for an upcoming endurance season.
Farley’s 2017 season will depend on the lottery results this Saturday and what my running season looks like.
MerryLegs
FINALLY MerryLegs gets some words!!!!!
A friend at the stable who swears he isn’t a trainer, but rides a lot of young horses (polo player that likes to buy young unfinished horses cheap and train them up to be his polo ponies) convinced me that we should work with ML together.
The last time I rode ML or put a saddle on her was about 18 months ago. She’s done a fat lot of nothing since then – a couple of leadline runs, some turn out…..and that’s about it. We turned her out in the arena and he ran her around. She was definitely like “WTF do you want me to do?” I don’t just run my horses to see them run. They either do it of their own volition or we are working on something and communicating something other than “run around and around and around….”. But even with my nail biting she adapted and was fine.
He put the halter on her, noted that she gave to pressure with a rope on her neck, led her to the mounting block and…..jumped on.
O-M-G.
“She’s fine” he said, as he walked around the LIGHTED arena, at NIGHT, in the COLD, in the MUD, *BAREBACK, on a horse that hasn’t had any work done for a year and half.
*most of ML’s rides have been saddled.
Oh yea. No big deal right? That’s just the first time she’s done ANY OF THAT.
<cue me freaking out just a bit>
“Responds perfectly to leg pressure”.
“This is a great horse!”
“Awesome mind”.
Ok Ok Ok. Yes I over think things. Yes I make them too complicated. But STILL.
That was insane.
Perhaps I should just get on my baby (she is almost 5…) Arab.
There were a lot of lessons watching him ride ML.
- Not trying to fight all the battles at once – both the ones in my brain and the ones that she doesn’t even know she’s starting.
- Just get on.
- And when I don’t feel right just get off. Lead her to the mounting block. Hop on again.
- She’s almost 5. Not a baby any more. Almost as old as Farley when I bought her. Sure, she has less life experience than any other horse I’ve bought (yea for track horses!) but that doesn’t mean she’s wild.
- Just treat her like the horse I’m going to be riding on the endurance trail in a couple of years. She can handle it. She craves it. She wants to be my partner. So give her to chance to shine.
Day 12 picture above in the photo gallery is ML with Carlos on her back :).
Tonight is my night to jump on.
What does ML’s 2017 season looks like? *probably* a combination of turn out on a friend’s hilly pasture and riding. Likely the earliest AERC ride I would enter on her is 2018 in her 6 year old year. I have this gut feeling that she’s going to need to go straight to a 50 miler and then have the option of moving up the distances from there as needed.
so many good things!
What a HUGE and amazing month of things!