Bazan Bay and series finale with the Vancouver Island Race Series

Last weekend we had the final race of the series, the 5k and the series wrap up! 🙂

Heading back. Photo courtesy of Lois D’Ell.

I was kind of dreading the 5k- I just find it so tough, and I feel like I am pretty weak at getting any top end speed but I figured I could probably hang well enough for a sub- 20:00 with the fitness I have right now.

And it was FREEZING out. We have had a really miserable spring- super cold, wind storms every other day, it was a blizzard last Monday?! The race morning it was 0 deg, and by the time we were racing, I think it crawled up to a measly 4 deg? Anyways I was frozen, wearing gloves for the last race of the season and cursing our luck. I guess we should have considered ourselves lucky that it wasn’t snowing (it was on the Malahat and up Island all day…) and the brave runners who traveled here definitely had to contend with a really tough go to get to the race.

Photo courtesy of Lois D’Ell.

Weather gripes aside, the race itself was fine. I did get annoyed when I saw some older, non-elite runners head to the start. Guys, that’s a good way to get really hurt. Of course, when we started everyone blew past them and they got elbowed a lot. That’s life when you try to hang w/the pros… Do better!

I was hung up in a few packs throughout the race but nothing too tight, which was nice. I forgot my watch so didn’t have that pressure 😉 at least!

At the start. My lungs didn’t love the extra-cold weather. Photo by Lois D’Ell.

It was tough, Ian blew past me like I was standing still which is always irritating! Lol! Wish I had speed if I didn’t train- how??? That will always confound me. My breathing was fairly labored and I did feel like I was at my max for speed. We hit the turnaround and zoomed back. As always, the finish loomed just out of reach for muuuchhh longer than I ever want…

About 1.5 kms to the finish, a guy was telling us we’re getting under 20:00 and I was like yes my dude, I know that, but I’m not gearing JUST for under, you know? I was running hard!

Second place in the series! Photo courtesy of Joseph ‘Crazy Legs’ Camillieri.

And luckily I did get under 20:00 by a fair margin- gun time was 19:22, chip..can’t remember haha. Good enough! I got 5th in my AG, and then we had the series awards. It was confusing at first because none of the 5k times were loaded so nobody knew what they had placed in, and the placings did have an effect on the series end awards. I was in 3rd place, until they called out the placings and I – in a big upset lol- moved to 2nd?!

Yeah!!

$50 gift card to Frontrunners was all mine, baby!! 🙂

And the race results never did get loaded, so a few days later we saw them. Ha, my AG was quite competiive this year, phewww!

Grateful to have a good racing season, nice weather until the last race (how??) and lovely to see my run community buddies and enjoy some excellent post-race snacks. Until next time, racing!!! 🙂

What is it they say about the heart? That it’s a muscle?

Had my jump lesson last night and the temperatures dropped dramatically since earlier this week (when I was bragging about running in shorts!) so it was very cold in my lesson, unfortunately. Lucky for me, Oats is now on regular Previcox and I find that helps him a great deal with the cold/winter stiffness that he was starting to feel regularly, as an older pony.

Seeking this good feeling- and I’ve got it! Hah no t-shirts last night, that’s for darned sure.

He was pretty bouncy and feeling good last night! I, on the other hand, felt stiff, cold and creaky. Hah. The horse was going better than the rider! I watched my friends ride in their lesson before mine, so I had an idea of what our lesson was going to consist of- though I was wrong, I had bending and broken lines up the wazoo, where theirs was a bit simpler due to a few technical issues early on (one horse had to bow out, he wasn’t feeling quite himself).

So we warmed up (ha, warm. I don’t think I ever felt warm), over a few small x-rails, then lead up to a line (5 strides), and then started working over bending lines still with the cross poles. And the funny thing? We were just nailing it! I don’t think I need to remind you how that pretty much never happens when I ride, ever. It was just so smooth, I didn’t need to think about working or trying or anything, it was was.

Nice eh?

We then moved up to work on the course, and there were so many twisty-turny bending lines, broken lines, it was so fun! Oats was a STAR!!! It was so cold that my eyes were watering the whole ride and I could barely see where I was going, hah.

Oats is such a good pony. I love him! 

We did biff a few things (wicked drift on the first fence when I didn’t go in riding very well…) and the last fence was kind of a slump, but otherwise it was just BANG ON. Yeah!! Felt awesome! Maybe my trot fence homework is starting to pay off? I wanted to develop feel, agility, comfort and flexibility. I needed to build back my resilience- mine and Oats’- by working on the lowest-level, boring, but important work. No stakes, easy to mess up and easy to fix.

So, I guess the good news is that it is working! The bad news? I have to keep doing it! I used to have a bad habit of completely giving up when something was either working well, or not working at all. So, I keep going.

You’re Smiling (but I don’t believe you)

No lesson last night *(boo, again! We didn’t have one last Thursday because we all took part in a equestrian fitness workshop, which was cool), but this time it was cancelled because the arena is too dusty and in all fairness to my trainer- it’s dangerous to her health.

These were the rocks we clobbered. Ha, whoops! 

No joke, it’s AWFUL this year. Freezing, snowing, and now dust?  We just can’t win! We do have sprinklers for the arena, but the water that supplies them is turned off when it starts freezing, to make sure the pipes don’t freeze and burst. Usually it’s rainy enough by spring that it’s no biggie to hold tight until it warms up enough to turn them back on….Except we are now going on over a month and half of no rain, just freezing and snow. 😦

And to add to that, Oats has some minor breathing problems- a chronic respiratory condition that means I can’t really stable him indoors and his hay gets soaked. So… Yeah this really isn’t ideal for him, me, other riders/horses and my trainer! Sucks sucks sucks. Such a minor gripe but really putting a damper on my activities, this winter! *shakes fists*

I miss this!! C’mon spring, happen already!! 

Anyways, I went out to ride last night (solo since lessons were cancelled) and with just 1 rider it’s very manageable, dust-wise. I did my own jump school! 🙂 Yay! It was so fun, and since the jumps were left up from the jumping lessons on Wednesday, I had a nice assortment of about 4 different jumps to ride around and jump. Of course I was MUCH clumsier than when I am in a lesson (riddle me this…Why??) but I had a fun time anyways, and it’s no biggie. Oats is a good and safe pony, and saved my bacon when I buried him at the rocks jump – whoops!! He didn’t even knock the poles down, so I didn’t have to get off and fix it, what a star!

So, here’s actually hoping for rain. Weird eh? I am SICK to death of being frozen, dusty, etc etc…God.

The incorruptible heart: Valentine’s Day!

Ugh, just some more weather-griping from me these days. It is cold, unseasonably so, with tons and tons of snow and ice. Yay?! UGH!! I hate it. I finally got out to ride Oats yesterday, driving very carefully. There is a lot of snow at the barn, but you can get to the barn, paddocks and arena- it’s a bit of a tough slip ‘n’ slide but I made it!

Tucker is OVER IT.

Have a lesson tonight, and the forecast is calling for more snow. Can it just be rain, please please? For me? Good lord, I’m not cut out for this winter- business. Not even close! I was commenting to my colleague the other day that when the weather clears up, what will I be able to complain about? I’ve had a lot of ”good” material this new year (really sick, pulled a rib muscle, the dog-sitting adventure from the depths of hell, sick rabbit to join in the fun, and now tons of snow, ice and freezing temperatures).

Oh 2019, you aren’t making it easy to like you!

Keeping in mind of course, these are all minor annoyances and small gripes. Thank Christ.

It looks pretty until there’s 2ft of the damn stuff! Photo courtesy of Sarah C.

Happy Valentine’s Day? I’ll meet you on the other side, when the sun shines and the sidewalks aren’t treacherously deadly.

 

Love, appreciate, joy,

I’m just feeling really good about my pony these days. Had a jump lesson last night that sure wasn’t ”perfect” but man, it made me just feel so glad to have him, my Oats, with me. I rode on Monday and wanted to cry I was so cold, it was horrible. Oats was perfect, but I could tell that the chill was tough on him too.

I heard he was a total gentleman for his rider on Tuesday (they have been having some great rides, yes!!) and hearing that just makes my heart sing. You know when you have a horse that other people like?  And more importantly, like riding? It’s a good feeling! So going into my Thursday jump lesson I had warm fuzzies in my heart. 🙂

We warmed up a tad lackluster- he was coughing a bit, and inattentive. I was like, c’mon get with the program! And bit by bit, we did. We didn’t work on anything very complicated, but there was one particular turn that made me feel a bit nervous- come around in a circle, jump the rock jump and cut left immediately (2-3? strides) to an oxer on the long side.

Now, this oxer was the friendliest oxer you could possible want. A x-rail in front of a vertical, which really draws in horses and makes it easier to jump. It was also the highest fence on the course! Two things in one! Hahahh.

The first time we did the cut away jump to the oxer, it went perfectly! The second time…I didn’t lock on to the second jump, landed and got pulled wayyyy wide to the oxer. Whoops!!! Oats had basically veered way right, and it was a judgement call: go around (would be easy!!) or right the course in 1-stride and go jump! We jumped!! It was NOT pretty, given it was at this point a 2’9” oxer, but Oats was game and away we went!

Whee!!!! Man that was funny. But we dug deep and pulled it out, hahah.

He definitely goes better when I don’t forget what I’m doing/lock on to the correct jump, but he’s such a good and honest pony that it doesn’t really matter to him anyways! So game! I think I was having a bit of a hard time seeing last night, as my eyes were watering constantly throughout the course due to the chill. (And yesterday was the warmest it’s been all week, yiiiikes!).

Anyways, things that I always have to work on: Release with my arms instead of chicken wings… Go with the horse, instead of getting caught in the back seat! This happened a few times last night, my body wasn’t clicking with it for some reason. Land on my knee/upper thigh. Hips back, consider a sitting seat to the fences to achieve this. Look where the fences are!! And stay there! I had a lot of trouble with this last night too- I’m going to partially blame the cold/tears in my eyes.

But overall, we jumped the highest we’ve jumped a single fence and it was the one on course that we jumped a few times, and even after a tricky attempt, and it was not a problem. Good to know, and I felt so appreciative and happy with my pony. Go Oats!

Smoothies of Summer

Ah it’s summertime and the living is easy! Because it’s finally hot here (second week of Van Isle heatwave right here) I am loving making smoothies with fresh ingredients.

My most recent smoothie- featuring blackberries! 

A couple options that I have been making: Smoothies with frozen blueberries, a banana, lemon yogurt, a handful of spinach, ice cubes and water, and a scoop of Vega protein powder in vanilla.

This was blueberry-mango with some coconut sprinkles! 

A few other ways to mix it up- I love love love blackberries, so I have been picking them at the riding stables and freezing them. Add blackberries to the smoothie instead of blueberries for a hit of antioxidants and flavour! This usually makes enough for two smoothies, so I share them with my husband unless I’m having a very hungry day then I drink both of them!

This was a raspberry-blackberry one. So good! 

And some other mix-ins…frozen mango, fresh raspberries and using unflavoured kefir instead- makes it really smooth. And always keep a banana in there! You don’t need to use juice or other liquids if you have yogurt and ice cubes and water. Yummy!

Smoothie Queen

That’s right, I am making lunch these days! Hint-  not a cook myself, but I do consider making smoothies ‘lunch’ haha.

Behold, a smoothie made of perfection! (ice, unflavoured Kefir, frozen blackberry, vanilla protein powder, some spinach, a banana and strawberries, and raspberry and coconut for garnish!).

Arctic

The weather lately has been HORRIBLE. Insane blasting winds (70km/h), freezing temps with a windchill of -8, and I am so over it. We almost never get weather like this?!

This is where I live. Photo courtesy of the Times Colonist.

Anyways, it’s been making the trek out to the barn incredibly difficult. I know I was going through a rough patch before Xmas, and felt very unmotivated and found it hard to do anything. Run? Nope. Ride? In the dark, freezing cold? Nope. Shower? Nope. Gym? Nope. Work? Yes, but super angrily. Dinner? Nope. Breakfast? Nope…All I wanted to do was sit on the couch wrapped in a quilt and mope, for some reason. Oh and binge-eat as much shitty chocolate as I could choke down in one sitting. Yeah, a winning move.

Part of me fears that weird cold-situational depression is coming back with the freezing temperatures. UGH. So over it.

I had a good learning session with my equine counselor on Monday during the day, and I was still so frozen my ride after sucked. I couldn’t wait to get off, I was so cold my leg muscles were spasming. Fun fun! My pony was a good boy though, and with the wind blasting like a lunatic, he only had one spook.

Tuesday I had my dressage lesson and true to form, the weather was out of control bad. Blasting wind? Tree branches everywhere? Feral cats fighting in a tree? Screech owls having it out? Boy oh boy we had it all!

To be honest, the wild and wooly weather made it hard to focus on my lesson and actually hard to hear what my trainer was saying. It was SO windy. And effing freezing. It was a very intense lesson, funny enough not in the riding ‘sense’ but in the effort sense. Oats was a SAINT though. Didn’t bat an eye at all the craziness going on around him, and trust me he had ample opportunity to be a total dickhead about it. Cold, windy, lots of stuff blowing around hitting the arena= batshit horses. Luckily he was good as gold~

We worked on some lateral work at the walk, and then trot work getting them to stretch over their back in bend, and counter-bend, and then back to the bend, and counter-bend. It was a really good quality lesson, and I felt Oats get much looser by the end of it. Me on the other hand, pretty stiff!

When I got home, I was so cold I couldn’t warm up. I ended up going to sleep in a hoodie, and socks, and a third quilt on my bed (Hudson’s Bay wool blanket, so not a lightweight one either!). I took off the socks and hoodie, but the Bay blanket stayed, which is unheard of for me, I am a super hot sleeper and run warm all the time. I was FROZEN.

So over it!

 

In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer.

A quote I’ve always loved, partially because I kind of hate winter, partially because it exemplifies that ‘never give up’ ethos that I try hard to live!

Frosty days

It has been FREEZING here. Yeah yeah I’m sure people who live in actually cold climates are laughing their butts off, but yeeesh, I am not used to it.

These below-seasonal temps have made riding kind of a pain, my hands and toes are freezing, my breath catches in my throat and my eyes water. My quarter sheet does not want to stay on my dear pony’s butt! It flies off him at every opportunity, and it makes me laugh so hard when that happens! Thank GOD he is pretty bombproof and couldn’t care less about a blanket sliding off his butt when we’re cantering! HAHA though I think it has happened enough now that he is used to it.

And how has dear Oaty pony been? Pretty good actually (part of me wants to say I’m surprised! ha). Good ride on him on Tuesday, and Wednesday actually. I tried some no-stirrup work at the trot (two point again, for my pathetic 2-laps of the ring) and was dying. Just dying. Canter two-point no stirrups was MUCH easier, though a bit of a slacker’s move.

I was still freezing though, despite the ‘intensive’ two point no-stirrups work.

Thursday was my lesson with Nicole and I always start off feeling very apprehensive. But you know what? It went really well! True- not perfect- but I’m getting glimmerings of what I normally ride like back…And I like it! We worked on bounce gymnastics (HATE!) but they were riding better than they normally do, so yeah!! And then we worked up to a small course- bounce gymnastics, small x-rail liverpool, x-rail one-stride combination (that we didn’t make at first, but then did!), to a x-rail on the diagonal.

I know, I know- what’s with all these x-rails? Truth is, I haven’t really felt like jumping higher lately?!

I feel like I am beginning to master something (eyes? better jumping position?) and I want to stay at a height (well, lack of height really), where I feel safer.

Though I do think Oats would sometimes like to jump higher! He gets bored sometimes, haha.