Last ride of the year

 A and Charlie took Sunshower and me out to Banner Forest yesterday for our last ride of 2010. Banner is a 640 acre county owned park, its got 1 service road through it and many, many miles of trails criss-crossing all over. We like to go out here because its only about 10 minutes from home and we can't get lost too badly or for too long.

 When we were loading up the trailer at my house I couldn't find my helmet. A offered me the use of her hubby's but I declined, it was pretty cold, I had a warm hat on and I was going to trust me mare for this ride.

 Its been a pretty wet month so there was lots of water and mud puddles on the trails. On one of them Sunshower and I were in the lead when my toe got stuck on a fallen down tree. The entire tree was being dragged behind/next to us and she got scared. Sunshower jumped and bolted then she started crow hopping (felt like full out rodeo bucking to me) and I came off.  I landed in a nest of fallen down tree logs but really didn't hit any of them too bad. I have a big bruise on my calf/shin of my right leg, an abrasion on my left arm and my back has a sore spot which happened when she jumped. I came off  WITHOUT A HELMET ON. I am so ashamed of myself you wouldn't believe it.  But I am OK, just a little sore, like every time I take a step or more my arm or use my back in the smallest way.

At the spot where I took A's photo above we had stopped so I could take a photo of this iguana:  He was placed on the back side of a tree trunk as you go around a corner, if you are on a bike you're going to miss him. A sees all these things, I miss them. But hes cool so I got his picture. A has found a small bird perched atop a tree branch and when we went on the Scavenger Hunt last year she found a lot of cards.

 Today I got up early, before the sun had come up, and I went over to pick up my other friend, L. Shes a fellow Tri Babe. We went to volunteer for the Yukon Do It Full & Half Marathons today in Port Orchard. When I got to L's house the outside temp was 21 degrees at 7:30am. It was 25 at race start 9am, and warmed up to 33 at 11am, when we were done with our jobs.



Yukon Do It



 Our first job was at packet pickup. There were 200 people pre-registered and at race start time there were a lot of people who hadn't picked up their numbers. I think it was just too cold for most of them. We then drove out a bit over a mile onto the course and got photos of the leaders and the large group of runners as they came down the hill and onto the main road.

 After taking a few photos we went into Port Orchard to the half marathon turn around. Linda stood at one area and told runners to follow the yellow arrows around the mini mall and I stood at the other end and made sure they didn't cut it off. It was very fun seeing everyone running past, we were there for all of them.



L & me bundled in 3 layers



 Then we went to our third station, at the same area we had been in earlier for taking photos.  We told Full Marathoners to go out to the right and told the halfers to turn left, they only had 1.2 miles left till the end.

 All in all it was a very fun day and if it all works out next year I'd like to participate instead of just volunteering.

 Lan always tells me he can't ride his bike with me while I run but I saw 2 other men doing it for their wives today so I said he can do it for me next year. I might need to remind him that he said OK.

 I didn't get any training in today but helping out was so rewarding. In the last 2 years I have been in about 10 races and it was time for me to repay all the volunteers who have helped me. I got a lot of Thank Yous today and it felt good.  Next time I'll be, literally, in their shoes. Well, in my own but I'll be running.

I got a free marathon training plan

 On FaceBook, Active.com just offered FREE training plans for marathons so I went ahead and signed up for one. I paid for a half marathon plan so what I did was add this on to the end of my first plan. Now, if I continue after the half, I will be ready for a marathon on August 1st. We'll see how the training goes for the half before I totally commit to the full marathon but I'd love to put a 26.2 sticker on the window of our new car. I already promised myself that I get a 13.1 the day I finish the half, May 1st.
 I met Lan for a spin class at the Y this morning. I need to have the handles up higher, my hands are starting to hurt and a little early damage takes weeks to recover from. Ouch. I should really be wearing gloves too.
 With the horses today I only did one thing, when Wifi did her little rearing thing on the way out to the arena I whacked her on her front legs with the whip. I hate doing that but shes got to learn I won't be nice about her rudeness.

More than enough training today

 I met Lan at the YMCA this morning for an 8:30-9:15 spin class. Bud was the leader and I felt good for the whole class so at the end of it Bud said he was doing the following class too. Lan said 'You should stay' so I did. Then I went home for an hour & Abby came to get me.
 We went back to the YMCA and did a ZUMBA GOLD class, my first zumba ever. OK, I can't dance, I don't enjoy dancing at all but I know aerobic activities help me loose weight. 45 minutes later its over and as we're walking out Abby checks the list of next classes and its another spin class, so we stayed for it. That's 3 spin classes for me in 1 day; I didn't spin hard, just kept lightly spinning but I did it for the whole class. I was T-I-R-E-D.
 That's basically 25 miles on the bike so I'm pretty proud of myself. I'll be going to bed early this evening and I'm sure I'll sleep well.  I don't want to go to bed so early that I wake up at 3:00am and can't get back to sleep.
 Tomorrow IF I go to the Y I'm not going to spin, I'll swim or something, maybe run. I'm sure I'll be sore.
 I didn't do much with the horses because it was pouring rain. Lan put The Pie out in the arena after he got home at about 10am and I didn't get to put him away till about 4pm so he was soaked, too wet to put his blanket on. I locked him in his stall for the night.

Today was a good training day

 I got up earlier than usual and after feeding the horses I went for a run. I start official half marathon training in about 2 weeks but my first run is 3 miles on a Tuesday and 4 miles on the following Saturday. I need to be able to run that 3 miles easily enough so it doesn't kill me. As of right now I think I could do it IF I HAD TOO but since I don't have to... I ran 2.35 miles today, stopped after .5 for a little stretching and walked about 100 feet uphill at about 1.25, have to save my Achilles tendons.

 My manure cart broke down a couple days ago and with Christmas I wasn't able to get to an open store. Finally got some washers and cotter pins today but it was already dark by then so I was only able to clean stalls again. Tomorrow there is going to be a lot of outside cleaning to do and I'm not looking forward to it. But that too can be a good workout.

 Today I went with A to Olympia to look at a saddle which she ended up buying. An older Circle Y with rounded skirts in very good condition. She's never owned a western saddle before so she didn't know a lot about them but she knows a lot about english and dressage saddles. Before we left here we tried 3 of our saddles on Patti and Sunshower so A could see the differences between them.
 The saddle on the left is Patti's Circle Y, the center saddle is Sunshowers FQH and the one on the right is  Joeys Semi QH Fabtron.

  The first, Joeys Semi QH tree, didn't fit either of the mares. C's Circle Y fit Patti OK and it is Patti's saddle, but the Saddle King FQH I have for Sunshower fit Patti better than her own and her saddle fit my made better than mine. 

A and I will be racing in a Ride & Tie in March and A thinks Sunshower will be a good mount for it, nice and short so she will be easy to get on from the ground. I'll have to start taking her jogging with me so she can get into shape. The T&R website says they have trainings scheduled in different places so your horse can learn to stand tied when other horses are running past them and other things we will need to know but the people in this area actually live a long ways away from us. I guess A and I will have to do our own training with her out at Banner Forest, maybe recruit other riders to help us out, maybe ride past while shes tied up. But in real training they would have an experienced horse stand near her so she could learn to stand calmly. We'll just have more to work on than some other people I guess.
 Tomorrow Lan wants me to go to an 8:30 spin class and A and I have already talked about doing a Zumba class. I'll go to the spin class and see if I feel like going back later for Zumba.

To busy to exercise

I was so busy the last few days that I couldn't exercise and I'm feeling depressed. I did, however, have enough time to bake, bake, bake and am going to have to do 53 more spin classes to get rid of my additional fat!

Here is a picture of  Sunshower in her Santa hat: All of the horses got to take turns wearing it so there will be photos of all of them next year for Christmas cards.

Most of them did not enjoy the wearing of the hat but Handy didn't seem to mind too much. Joey and The Pie would rather run away than wear it while Wifi and Patti only wanted the cookies. Speaking of cookies, I made horse shaped sugar cookies and put brown icing of them for the boarders. I ate a few and they are yummy!

Tomorrow is Christmas Day so

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Spin in the morning, arena at night

I met Lan at the YMCA in Gig Harbor this morning for the 8:30 spin class. He wasn't expecting me so he was surprised and I made him smile. The class was lead by Jody and every so often she would ask trivia questions about Christmas; finish the second verse of The Night Before Christmas or what line comes next in a certain song? I got two right & got a prize, I knew Bethlehem was where Jesus was born. I also knew the 3 items the wise men brought to the stable, Gold, Myrrh and I said Incense but it was Frankincense. My prize was a $5 gift card to Starbucks, yay. I don't drink coffee but Lan does so I gave it to him.
The class was a hard one, Jody kicked my ass. I should have gotten up a few minutes earlier and eaten breakfast but I barely got dressed, got the horses fed and had 5 minutes to get ready once I was at the Y. 5 minutes to get out of my street clothes, up to the room and get my bike all set up & adjusted to me.
Lan and I always 'ride' beside each other and this morning he had positioned his bike behind one of the girls who would fall off a real bike in the real world. She was bopping all over the place. She did have a nice killer body but she was ugly. Its OK, shes not going to read this. But she was ugly and her kick ass body made me want to ride in every spin class they offer. After I eat breakfast.

In the evening after we had spent many hours Christmas shopping and were finally home, Lan went out to the arena to fill in the holes. He got it done and I had approximately 10 minutes to let The Pie and Wifi run around in it together before it started getting dark. I had C help me clean a couple stalls, then we put her mare and Handy out together too so they could stretch their legs. Its been about 2 weeks since any of the horses could go out due to weather and then the drain fields needing repair. Handy has bad diarrhea from lack of exercise and Wifi was just plain going nuts due to the confinement.
Tomorrow in the morning I'm going to turn my girls out, they can eat breakfast out there then Joey and Handy can go out. Maybe I'll put handy out with The Pie and see how they get along and hope its better than Wifi did with him. She was scared to death.

The Pie got new duds today

My friend M brought a blanket for The Pie today. It is one she had for her now 2 yr old colt when he was a yearling and it fits The Pie very well. Its a dark blue and waterproof so he will stay dry. I went down to the barn a while ago and heard The Pie walking in his run but I couldn't see him.

 I also got him his very own saddle, pad and bit (but no bridle, off billet, latigo...)  I'm going to see if I can dye it Havana brown; his halter is that color and it looks good on him. I'm also going to get those fenders wet & stick a broom handle through them overnight so they twist, much easier to ride that way.
While M was here she was holding The Pie in his stall while I grabbed the saddle and when I left the room she said he must be bonding with me because he got upset as soon as I walked out.  That's good, I really want him to bond with me before I try working him too much.

Our arena is out of order with a deep hole dug in it. The barn gutters go underground and the drain field is out in the arena. Unfortunately the pipes are 20 years old and finally failed so now the gutters are overflowing. They are causing the cement outside the stalls to be undermined so repairs are a top priority hence the hole. Most of the work is done but not enough for the horses to be out there loose. I'm hoping it gets done in the next 2 days so the boarders don't get upset. The arena is one HUGE reason they are here.

Tonight was our regular day to haul to the indoor arena and I was the only one wanting to go so it was scrapped. I just wanted to take Sunshower and ride her & enjoy ourselves, no working, no training, just out for a fun time. Have to wait till next week now.

Earlier this morning I had a chance to get some work for myself. I met Lan at the Y and we got in a spin class, 45 minutes with Bud leading the way. I felt good most of the time, was able to do all the 'uphill' without having to sit down. I did turn down the resistance 1/2 turn once when Bud said to turn it up but I did it later, yay for me. I didn't get any running nor swimming in but 1 out of 3 is still good.

The Pie is fretful

The Pie gets so worked up so easily that if anything is out of the ordinary he stresses out. Yesterday he worked up a good sweat just from having the excavator running in the arena. Today I locked him in his stall so he wouldn't be outside pacing all day.

I have also started him on Mare Magic, which I used to help calm my mare when she was in heat last spring & summer. I don't know if it will help him but it sure helped her so its worth a try. I gave it to him this morning and he wasn't sweating at all this afternoon and the tractor had been going all day.

C has been using Mare Magic for her mare for years and we just stopped giving it to her for the last week because we were using a sand clear product and didn't want to waste the supplements. Today C was trying to load the mare who was being a brat and C thinks its because the mare has been off the Mare Magic for a week. Tonight shes back on it!
I'll report back to let you know if the Mare Magic works for The Pie.

The barn needs repairs

Our barn is flooding or actually, the gutters are flooding. They aren't full of leaves and the down spouts are OK but the drain field is ruined. It used to drain out underneath the arena but the pipes got crushed when Lan was doing barn work 3 years ago and since then they filled with dirt. Today he rented an excavator and dug it all up and tonight we're going to go to Lowe's and purchase enough pipe to get it fixed. There is also a toilet & wash rack that we are concerned about. We don't know what hooks up to what or where and its looking like the (probably illegal) septic tank is over full.

So the arena is out of use for a while and the pasture is saturated so there is NO turnout for horses. Dire situation, The Pie needs to get out, Wifi needs to be out, all of them need to get out and stretch their legs. Today was a nice sunny day for the first time in ages and they had to stay in their runs.
I have been working all week and haven't had to time for any exercise at all besides cleaning in the barn and tonight I was bringing in firewood and suddenly my hips started hurting intensely. It feels like its twisted in the back but not in the front, different from any pain I've experienced in so long. Seems like I need to go swimming.

All work and no play makes Denise a dull girl

I had to work today. My job is part time, usually only 1-2 days per week but they really cut into my schedule. What schedule? Well, I would like to make plans for a spin class and actually be able to attend it. I'd like to plan on hauling in and be prepared and rested before we leave. I'd like the paycheck without the work.
But then there would be no Joey, Sunshower, Wifi or The Pie. *sigh*
Work again tomorrow, called in tonight. No spin class with Lan tomorrow and the barn wont get cleaned because C has to work too.

Problems with a horse trainer

One of my clients (C) has a horse trainer boyfriend. Shes been dating him for a couple months and shes starting to really like him plus he likes horses, thats rare around here. Last night we were getting ready to load the horses into my trailer to haul to an indoor arena for working them. I had previously told C that I want her to use her leather halter for hauling becuase I don't like using rope halters. But Trainer Boyfriend (TB)wanted to argue. With me. And that made me - mad? upset? bitchy? anal? I don't use rope halters in trailers, don't like them, do not feel they are safe and they are NOT made for tying.
C isn't the best person for loading her mare and we all know it but shes trying and she care a lot for the horse so when TB said use the rope she asked me which one I wanted to use and I said leather. TB started to question me and argue and after a minute I realized his voice had risen so I said 'I respect your opinion (I deliberately didn't say PROFESSIONAL opinion) but lets agree to disagree.'  Most people would have stopped arguing right then & there but he kept on.
TB told me his dad is a truck driver. So is my husband and I've been hauling horses longer than TB has been alive.
TB's dad doesn't use leather halters and throws them out. Thats fine on his farm.
TB wants to use the rope halter. Thats fine when its your own trailer.
TB said leather isn't safe. I said rope isn't safe either.
TB said you can cut a rope halter. I said you can cut leather or the rope its tied to.
TB said 'Have you ever had an accident where you had to cut the halter?' and I said no, we're better drivers than that.
C was mortified and I felt so sorry for her. She didn't want to be in the middle of it and TB finally said he wouldn't haul in my trailer if we had to use leather and I said fine, don't go. C stopped him then and I said she can haul just fine in a leather halter and thats what we ended up using.

Other things that I told C were that the vet noticed the horse is in cronic pain, you could easily tell by the sunken in belly. I noticed it right when I took her blanket off in the morning and with every step she takes. The vet suggested bute daily and pads in her shoes to help relieve pain. TB is a firm believer in barefoot horses.
After we got to the arena TB proceeded to give C a lesson on the horse for over an hour and he didn't care that the horse was lame and in pain. He rode her for over 45 minutes, even after the pain was pointed out to them, he was standing right there. Bastard.  He also totally disrespected the arena owner who specifically said NO LESSONS when we first met.
He never apologized to me but I was cordial to him the rest of the night.
C is ashamed of his behavior and now scared of how he might end up treating her in the future.

Birthdays

I turned 22 yesterday for the 26th time. It was an awesome birthday, all day was one fun activity after another. I participated in a flash mob in the morning, rode the ferry to Seattle and did some shopping and went to see Penn & Teller in the evening. All with fantastic friends and my loving husband. Who could ask for more?

Cross training

Finding the perfect Christmas tree starts with a notion to go into the forest to look for it. No parking lot Christmas trees for us, no-siree. So Lan and I loaded up our car:

Coats

Boots
Dry sox & pants
gloves
hats
Hand warmers
shovel
chains
flash lights
Doggy blankets & a dog
McDonalds

21 year old SEAL CD

Snow shoes

Toboggan

Did we forget anything?

Fill up the car with gas and head out, 20 miles to Enumclaw for the permit and a new saw because we forgot something. 20 miles out to Greenwater and Forest Road 70, head east for about 5 miles, into the beautiful 2 ft deep snow. So deep you can't see the trees very clearly and you wonder if you're going to get stuck, then you get stuck. Shovel yourself out and get turned around.

 

 Head out on foot/snow shoes with the toboggan, dog and saw.

 I like these snow shoes, they are shaped so I don't step on the back with my next step. I've used bad ones before, they were difficult to use. These are fun.

 Big trees on the road up

 Enough pre-flocked trees for everyone.

Hagen loved playing in the snow, she buried her head in it and had a huge doggy smile. But she did get pretty tired too and was glad to get back into the car when we were done.

If you have never snow shoed before then you should try it. It can be a really good workout and its fun to boot. Lan and I have had ours for about 6 years and I think this is the 3rd time we've used them but only because so many times that we ended up in the mountains we didn't start out heading into the mountains. But I digress... Walking on my snow shoes was easier than I ever remember it had been before but I think that has a lot to do with being in better shape. We hiked around in snow that was 2-3 feet deep; when you take a step some snow stays on the shoe but its easily knocked off or you can just walk with it on there. I didn't get hot & sweaty and I didn't get cold either. Hagen got tired and once refused to go any farther but I think she just knew we had found the right tree by then.

After we got back to the car Lan wanted to hike up the road and explore but I thought we'd best head home. I wanted to get home before it was too late and I didn't know if anyone would be feeding horses for me or not.

On our way we got into heavy traffic so took a side road and ended up at Tacoma REI, hoping to find Christine working. She wasn't. So I bought some new sox, Lan got some chain lube and we headed home in lighter traffic.

Christine is always telling me that we need to call her when we are heading out to do fun stuff; Lan and I talked about her while we were up in the snow and I said she wasn't going to be happy... She wasn't.

But she wouldn't have fit in the car, we had the car top carrier with all the wet sow shoes and the tree in it, Hagen was in the back of the car and the back seat was full of coats, boots and backpacks. She wouldn't have had fun. Plus I would have felt bad making her ride in back and its MY car.

After I got home I found that all the horses were back in their nice clean stalls. Cassie had come though for me!!  I had actually cleaned all the runs this morning except Handys because his mom cleaned it last night. I'm sure Cassie cleaned it for him this afternoon so no worries. His mom is going to be gone for a week and I'll get to clean it a lot more.
Today it was 50 degrees outside at home so I had my horses blankets off. I didn't even look to see if they were back on but I'll put them back on tomorrow so they don't get wet. Supposed to rain like mad.

May it will be

Yakima isn't doing a half marathon so I'll be running the the Tacoma City Half Marathon on May 1, 2011. 142 Days, 15 Hours, 10 Minutes, 26 Seconds. That's how much time till the start, as of right now.

Today Lan and I are heading to the gym for a 45 minute spin class, its going to kick my butt but I'll so it anyway. I should run too so we are going to leave here a little early. I'll get photos in spin class to share later.

This evening is the practice for the FLASH MOB the TriBabes are doing on Saturday. I haven't even looked at all of the practice video so I am planning on learning the whole  sequence tonight.

My friend Linda emailed, said shes suddenly not going to be able to make it to practice or the FLASH MOB, it will be lonely without her there.

I'll have to do it now

Tonight I did something crazy. I bought & paid for a training plan to run a half marathon, the plan that starts in January and ends in April. I paid $29.95 for it through Active.com.
Their plan is really no different from the one I already have except now that I've paid for it I will HAVE to do it. That's enough motivation for me.
 **smiles**

Working ~VS~ Exercising

I have a part time job that I enjoy a lot, only a couple days per week, not too far from home, easy as pie, pays very well and I could take a nap if I wanted to, right in the middle of the day.  I leave too early in the morning and can not be late getting there because items need to be transported to other places. Before I leave my home I have to feed & water horses, dogs, chickens, cats and hope there is time for me to eat. It takes about 15 minutes for me to get to work. But I can't find time to exercise on the days I work. At 11am I leave and go pick up an item and bring it back to work, then its lunch time, a few minutes to relax & then a couple hours of quiet time. I usually clean up my work area and do any reading I might have. At about 3:54 each day another employee shows up and I have to get her up to speed before the boss shows up & then its time to go home.

After I get home I like to spend a few minutes in the house with Lan but then i need to get down to the barn where hungry horses are waiting for dinner and clean stalls. Right now there are only 5 horses, when The Pie arrives I'll be back up to 6 and that's when it gets hard to do. Right now I have an empty stall for Bunny Foo Foo, she gets to run around loose in there and have plenty of her own exercise. I can clean stalls and rearrange horses all I want, if I don't want to clean all the stalls I just clean one & move a horse into it, then clean the one that horse was in, move someone else into it, etc. I like being able to do it that way.

When all the stalls are clean and the horses fed I come into the house, fix some dinner and get online. Tonight I have my favorite TV show to watch, (Survivor) and then I'll head to bed.

This makes for a day without any exercise at all and I'll need to make it up tomorrow. I've really been slacking in the last few months and its hard to get back in to it.
I did check in to the prices for a training plan for a half marathon online and its only $29 so I'm going to show Lan. I want to run in a half marathon in April and this is the time to get my butt in gear, no one is going to do it for me.

Riding away from home

Last June Lan and I took a 3 week vacation/honeymoon with our mtn bikes.  We hit Idaho, Oregon, Utah, Colorado & Nevada. In Utah we rode at Slickrock in Moab, that was way cool but way over my experience level so I did a lot of walking. Someday we'll go back again and I'll have the knowledge to ride it.

 In Colorado we rode in the desert at Gunnison and the mountains in Crested Butte and Leadville. I LOVE Crested Butte and the Quaking Aspen!  My favorite trail that we rode was Snodgrass, just above & north/west of CB. We rode it 3 times and I could ride it every day of the year and be happy. We also hit part of 401 too. The Sheriff in CB is

Pete, a good friend of Lans, he took us out on Snodgrass and told us about hitting 401.

 Went out to dinner with Pete and his wife at SECRET STASH; Lan and I ordered the BOOTY CALL pizza and it was the best pizza I have ever eaten, ever, anywhere, in this world.

We stayed at a Hostel in Gunnison, WANDERLUST HOSTEL. Great prices, really nice hostess (Amy, who also works at Secret Stash), neat place. Amy is also a trail guide and she took us out to the trails in the desert. Wow, so different from CB which was only 20 miles away but nice trails none the less.

 In Leadville we rode around in the town and out around a lake. The trail we had chosen to ride on was closed to bikes to we rode on the road, up a 2 mile long hill. I am very proud to say I didn't have to get off and push my bike for the entire hill and it was at high elevations, yay for a Puget Sound girl.   Riding at elevation was difficult for me because it was hard to breathe. I didn't have a problem with my skills nor strength, it was just the thin air. But by the time we rode Snodgrass (ele. 9,500 ft) the last time I was totally loving it. Thats why it was so much easier in Leadville (ele. 10,152) to be able to ride up that long hill without dying.

Lan knew that this trip would be good for my training and he was right. After we got home I was able to ride much easier and faster on my road bike and I kicked ass in the Danskin, Trek, Tri Turtle & Black Diamond Triathlons.

The Pie

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The Mtn Bike Workshop

Yesterday at noon Lan and I headed out to Silverdale to meet with a group of TriBabes & our fearless leader, Lisa, for a mountain bike workshop. Most of the tribabes only ride road bikes, I am one of the few who not only rides a mtn bike but I'm pretty good at it too.

 The workshop had a guest speaker, Kim, from Cannondale. Thats him above in the black & green. He started out showing how to go down hills, up hills, along sides of hills, then we turned around on our bikes in parking spaces without hitting the while lines. After everyone was comfortable we hit the trails.

 Lisa is the lady in the blue coat in the middle, shes the TriBabe leader. Lisa had chosen a nice singletrack trail about 1/2 mile in distance, a couple little hills and some good turns. About half the ladies didn't enjoy mtn biking, Beth did though and here she is on her bike.

There were about 5 of us who went around a second time and it was just as fun as the first time.   After we were done we went back out to the parking lot and practiced some more on jumping over sticks and things, first we did just our front tires over them, then our back tires too. Beth and I did rather well and were both able to hop completely over the stick in just a few minutes. She can ride at about my level so I'm going to ask her if she would like to ride with me at Banner sometime.

 Lisa had borrowed a dinosaur of a bike from a local store, SILVERDALE CYCLERY. It was tomato soup colored, the chain was rusty and it must have weighed 30 lbs. But she was proud to have it yesterday and in a weird way I'd like to have it.

 Just in case you're wondering, here is a photo of my mountain bike. Thats a terrible photo!

Lan built it for me in secret, I had no clue he was doing it. It took him a couple months, every couple days he would get boxes of bike parts and he would tell me they were for his bike. No big deal, he rides more than me. I kept bugging him that I wanted just one NEW part on my bike so one day he told me he had something out in the garage he needed to show me and there it was. My new full suspension Kona. Love it!! I was really wanting a pretty bike and this sure is pretty.  I'll post more photos later, most of them that I have of it are of its parts, not of the whole thing. Sneak peak at part of my road bike in blue on the right...

What I did with horses today: One of the boarders got a new blanket for her horse and it fits Wifi perfectly so I'm going to get her one just like it. Its got a higher neck/chest part and the sides don't go down to her knees, fitting her much nicer than 99% of the blankets I've ever tried on her before.

A blog about training for triathlons and riding horses

Today is Sunday, December 5, 2010. My name is Denise and I'll be your hostess for the duration.

This blog is going to be all about being a triathlete and riding horses, trying to balance workouts and training for me, work and riding for the horses and also caring for the beasties too. I'm sure I'll throw more than that at you too but lets go one step at a time.
I became a triathlete 2 years ago when my husband, Lan, saved a newspaper article featuring the KITSAP TRIBABES in it but I didn't even see it, just crumpled it up & started a fire. About a week later I saw a story in the paper about Lance Armstrong and I put it in Lans car for him to enjoy during his lunch break at work. Lucky for me, Lan remembered the name of the triathlon group and I was able to find more info online. I contacted Lisa Ballou and the next spring I became a member.

I've completed 8 (I think) sprint triathlons since then and Lan has been my biggest supporter at every one. I've made some really nice friends, Linda being my best tri friend. I go to organized group swims every Tuesday evening at Wildcat Lake and a BRICK (Bike Ride ICK) every Saturday during the summers and grab a few bike rides, runs and swims other times during the week. Lan, Linda, Christine are all good for a good ride and Lan like mountain biking too.

As for horseback riding I have 4 horses, Joey, Sunshower, Wifi & The Pie.

<-Joey is 14, a Thoroughbred gelding I've had since before he was foaled. He is 16 hands, chestnut and when he is being worked he is the happiest horse ever. If hes not getting worked regularly he is ornery and stubborn. Joey likes to run and jump things and he lives for trail rides.

Sunshower is 9, I got her 3.5 years ago from a feedlot on Yakima, her next stop was dinner plates in Europe. I ride her western, in the arena and on trails and she trusts me enough to go where I ask even if it looks scarey to her. ->

<-Wifi is Sunshowers daughter, foaled here on our farm on March 24, 2008. I didn't know Sunshower was pregnant when she came here to live with us... Wifi is almost 3 and ready to start learning how to carry people this next spring. I don't want to be first on her because I'd be first off too. I'll pay someone else for that privilege.

My newest horse is a pony, The Pie. He is about 15 years old and he is a black and white pinto who is 12.5 hands. He doesn't actually live here on our farm yet, he will be coming in 8 days. I will pick him up and bring him home when I am hauling other horses out to Yelm to get their dental work done.

<- The Pie.

No, I don't have enough time for 4 horses, not for 3 and certainly not for 2. So I have people who help me; ride the horses and clean and/or feed. It works out well so far and I can tell you about those wonderful people in a future blog.

Today Lan and I will be taking a Mountain Bike Riding Workshop with Lisa Ballou of the Kitsap Tribabes. Lan is already one of the best mountain bike riders I know and he has taught me a lot but you can never have too much information. Plus its free and I haven't ridden my mountain bike in a long time. I hope I can ride better than some of the other people who might be there. I love riding my mtn bike and have enjoyed many, many rides with Lan all over the western United States. Its hard going up but the reward coming down is all worth it and I have to tell myself that every time I'm going uphill.

We have to be there in 3 hours but on the way there we need to stop at someones house for coffee cans for a horsey project. After the workshop we'll stop again, at Lowes, for more project supplies. I'm making or attempting to make pole bending poles for using in my arena. The arena isn't actually big enough to do pole bending but what the heck, I can still use the poles and give the horses something to do besides walk in circles. The coffee cans will be filled with sand and 8 ft tall PVC poles will be stuck inside the sand standing I hope straight up; placed 21 feet apart in a straight line and there ya go, a pole bending course. You ride your horse straight up alongside the poles from one end to the other, turn and weave .~.~.~ through them all the way back, turn and .~.~.~ again till the end then run straight alongside back to the starting/finishing line. Its a times event and I'll always be slow but its fun. I would eventually like to get 3 barrels too so I can teach my horses to barrel race.

Oh yeah, before I forget, on my farm I also have my almost 31 year old son, Brandan, who is disabled; I have 2 English Mastiffs, Hagen & Tank and 1 beagle/jack russell named John Henry. There are also 4 cats, Hadrian, Adrien, Bandit & Dave. and a dozen chickens and 1 rabbit, Bunny Foo Foo.