Back at it

I've taken way too much time off since Ironman Coeur d'Alene. I knew I was going to slow down & do horses all summer but I didn't plan on taking 6 months off from serious IM training. I've gained weight & lost all muscle tone.

 

Today we had my 50th birthday party & I was given 2 pretty pink Timex GPS watches. I'll take one back to REI and get Linda something really nice because she got me one of them & Lan got me the other. Shes going without her arthritis medications & spending $99.99 on pink watches for me & I feel bad. But I did give her a jacket she really wanted the other day when we went shopping; I said I was buying it for me.

I'm not really 50 until 3:53am Tuesday, December 11th. Then I can forget things and be mean to kids.

I'm going to get up that day and weigh in, take measurements of my whole body and take photos. I'm going to look worse than I did last year, ugh.

With my age comes a new age group too, I'll be competing against all older women. This theoretically gives me an advantage but if I don't do well I'll look silly.

Updates on races:
Race for a Soldier- I had to work so Amanda Arr ran with my bib. My new PR is 1:38:37 for the half marathon!! and its going to be a bitch to ever beat that time again, lol.

Seattle Half Marathon- Ran/walked this with Linda. Shes on new meds and they help but not enough to allow her to run. She had BAD pain in her left knee for more than half the distance so we decided to just walk and have FUN. We took a lot of photos and had good times with many people we knew. We finished in 3:29:14.

Jingle Bell 5k- That was last weekend and I did OK but no PR (got that last year running with Lindas bib, 29:21) this year finished in 31:14. I'm ok with that since I haven't run at all.

I want to try my new watch out so Lan & I are getting up bright & early to go for a run around the neighborhood. I've got to be back before 9:30 because the farrier is coming.

Oh, let me introduce you to Mark.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ze06pT6d0co&feature=plcp
He is a 5 year old TB gelding that started race training but never raced but he got a bad habit of taking off when an inexperienced rider would raise their hands too high, then squeeze in fear. Mark belongs to my FIL & I found a trainer for Mark, got him looking good thru her riding & training & a decent diet. His hooves are current and hes been wormed.

Markster, September 30, 2012

This was 'Bubba' before I changed his name to Mark. He is 16hh. In this photo he had been at Terrys for a month, the trainers for a month before than & doing nothing the whole time. He lacked muscle so looked very awkward. I could see that with riding his back would come up, flattening his topline, rounding his croup, filling out his neck & deepening his chest. I don't have current conformation shots but he looks SO good now, can't wait to get some taken so I can share.

All my horses are fine and I can't wait to start riding again.