Training Season

Thanks, everyone, for your kind well-wishes about last Wednesday's new treatment.  The good news is that I'm seeing an improvement in things, so hopefully the next few loading doses of the new medication will really turn the corner for me.  The bad news is - very limited knitting time to be had during this venture.  I was fine during hour 1 of the IV drip, but by hour 2, I sat and stared at the walls and after I finally was able to go home (around hour 3), I went to bed for the rest of the day.  At least now I know if I take anything with me it needs to be A) very small - not sweater sized, B) extremely mindless - like stockinette something and C) knit-on-able in the first hour.  Next scheduled infusion center visit in a little over a week; I'll get all the kinks worked out eventually with this, I'm sure!

Luckily enough, while Wednesday was basically shot and I wasn't doing so well on Thursday either, by Friday, I had perked up enough to meet D for an after-work ride at Dimple Dell Park with Sam and Bhen.  We are kicking it into training mode these days, Bhen and I, in preparation for our first season's endurance race on April 19th.  And Sam.... well, Sam needs a lot of trail time to try to lose some of his pasture-pet weight and get back into condition.   

While Bhen's a little bit bigger than Diggs (although not by much), he is still a MUCH smaller horse than Sam is.  Here's proof:

Here's even more proof (and sorry for the sunlight rays.  I tried taking the pic from the other side and you couldn't even see Bhen.)

As you may imagine, Sam's stride with those long legs is....shall we say.... a bit more ground-covering than Bhen's?  D can have Sam at a nice trail walk pace, and Bhen will have to do a slow trot to keep up with the big guy.  Unfortunately, once Bhen's been asked to go at a trot, he's in race mode - which means he wants to do the big mileage-eating trot he's got.  Sam's not in good enough condition to sustain that for an entire ride yet (he'll get there though), so Bhen had to be content with staying slow enough that Sam could stay up with him.  It was a beautiful evening on Friday, so we enjoyed the ride together.

Saturday, we were up early as is our usual, and off to the arena to work with Jerry the trainer indoors.  Bhen and I worked on cantering - which he is much better at than I am, I am sad to say.  I have gotten very very spoiled with Diggs's ultra-smooth lope, which he can do for miles, and I'm having a lot more trouble adjusting to the bouncier canter that Bhen has.  We may just stick with an extended trot, because he can actually go faster at his extended trot than he can at the canter.  Easier on me too.

Sunday, we played a little trail Russian roulette, and even though the skies didn't look promising, we drove up to Antelope Island in the Great Salt Lake and took the boys back out for a short 8-mile loop to get Sam some more miles.  We were able to trot quite a bit of the flats on the way out, and Bhen's figured out he needs to go at a certain speed when I ask him to, and not his race speed.  The spitting drizzle that had greeted us in the parking lot cleared out pretty quickly and it actually warmed up to around 50 with sunshine and a light breeze.  Perfect!  (And also good timing, because it is snowing here this morning - Monday - again!).

Bhen and I are looking forward to the Antelope Island race in a couple of weeks!  And PS - if there is anyone local who wants to come out, the race runs on Saturday and Sunday out on Antelope Island on the 19th and 20th.  You can come out and just watch the horses come in across the finish line (always fun), or if you want to get a little more horse time and want to volunteer to help out (no horse experience really needed - they need timers and water-cup fillers and odd-job volunteers always), let me know and I can send you more information off-line.  It's supposed to be a beautiful, sunny 65-degree weekend!

All for now.....

Comments

[Cathy]

I'm glad both these horse are working out (after I put in my 2 cents worth). I'd love to ride either! (and the Digg, too).

I hope Antelope Island is lots of fun. M has that weekend off...we'll see what he wants to do. :-)

[Stacey]

Wow, I was skimming the WIP post last week. I'm glad the treatment is working. I was at that point a few years ago with my Lupus. 3 years of prednisone and they wanted to try something new. (I want to say remicade, but I could be wrong) Luckily, the lupus did what is is wont to do and just scaled itself back.

I've done a lot of fun things recently that I haven't done in years and I've been contemplating doing some riding. I love your trail and training stories.

[Marcia Cooke]

Wish I could be there to help....and meet the horsies! Alas, stuck here in rainy, cold Connecticut! Glad the new treatment seems promising!

[margene]

You took advantage of every minute of sun we had! I'm so looking forward to the weekend and hope it comes through as promised. It might be fun to head out to the Island that Sunday and watch you two ride!

[Mary Lou]

Glad things are going well and the training is on track. Ms. Holley has a torn check ligament and is on total rest for at least a month. Her easy keeper self will be quite the chubette by the time this is over with.

[Cheryl S.]

I'm glad to hear you're seeing some improvement! Autoimmune diseases suck. I was just skimming blogs the last week or so, so I totally missed the end of last week's post when you mentioned it.

[Karen]

I'm glad you were feeling better so that you could enjoy your weekend.

[Kim]

I'm glad to read that you feel the treatment is helping some....and bummed to read that it is that hard on your body while you are being treated.

Wow....Sam IS a big horse! I bet he is a treat to ride though or will be when he is in shape. Boy do I remember those trotting days. Hard on the butt for sure...LOL.

[Norma]

I'm just catching up with all this. Somehow I *SKIMMED* right past the part about the IV drip last week. I'm so glad to hear you're feeling improved. I hope it lasts. I, like Sam, need to lose some of that "pasture pet" weight. Hahaha. XOXO

[Toby]

While two days is a lot of downtime I'm amazed at how much you bounced back on Friday! Three horse days in a row sounds wonderful. :)

[Margaret]

This just sounds like so much fun! Enjoy the Spring (at last) with the new guys!

[June]

OMG, count me in with the skimming crew. (It's not you, it's me, honest.) Take care of yourself...! Garter stitch warshcloths - though ugly - are still really useful in the kitchen, and what knitting project could be smaller and more mindless than that?

[Carol]

I sure wish I could be there to see your guys and help out! What's this with treatments? I missed something for sure!

[Laurie]

Would have loved to be a roadie for this.

That's some treatment. Glad to hear it may yield results.

Do you post when you trot?

[Chris]

Dealing with autoimmune disease is so not fun. I am so very grateful mine and my son's disappeared with chiropractic care. Bunny hugs and horse kisses to you!

I will be cheering you and Bhen on from afar. Have a great time!

[Beth S.]

IV meds, yikes! Can you at least read, if knitting isn't practical? I hope these aren't the kind of drugs that make you feel dizzy or sick. Boredom is one thing, nausea is another entirely. :-(