Truthful Tuesday

Ugh. You guys. I've been eating the worst food! I started coming down with a cold Friday night, which was impeccably bad timing given I had to run 5 miles in a road race on Saturday. It's a pretty annoying cold too, lots of nose blowing and coughing and general I-want-to-do-nothing type of malaise. And I've been using that to my full poor eating choices advantage. You know what they say right? Feed a cold, starve a fever. Since I have a cold and no fever, clearly the answer is eat all the things.  So Saturday after the race my running buddy and I met back up for a quick lunch and I was fairly well behaved. I had a bagel and lox, which is perfectly acceptable post race food. It's dinner that was the real problem...
I went to Five Guys. And our Five Guys isn't your typical Five Guys either. They opened it up right down the street from Way Back Burger. Way Back Burger is actually pretty decent and has some unique menu items from your typical burger joint. They offer fries of course, but they also have house made potato chips (yum!). Additionally, they have a pretty incredible selection of milk shakes. Thus, Five Guys knew they had to something a little different here to compete. They left the potato chips alone, but they have a small selection of milk shakes on the menu. Most Five Guys don't offer them. Five Guys has the better burger though, for sure, so that's where I went Saturday for my dinner.

AND I got a coffee milk shake.

Cause Moo. I mean, I ran five miles (with a cold... and IN the cold!) so clearly I deserved to eat like I'd run a full 26.2. Right? Sure.

But it doesn't stop there. Nope. Sunday was a nasty day, and I chose to spend it doing very little and snacking on everything bad. I'd say it was a success, you know, if eating crap all day is successful. Since I vowed not to leave the property that day, I had no actual food to make lunch come Monday. So what did I pick up? A Happy Meal. Yes. A Happy Meal. I mean, they are putting My Little Ponies in them this week, so it was totally justified. I got the Mighty Kid Meal which has six Mcnuggets instead of 4 because 4 nuggets does not a meal make my friends. Last night I stopped at the store after riding so I can at least turn things around for the rest of the week. We can just overlook the doughnut I had this morning... They had them for Halloween here at work, and one does NOT turn down a free doughnut. It's some kind of law I think in Connecticut.
Do you have anything you need to get off your chest today? Any poor nutrition choices made this weekend? Or better yet, did you make a  frivolous purchase? Something else entirely?!

What's Up Wednesday

I have SO much to talk about this week! And I've had a few glasses of wine at book club tonight, so this may make zero sense come morning... but hopefully it will be entertaining if nothing else.
We've reached the point in the season where weeknight rides are all in the dark, so we haven't been doing much jumping. But I had plans to get my Halloween jumps put together this weekend and have a little jumping fun with Jampy. Originally I wanted to change the whole course, but that would also mean re-dragging the ring, and there just weren't enough free hours in my weekend to do all of that. So I settled on just redecorating what was already out there. Before I could do any of that though, I had a 5K to run!
I'm really the worst runner. As you know, I ran two 5K's last weekend, but then I didn't run at all during the week. Not once, not even a mile. Nor a half mile for that matter. But still, I was registered to run another 5K this past Saturday. I've turned into one of those "runners" that only does races I guess. This 5K is really fun for several reasons. First, it's one town over from me, so it's less than a 10 minute drive. It's also in the town that my brother and his family lives, so I got to have a cheering section:

Good at cheering, bad at standing still however.

A little more than one of these 3.1 miles takes place on a mostly uphill narrow trail through the woods. It's gorgeous in there, so despite my complete lack of fitness, I was looking forward to that part. And the last reason this race is super fun is that costumes are encouraged. They used to always have costume awards for best individual and best team. My friends and I won best team I think four years in a row, and a couple of times I won best individual costume. I was super excited to run as a storm trooper this year:

So I meandered through the 5K which was my slowest yet at 36 minutes and change. I actually thought I might be last, but I wasn't. There were about 30 or so people slower than me. I was 7th out 13 for my age group, so hey, I'm about average! Ha. Anyway, I hung out through ALL of the awards waiting for the costume awards (which were on the advertisement by the way). I felt pretty good about my chances, because obviously my costume was awesome and also there were only maybe 4 other people dressed up. But you guys! They didn't give any costume awards! Lame. It's cool though, because they were trying to give away the leftover apples and bananas so I stocked up for the ponies. At least someone made out with a prize!
Since this is a small race, they don't give finishers medals, BUT I double dipped and used this race to also count my virtual Pug run that I run every year. This year the medal had a Game of Thrones theme, but they called it Game of Bones. Punny!

I was pretty pooped after struggling my way through the woods, but I didn't have a lot of time to think about that. Instead, I got changed and headed right out to the barn to get to work on the jumps. I had fun Halloween themed fill for two of the jumps.  Let's start with my favorite:

Dinosaur bones! This one isn't really all that Halloween specific. I think I can leave it up year round. It's a paleontology jump! I made sure the dinosaurs were turned off. Their eyes flash red and they roar if you leave them on. Pretty sure that would get me sent to an early grave... Speaking of, the other jump had a graveyard theme:

Those bat stakes actually have little plastic chains connecting them but they're hard to see in the photo. I was really disappointed there weren't enough to do both sides of the jump, but the other little fencing looks pretty neat too. I was especially happy that I was able to shove both in the "stone" flower boxes. Maybe they'll actually stay up for awhile this year! The cats from last year are still more or less intact and finish this graveyard off perfectly!
While I was constructing, Jamp was preparing himself:

I like to set things up that I think might have a chance of getting me killed at least a day in advance of actually trying to jump them, so Jamp had it easy Saturday. Both horses had a pretty easy flat because I had dinner plans with an old friend. They were both unsure about the dinos at first. But it's funny how different their reactions were. Jampy refused to move, held his head in the air and started hyperventilating (as one does)

Rio, on the other hand, snorted and walked himself right up to them to give them a sniff and tell them he's alpha.

After all the dinosaur/equine introductions, I rushed to feed everyone and get ready for dinner. About a month ago this friend of mine lost her 30+ year old horse (she got him when we were in middle school!) and I had commissioned a drawing of him for her. We had a lovely dinner at a newish restaurant in the area, and I told her not to open her gift until she got home.

She loved it. You guys don't know him, but this is a pretty accurate depiction.
Sunday came early as I had a bunch of things I needed to get done. I hosted book club this month and had decided to hold it in the barn with an autumn theme. Thus, I clearly needed some apple wine for spiking hot apple cider. And OBVIOUSLY, I had to get that from the steam powered cider mill about 40 minutes away. You know when the best time to show up there is? Not during a pressing that's for sure. And when did I get there? Right when they were starting that. I had to park a ways down the road, which was probably for the best. It meant I would have to show some self restraint in how much wine I bought since I'd have to carry it all back to the car.
Once I had my wine and had trekked back to the car, I planned to stop by the newly reopened tack store to pick up my raffle prize. Unfortunately, they don't open until noon on Sundays (it was around 11, and the store was only a few miles away), so I took a detour and got more coffee. Got there right on time, claimed my prize (a pair of winter Horze breeches!) and headed in the direction of home. Then was my infamous trip to Walmart which we talked about yesterday. I finally got back to the farm around 2.
I spent a few minutes rigging up a new holster for my phone so I could document Jamp's reaction to jumping dinosaurs and graveyards.

It's not fancy, but it works!

Then I went out and made the jumps tiny so I could trot them the first time. You guys. He didn't care. Not even a little. He's such a weird horse. He's terrified of everything, but I'm pretty sure he'd jump a live dino if I asked him to. He wouldn't canter around or past it, but he'd definitely jump it. So here are some not exciting photos of him jumping the new jumps:

I had to include this one over the cavelletti because it's the only one with his ears up. He really didn't care at all. Maybe next week we can actually put them up a little. So anyway, you know what did freak him out? The old jumps that I didn't change at all, not even a little. The first time I jumped through the combination, he ran through it like it was actually on fire. (It wasn't, I swear.)

Thankfully, by the third time he went through, he acted like a mature adult.

Well sort of. He jumped through quietly and stayed in the middle, but he also pouted. So I guess just semi mature. We quit there because I was pooped. Between the 5K the day before, the Walmart excursion, and stopping the runaway train after the combo, my body was DONE! But I made it ride Rio too, because Rio. And also because when it's late October and 80 degrees, you ride all the horses. Too bad I only have two at home these days!
The boys both flatted Monday which was also exciting. There was an accident or something going on down the road a bit. My property is a corner lot, so while it was down the road, the flashing lights from the cops and the fire trucks were lighting up the ring. Jampy was surprisingly good about the whole thing, and Rio just ignored it. Good boys.
It's been raining sort of torrentially since Tuesday, so no riding the last two days. Worked out ok though so I could get ready for hosting book club and didn't have any guilt about book clubbing instead of riding tonight. The barn was the perfect setting for our meeting since it was pretty warm out (for October). The barn was still 67 when I turned the lights off tonight. I would love Autumn if it was always like this!

It was pot luck, so I just had to supply the wine and a cheese plate. That definitely made it easier to get things ready. Jampy loved having everyone in the barn, and he spent the evening being a total ham. Rio just ignored everyone. He's gotten less social in his old age.
And that's what's up this Wednesday Thursday. How was your past week/weekend? Do anything fun? Show? Run a race? Have a lesson? Jump any dinosaurs?! (Cause I mean... Jampy and I did.)

Truthful Tuesday

Soooo... Today's confession is that I'm running not one but TWO 5k's this weekend. And I haven't run at all in three weeks. I had planned to run when I was in Nantucket over the weekend, but instead I went to power yoga which resulted in everything hurting and no clean clothes for running. I'm going to try and get up one morning this week and get a few miles in. But seriously, this a terrible plan on my part. I imagine these will be some personal worsts for me!
Have you ever done a road race (or some other athletic event) with zero preparation? How did it go? Will I survive this double header?! Please say yes.

Truthful Tuesday: The one where I'm a semi quitter

I mean... I'm not a quitter. If I was, I definitely would have given up horses long ago! But I'm not. If I say I'm going to do something, I do it. Usually at least. But when it comes to running... Sometimes I AM a quitter. Or maybe slacker is a better term.

 Months ago, I signed up for half marathon number 7. It's called the Steam Train Half Marathon and has a fun little bonus prize if you beat the spectator train back to the finish line. I chose this race because it's brand new, local to me (just two towns away!), and is in the fall so it shouldn't be too hot. As the months of passed by, I've found myself not at all prepared to run 13.1 miles. Not even a little. I started running again, but I've been shamefully inconsistent. And I haven't logged more than 3 miles at a time yet either. NOT good for half training, clearly.

Steam Train Half Marathon and Relay logo

My best friend since we were little kids has been thinking about joining me on this torture journey against the train, but she too has been struggling with the training. Shocking because she's like mega runner extraordinaire! But with work and having a family, time for training can be stressful to find. She hasn't registered just yet, and suggested doing the relay as a team instead. I wasn't sure they would let me switch, but they did! So this is why I'm a semi quitter. Instead of running 13.1 solo miles, I will be running only a portion (we haven't discussed who's running which leg yet). While I'm kind of being a quitter, I'm actually SUPER excited to run this relay with my best friend instead.

I love this graphic, totally borrowed it from the race site...

I've run a couple of relays before, and I love being part of a team. Obviously that will call for matching costumes... You'll have to wait for my race report to see what we run in. But I'll give you a hint: rainbow tutus.

Have you ever had to adjust your plan for a competition? Obviously I have many a time with the horses, but I think this is my first time with running.

Truthful Tuesday

I've been known to make terrible life choices on occasion. The most recent being to sign up for half marathon number 7. It's not until October, so training time is aplenty. Which is good, because I want to finish under 2:15. Seriously. This is an unattainable goal. I've run two races under that time. Of course the other four were more around the 2:30 mark... but still. It's attainable. We'll see how training goes I guess. My reason for the lofty goal is that for this race, if you beat the spectator train (which will arrive at the finish in 2 hours and 15 minutes) you get an extra prize or medal (to be determined). I like extra stuff. This is the first year for this race, and it sounds super fun. Plus it's one town over from me, so it's also local. Win-win. Except for the having to run 13.1 miles part. You can check it out here if you want to run through CT with me in the fall: http://steamtrainhalf.com/

But that's not my confession today. It's just the precursor. Since I have to lose a solid 25 lbs. AND my company is currently hosting a biggest loser competition, I have started back to running three days a week. I'm easing into it VERY SLOWLY, by way of the Couch to 5K program. That's what I used to start running in the first place about 8 years ago. It's going great, I forgot how nice and easy it is at the beginning. I've been having a terrible time getting up early enough for my runs though. Which leads (finally) to today's confession:

I slept in my running clothes last night, so I could just hop on the treadmill without having to change first this morning.

a. PJ's? b. Running Clothes? c. Yoga clothes? D. All of the above

Only it's worse than that. My company started free yoga classes on Monday evenings, so I went to that. I wore this outfit. I didn't sweat or anything... And then proceeded to put my clothes on over top of it to drive home, check on and feed the ponies, and grocery shop. So basically, I wore my yoga clothes to bed, and then ran in them this morning. I ran inside on the treadmill, so I never faced the public. But still... I think that's pretty bad. And THAT my friends, is today's confession.

Do you have anything you need to get off your chest today? Feel free to talk about it in the comments!

Truthful Tuesday

Today's confession is all about my complete and utter lack of fitness. Kind of. As you may have noticed, I haven't been running. I found my non-functioning thyroid to be a pretty decent excuse to skip out on hitting the pavement (or treadmill). It was a pretty reasonable excuse of course, but boy did I milk that one dry! I have lots of tricks to try to motivate myself: new sneakers, a new running outfit, checking race schedules for something fun to get ready for... None of it worked. So then I thought well maybe if I spend a bunch of money on running stuff, maybe THAT will get me out the door. So I signed up for the Adidas Avenue A box. That sucker is $150! (Confession A: purchasing the Avenue A box.) I was SO EXCITED for my first box to arrive (it ships quarterly, so that was an early September arrival). I thought for sure I'd be throwing on that new outfit and shoes for my fastest 5k ever a nice slow 2 miler to get back into the groove. Alas, I was not yet prescribed my magic thyroid pills when it got here. I just could NOT bring myself to get out there. (The contents were awesome by the way: sneakers, capri tights, sports bra, tank, and a hoodie!)
Let's fast forward to this weekend (about a month after my fancy box arrived). When I got the mail on Saturday, my medal for the virtual Pug Run had arrived! AND I'm happily medicated. It was time my friends. Sunday night, I laced up my fancy new sneakers and climbed aboard the dreadmill (thanks for all the rain ALL weekend hurricane Matthew).

my fancy new Adidas outfit minus the hoodie

I set the dreadmill for turtle pace and off I went. My plan was to keep it at Turtle for 3.12 miles and only walk once at the halfway point for some water. It went pretty well, I ran bounced along slowly for the first 1.5 miles, then stopped for a little water break. But taking a walk break on the treadmill is like opening a bag of potato chips. Once you have have one, you want more. I took two more breaks the second half of my run. It wasn't pretty guys:

That's an almost 40 minute 5K! (Confession B: a FORTY MINUTE 5k.) Ugh. But I did it! I'm not counting this run for my virtual Pug Run. I'm going to get a couple more in and make it official next weekend. At least that's the plan.

Do you have any confessions to share today? Let's talk about it in the comments!