Weekend redux

I previously posted about my run this weekend, but that was a mere 2 hours, 3 minutes, and 59 seconds of Sunday. I did other stuff too!
Friday night, when many like to go out for a meal or drinks (or both!), I prepared for a horse show on Saturday. Katie brought her horse over so we could ride together and I could braid him, as they were also going to the show Saturday. I wish I took a photo or something, but I didn't. We had fun, and Bradley looked gorgeous with his horse show hairdo. As a thank you, Katie surprised me with homemade bread:

 Of course I got a photo of that! It was delicious! (I love carbs. So. MUCH.)
Most of the local horse shows I attend have my classes early in the morning, but this time I was set to show around noon. Which was great since the barn got done BEFORE leaving! Imagine that?! I brought only Jamp this time and showed him in the adult equitation. It was a great prep for our upcoming New England Medal Finals as it was held indoors. Jamp was a little nervous in the flat class, but we finished 3rd. Which wasn't too bad considering he spooked right in front of the judge... <<sigh>> kids... My first fence class went really well! And then I kind of flubbed up class number 2. Jampy was listening sooo well, he did all the things I asked for. Unfortunately they weren't always the right things. We wound up 1st and 2nd though, so that was exciting! We also won the medal class, which gives me 10 points toward qualifying for next years CT finals. 2 more points to go!

After the show I rode Ducky and Rio. It was quite a long day, but I had gotten an invite to a local fair... and you all know how I feel about fair food! So I dragged my tired self out, had some fried deliciousness, AND got to see some nifty animals!

Kangaroos! If you look closely, you can see the joey's head peaking out of the pouch! Adorable.

Some kind of sleepy tortoises

This is a Zeebu. It's like an african moo cow.

My original plan was to get the awful 12 mile run done early on Sunday, but the forecast called for rain in the morning and clearing by noon, so I decided to postpone until the afternoon. Instead, I went to town for breakfast and to find some deliciousness at the Sunday Farmer's Market. So much yum early in the morning! I also had a few b-day gifts to pick up. In my travels, I found a bargain I couldn't refuse. Now I should be honest here. I recently put myself on a shopping ban as all of this horse showing is dwindling my bank account. However... when you find a $260 Emma Fox bag marked down to 49.00, well, you don't leave that there. Seriously, look:

Now I realize it's a summer bag, and I can't really use it until next year... But still, look how pretty:

After shopping I met up with Vanessa for our run, and the rest of the weekend was spent "recovering." Yeah yeah, by that I mean stuffing food in my face and sitting on my butt. Oh and I did a load of laundry! That was productive at least...

How was everyone's weekend? Did you attend a farmer's market? Find a great deal somewhere? 

I have so much to talk about!

I think I'll reserve this post to talk about running. I haven't had a running only post in awhile so now seems like the perfect time!

Next weekend is not only my half marathon on Saturday, but I'm also running a 5K on Sunday to benefit the JDRF. This event has been held for the last 3 years in memory of my co-worker and friend Michael Daly, who passed far too young at the age of 34. Mike suffered with diabetes, and this race is a fundraiser to work toward finding a cure for that terrible illness. It has affected my own family as well, and is a cause I hold close. If any of you readers would like to donate, please click here. Or if you live close by, consider coming out next Sunday! It's open to walkers as well.
But back to the half... I'm running it with my friend Katie from Running a Ragnar. 13.1 miles. 2+ hours of running (cause I'm slow). This will be my 4th half, and possibly my last. But then again, I say that every time I run one. So I guess time will tell on that...

I mentioned in a previous post that I did not allow NEARLY enough time to train for this half. It's extra hard and somewhat torturous to perform the abbreviated training plan. BUT, misery does love company. Thankfully, I have a great group of friends to train with. We don't always all make it to every run, but often at least two of can get out there together.

Katie and I are running the Hogsback half on Sept 28th, and Vanessa and Chelsea are running one in Newport on Oct 13, so our mileage doesn't match up perfectly, but we make it work. 

Katie and I ran our 9 miler together a few weekends ago. We made a huge mistake in not really planning out a route ahead of time. We decided to run in the local state park, not realizing the full diameter of it is only 3 miles. Both of us feel that running in circles is torture, so we attempted to leave the park and run on local roads, only to discover we were in some kind of basin. Every direction seemed to climb a mountain. We even tried taking some trails, but they were more for walking: very narrow, lots of roots and rocks. Ugh. It was rough. But at least we went through it together! We decided we earned a large and delicious lunch:

Today I was semi dreading my long run. I've been struggling BIG TIME with running. I'm pretty sure it's my lack of healthy eating, not enough sleep, and not enough water intake. But regardless of the reasons, running has been really hard. On top of that, I was planning to run it alone as Katie was out of town, but I posted on FB asking if anyone cared to join me. I was joking, as really, who would want to spend a gorgeous Sunday running TWELVE miles. Especially during football season. But to my surprise, Vanessa said she'd join for most of it. This week was set to be her 10 miler. So we did those together, and then I continued on for my last two.

For the first time in what feels like, well, ever, this run actually felt pretty good. I struggled some at the very end, but not so much that I didn't think I'd make it.

There is nothing fast about my training this time around. My projected finish time for this half is about 2 hours and 15 minutes. While I'm disappointed with my pace, I don't really think it's worth beating up on myself about considering the short time to get ready. 

I once read somewhere that if you're still pretty and fresh looking after your run, you're not doing it right. I find this to be quite true. Case in point... see the photos below:

My knee caps have grown their own knee caps... Interesting.

That's supposed to be a smile. Best I could do, I was sleepy ;)

Post run, I sat outside with some ice on my knees, a frozen electrolyte pop, and my pups. I can't think of a better way to recover!

Anyone else have a long run this weekend? Have any races coming up? Please share!

Oh and one more in time, in case you'd like to help me reach my fundraising goal, please click here. 

Looooong weekend!

I have mixed feelings about the Labor Day weekend. On the one hand, I'm all for an extra day off! On the other, I'm really sad to see summer coming to an end. So I've made a decision to just pretend it's not ending. It's still 80 degrees and stiflingly humid out, so clearly, summer is still here!
So what did I do all weekend you ask? (Just pretend like you asked or this will be a very dull post.) My weekend was FULL.
Here's what I had on the schedule for Saturday:
Horse show
Ride Ducky
Change the course in my ring
Run 7.5 miles
Sadly, the horse show took FOREVER! Which was shocking since there didn't seem to be very many exhibitors. At the end of the day, the boys and I came home with these ribbons:

Due to the small turnout, they look a lot more impressive than they really are... But hey, I take what I can get!
It was after four by the time we got back, so I was only successful in getting Ducky worked and playing some fetch with the pugs. I then took a lovely nap on the floor until 9:30 and went to bed!
So here was my updated Sunday schedule:
Run 7.5 miles
Go to the Farmers Market
Clean the barn
Catch up on horse laundry
Ride all three horses
Change the course in the ring
Straighten up the house and do/put away laundry
I did a little better with Sunday's list! It was tough to get out and do the run so early, so I made a deal with myself. I could go as slow as I wanted as long as I went out and did it. The run is best described by the three H's. Hot, Humid, and Hilly. In other words. 7.5 miles of pure torture. But I got it done!
Next, I followed my favorite rule when I have a lot to do. DON'T SIT DOWN. Got directly in the shower and then headed off to the farmer's market.
I have one piece of advice for all of you, if ever you see the following item in your travels, BUY IT!

After stuffing my face with cheese, bread, and the above Honey Butter, it was time to get to work on the barn. The stalls were pretty messy since it was already after noon. They normally get done first thing in the morning. It was 6 PM by the time I finished stalls, horse laundry (3 loads!) and riding everyone, and I was pretty sleepy! So I skipped moving the jumps and opted to just straighten up the house and do a couple loads of my own laundry.
My bed was a welcome site at 11!
Monday's to do list:
Run a 5K in New Haven
Clean the barn
Ride the horses
Change the course
Yep. You read that right. Running two days in a row. Ugh. At least it was a nice flat route and only 3.12 miles. But also HOT and HUMID. So humid. I muscled through at a steady (slow) pace and got it done in just under 30 minutes (literally 29:59). Got some free ice cream at the finish. WIN!
Cleaned the barn and it was raining off and on the whole time. Decided to skip "ride the horses". They didn't seem to mind at all!
I then nearly concussed myself with the pitchfork handle (I have no idea how, don't even ask). Once I could see clearly again, I got to work on the ring. I had new flowers for the jumps from our newly opened neighborhood dollar store (WIN!) and was very excited to put them to use. The only nice thing (in my opinion) about autumn is the decorations and Halloween! So I made an autumn themed jump AND a halloween jump.

All done!

Autumn Jump

Halloween Jump

I gotta tell ya... After all the running, horse riding, cleaning, moving all those heavy jumps, etc this weekend, I am POOPED! Went out and ran some errands and got a burrito that weighs about as much as I do. Just about bed time for this old lady!
What did you all do this weekend? Anything fun and exciting? Did you sleep late? Seriously did you? Cause if so, I'm super jealous.

Oops, I did it again...

I'm not entirely sure how this keeps happening, but I am apparently running a half marathon on September 28th. It's the Hogsback Half Marathon which benefits Running for Rescues. I was pretty sure after the bitter cold NYC half in March I was all done with long distance running. But I cave easily to peer pressure. Also, it's fair season in the Northeast which means I'll be eating a lot of garbage. Since I'm not willing to give that up, running seems like a necessary evil. Plus, check out what we get for finishing the race:

This is the finisher medal!

This is a mock up of the t-shirt, except the actual shirt is a tech shirt AND long sleeved! Whoa.

As a result of this rash decision, I am on the accelerated training plan. It's similar to last year's when I decided semi-last minute to run the Niantic Bay half. Thus, this past week was my first of six weeks of race training. Three miles with the girls (and some pups!) on Tuesday:

We ran 4 together on Thursday minus Katie who had to be at work at 6 am (I'm not sure how that's legal). And then we split up into pairs for our weekend 6 miler since we had conflicting schedules. I did my 6 with Katie (visit her blog) on Saturday. Part of our run was in the woods since it was 2 PM, sunny, and pretty warm. The shade was well received! Also since we're accelerating our training, it's nice to have an excuse for not being fast (uneven terrain, lots of hills) other than just being out of shape...
Ideally, when training for a long distance race, I like to run either 3, 4, or 5 miles twice during the week (most often a 3 and a 4), and then a long run during the weekend. Each week the long run gains a mile. But since we are a little behind on our training, this time around our long run will gain 1.5 miles each week.
Hopefully this week goes as smoothly as last! Do you have a race coming up? How's your training going?

WHOA.

August really has been an amazing month for this amateur. Some big changes, some small changes, and lots of overall general greatness!

General Greatness:
I blogged already about my trip to VT with two of my equine. The trip only got better from the last post, as my horses went like champs the second week! They both brought home lots of great ribbons, but that's just a bonus. They went so well, I couldn't find enough treats to reward them with! Good boys!

Small changes:
Notice that amazing looking granite behind those ribbons? Yep, that's right, I came home from my trip to find those gorgeous counters installed! The kitchen isn't quite done, but it's almost there! Here are some photos:

I can't wait to see what it looks like with cabinet doors... I also can't wait to have the entire contents of my kitchen off my dining room floor and in said cabinets where it all belongs! All in good time I'm sure...
Big Changes:
I welcomed a new family member when I returned home from VT. That's a BIG change for sure!

His name is Arthur Fonzarelli. He's 3 years old, part pug and part something else (not sure what). He's 18lbs of happy dog! He came from Double Dog Rescue. He was found as a stray in Alabama, went to a shelter that has a high put-down rate, and was rescued by Double Dog and transferred to CT. He is a GREAT dog! Already house trained, loves to play with toys, loves to give kisses, and (most importantly) respects Pia and her personal space. I'm not sure if P is super happy about the addition, but she seems to be coping at least.

 Rough life they lead, huh?
Double Dog Rescue is a great organization if you're looking to bring a new friend into the family. Check out their website if you're interested! The process was really easy, and they only want what's best for the dogs. If things don't work out for ANY REASON, they will take the dog back and place him/her in foster care until a new home comes along..

A little more overall greatness:
This is a biggie for me. This past weekend was the CHJA Medal Finals.
For my non-equine readers, I'll give a little insight into what that means. First off, this is judged on my riding, and what I look like on my horse. So my horse's form isn't judged necessarily, but if I don't do a good job, neither will he. So really it all counts. The finals are split into different age groups. I was in the older adult section. To qualify for the finals, riders need to accumulate 12 points in the CHJA medal class which is held throughout the year at horse shows in CT. I showed in the class two times this year, and was second both times, resulting in my 12 points. I chose to take Rio to finals because he's the most experienced of my horses.
The final consists of up to 3 phases. First we are given a course of 10 jumps to navigate. There are two judges, and together they give you one score. After my course, I was given a 79.5. This is an OK score generally, but the class was not scored particularly high. After everyone had jumped, the high score was only an 86. This put me in 5th place after the first phase.
Phase 2 is a flat class. Which means the top 12 riders (there were 18 at the start this year) all return to the ring at once to show together without jumping. We show at the walk, trot, and canter both directions. After this flat phase, the top 4 are called back for more testing. I knew I was fifth coming back to flat, so I waited anxiously to see if I would be called back to test. And I WAS! I only moved up one place, so I was in 4th going to the test.
Phase 3 is the test. They generally have you test in reverse order, meaning the lowest rank goes first. That was me. This is actually a good position for me, I hate waiting around. The test was fairly simple. Canter directly to fence 8, trot fence 5, canter fences 1 and 7 and return to line. Rio was PERFECT for the test. Good boy! I watched the other three go, each with a little mistake. But had no idea where I'd be at the end of it.
Once the test is complete, the top 12 are all called back into the ring for presentations. They do this in reverse order too. I was ready to collect my white (4th place) ribbon, but it wasn't my number they called. WHOA! Top three! Again I was ready for the 3rd place ribbon, but that wasn't me either! I finished up in the second position. AMAZING! So proud of my Rio. I really feel like I can't take any credit, he's THAT wonderful! Sorry for all of the rambling, but this is a huge deal for me! Generally, I hold my own in the ring, but a top 2 finish at finals was not something I ever expected. I shall leave you with some photos from the day, including all the awesome swag they give to the second place finisher!

Ahhhhhh.... Vacation.

I've been on vacation since Thursday. And by vacation, I mean two of my horses and I are in VT enjoying some beautiful scenery and doing a little horse showing too.  It is GLORIOUS!

Not very impressive prizes week one, but the boys were very well behaved!

The first few days were pretty busy. Jamp showed Thursday when we arrived, and Rio showed Friday and Saturday. Sunday wound up being a day off for us as was Monday. Tuesday is warm up day at the horse show, but since my boys don't really need to practice a whole lot, we just went out for an easy workout on the flat. More of that today (Wednesday). I think tomorrow will be a lesson for Jamp and one last easy ride for Rio. Showing Rio again Friday and Saturday, Jamp Saturday and Sunday. Phew!
Show days are always really early mornings, so I wasn't able to get any runs in. But I figured Tuesday would be a perfect day to go since Monday was for resting. It was pretty chilly in the morning, so I saved the run for after working the horses. It was the perfect plan, temps in the low to mid 70's with a light breeze. Gorgeous day for a run:

This was toward the end of my run. Fortunately I've been coming here for a long time, so I know the entire end of the run is up hill. I planned accordingly and ran farther into town, so I could have a nice cool down stroll up the mountain when I was done. Cheating? Maybe, but I'm on VACATION!
I also got to exercise my wallet while on vacation... I have yet to decide if that's good or bad. Shopping makes me happy, but I really need to start behaving myself! When I get home, the reckless spending must end. Sad face. I have two weddings to go to in September so I found two dresses marked down to $49.00 each. They both retailed around $200, so that was pretty good! Here are some bad photos of them:

They look tons better on, trust me. I do need to find shoes for them when I get home, but there's a small chance I have something already. (Hopefully!) Speaking of shoes.... I also got these:

Bad photos I know, it's dark in my motel room. The bottom ones are for wearing at the horse show, the ones that look the same up top there are actually gold and pretty silly. And I love them. Yay shoes!
Not to be completely selfish though, I also got presents for everyone helping me out at  home. I hope they like their gifts!
The HIGHLIGHT of my shopping happened at the Vermont Country Store.

Have you ever been? You should definitely stop in if you're ever in Southern Vermont. They have lots of old fashioned toys (in old fashioned packaging no less!) and all kinds of delicious snacks. You can pretty much find anything you could ever need there from housewares to clothing. Though the clothes... we'll just say are also old fashioned.
My second favorite purchase here was for my niece:

Adorable right? She's too young right now to care, but I think she'll love this next year. Raggedy Ann was one of my faves when I was little. My neighbor made me one of these dolls even. I still have her :)
But here it is. The HIGHLIGHT of my entire trip to VT:

NEW BROOMS! Seriously. I'm not even being facetious. These are the best brooms for sweeping my rubber barn floor, and I just put my last unused one out on the floor. I bought all they had, but this should hold me over until next year.
So that's what I've been up to! Spending money, horse showing, and a little running thrown in there too.
How is your summer going? Do anything fun and exciting? Do share!

Oops.

I'm soooo bad about blogging lately! Summer is just so busy. I'll do my best to play catch up soon!
Right now, I need to tell you about July's Stridebox. I was a little not so excited about June since there were a few things we'd already seen. Well I feel terrible about even mentioning that because July's box was amazing!

Look how much stuff is in there! This month was focused on hydration and it was perfect timing here in New England. We've had I think four heat waves already with temps over 90 and heavy humidity. I'm not gonna lie, I haven't done much running in that.
But before we get to the awesome hydration part, let's look at the other items:

The Guide

A new brand of gel to try! I haven't tried this yet, but I'm sure I will soon!

This is that fancy tape you see the volleyball players wearing in the olympics. I've never tried it, but am super curious about it. 

Um. This is AMAZING. Seriously. See how it says apple pie? Yep, it tastes like that. I may need to buy more of these.

Ok,  here's where it gets fun:

I was excited to see this little easy to carry bottle. But I had no idea how many items were packed inside!

A second guide! Seriously, that's how much stuff was in the bottle.

Look at all of that! I haven't used these yet, but I definitely plan to. Hydration is super important this time of year!

So that's that! Pretty impressive Stridebox this month! I'm definitely keeping this sub going for awhile.