What's Up Wednesday: The one where you should read to the end...

Wednesday already... Where does the time go?! It's been pretty busy around here still, but it was a really fun week!
I got to ride after work Thursday and Friday which was nice after a rain day and a book club day. I'm already completely over having to ride in the dark however. How many days till spring? My town had a big Halloween celebration on Friday night. I really wanted to go, but since the horses had a few days off AND I was hoping to jump Jampy on Saturday, I decided to skip it and ride instead. My brother and sister-in-law took the kids though, and they had a great time. They stopped over on their way home, and my older niece got really brave and helped me groom Rio. In her princess costume!

He thought she was a tad over dressed. But he'll take any attention offered really.

Saturday morning arrived way too quickly. I was running the half marathon relay with my best friend, and the alarm went off at 5:30. The worst part was the terrible sore throat I awoke with. Fortunately it seemed to dissipate the longer I moved around, so I was hopeful it was just allergies or something. (Spoiler alert: Nope.) My bestie and I met up at the train station where the race started at 6:30. It was still pitch dark out and FREEZING. Well, not quite actually freezing, but pretty close. We donned our matching outfits (Team Magical Milers obviously dressed up as unicorns, complete with rainbow tutus.) I was running the second leg, so I would get to ride the steam train to the transition area. We second leggers boarded the train at 7:15 and the runners lined up for the 7:30 start.

My friend and I realized I could bring a bag with some extra layers and waters that we could switch off when we swapped places. I was SO glad we thought of that because I also brought a blanket to stay warm with. It was much appreciated on the chilly train ride! Anyway, bestie's leg was just about 8 miles, and she ran it FAST! I was pretty excited that she did because it meant we stood a chance at beating the train back to the station. If your team could beat the train back, you win a train whistle in addition to your medal. I didn't think we'd have much chance of beating the train given my current lack of fitness level. But since bestie was super fast, it was still possible! My leg was 5.2 miles. Since I haven't run more than 3.1 in quite a long awhile, I planned to walk up the hills and run everything else. Little did I know it was almost all hills!
Anyway, my leg started right up a good sized hill. Since I was just starting out and also was pretty cold, I ran right up that first hill rather easily. Surprised myself! I managed to keep up a steady running pace all the way up through mile 2 when I got to the base of a really long and fairly steep hill. I decided there to take my first walk break. It was a little longer of a break than I wanted, but the thing just kept climbing! I ran/walked the rest of that beast which turned out to be much of mile 3. After that it rolled along pretty nicely, and before I knew it, I was running along the street back to the train station!
You guys. JUST as I was crossing the tracks the train arrived! I beat the train!

Photo Credit: FlashFrame Photography

Mostly thanks to bestie of course, but still, I helped! It was especially exciting because I was the last one they let through before closing the train crossing. They actually stopped all the runners behind me to let the train through. The rule was if you meet the train it counts as beating it, so many people behind me got whistles too. But it was pretty cool to get through there without getting stopped.

Magical Milers! (Have I mentioned Bestie and I are complete opposites?)

The medals were really cool for this race, and I thought the train whistles were pretty neat too.

I have no idea how long it took each of us to run our legs. Bestie doesn't run with a watch and mine decided to stop recording at 1.4 miles. But collectively we ran the half in 2:14.

Anyway, after all that excitement it was only 10:00 am. We decided to get showers and meet back up for some lunch. It was a lovely morning!
I got back home after lunch and met up with another friend for a bit. My dad and step mom stopped by too, and they had this with them:

I know. I can't even. I wanted to smoosh it and steal it and call it mine. I didn't though, because they got that adorable puppy for my step mom's dad. He just retired and realized he needs a dog for all his new spare time. Meanwhile, she will be here for a few weeks getting some training. So I plan to get as much puppy time as I can before she moves to Wisconsin. And yes, she will likely get to meet Ducky! (Remember him? The stationary hony?)
So now it was around 4 pm and I still needed to ride. Also my "allergies" were letting me know they were actually a cold. I decided to just flat both horses because my body was a little grumpy with me. Apparently running 5.2 miles untrained along with being sick pisses off the old lady body. Such a wimp. So I have no fun pony media this week. You could just stop reading now I guess. But you made it this far, so why not keep going?
I was pretty thankful to not really have plans for Saturday night. We were getting a pretty bad storm on Sunday, so I took the free night to fill up a bunch of bins and what not with water in case we lost power, and otherwise just took it easy for the evening.
Sunday I was planning to be a total sloth and sleep in until 9, but all the lazing around Saturday night meant I was wide awake at 7. It was already raining, with no end in sight. The horses had a nice day off, and I spent the majority of the day doing laundry and resting my cold. I haven't had a full day of nothing like that in a really long time, and it was pretty fantastic despite the congestion.
Monday was a Monday. Nothing special of note. I rode Jampy and gave Rio a lunge. Tuesday was Halloween though, so that's fun!

Halloweening at work

I didn't plan any costumes for the horses, but decided to wear my unicorn hoody to ride. I mean, if ever there was an appropriate day for a unicorn hoody, right?

Twinning. Rio is an actual unicorn. I was just pretending.

I don't normally get trick or treaters, but I always get some candy just in case. Some friends did stop by and they had costumes on, so they count! I made them wait outside until I had Jamp put away (I had just gotten off) because I was CERTAIN he'd be petrified of my friend's costume.

I was wrong. Jamp loved it. I think maybe he thought it was a huge banana...

Once my friends went home and the ponies were tucked in, it was time for the annual Halloween torturing of the pups!

That's right! The twenty minutes we spend in costume trying to get a decent photo! We were bacon and eggs in case you can't tell. I have to say, the pugs hated these costumes the least of any of the others over the years. I wouldn't say they LIKED them. But they hated them less than most.
Which brings us to today! I did a thing last week and the thing arrived today... I'd like to introduce you all to Stutty the Stuttgart:

I've been casually stalking the used saddle sites, ebay, and Facebook (totally casually) looking for a Voltaire Stuttgart. They are a little tough to find used, especially in the configuration I wanted. I did find one awhile back but it was grain leather which I didn't want. Then I found another but it turned out to have the wrong size flap. Well low and behold, the exact size I wanted (17" with a 2A flap) was available with the right panels (pro) and in the leather I wanted (buffalo) on ebay! But it was an auction listing not a buy it now, so I really didn't think it was going to happen. I didn't want to spend more than $3200 for a used saddle (cause holy crap that's a lot of money and I still love my 17 year old Hermes, thank you very much). The bright side to it being an auction was when I found it, the price was really low for a used Voltaire. Like $1500 low.  I know. Crazy talk. I stalked the listing all week, just biding my time. I had no plans to bid until the very end. It always baffles me that people go about bidding when there's days and days left. Long story short, I got it for a few hundred less than my max and the seller threw in the matching stirrup leathers. It was a great deal, and I was SO EXCITED for it to arrive today!
It's in excellent condition and fits Jampy pretty well. He seemed to really like it. Miracle of all miracles, I was able to sit his right lead canter! Magic I'm telling you! Rio will test it out tomorrow. I haven't jumped in it yet, since it was dark out when I got on. But hopefully this weekend I can see how it is to jump.
And that's what's up this Wednesday! What's up with you? Get any fun new tack? Do anything for Halloween? Tell me about your week in the comments!

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.

What's Up Wednesday

Happy Wednesday all! This is one of those posts that you think will be super exciting since I went to Florida, but it's actually fairly tame.
Thursday morning, I got up to bring the short kids over to their grandma's. They were excited to go!

So excited, in fact, that the first thing Artie did when he got there was poop on my mom's new rug. Not a good start buddy.
After dropping the kids off, I went straight to the barn, and I got to ride on a freshly dragged ring.

Can't beat that! Eros was perfect as always. And then it was home to shower and get ready to fly south!
The flight was unexciting (as you like them to be) and my dad picked me up from the airport. We headed to dinner, and then home for a quiet night.
I didn't get to ride while I was in Florida this trip, but I did go visit trainer and got to see her new horse go. New horse is a young mare, jumper prospect. Incredible brain on her! Nothing seems to phase her at all. And I got to see this girl too:

After loitering at the barn, I went back up to the house. Dad and I had to go to Target to get our donations for Toys for Tots! It was just he and I this year, so we only filled two carts with toys, but we had a great time doing it! And then he reminded me that I had to jump in the back for our annual photo:

Saturday morning I got to loiter at the barn again. Next trip hopefully I'll get some saddle time in, but it was still fun to watch trainer's horses jump. I headed home after that to get ready for the boat parade. Dad had a bunch of friends coming over to watch, and it was catered by a DELICIOUS nearby restaurant.
The parade was probably the longest I've ever seen it, probably thanks to the beautiful weather.

This boat lit up like a train was my favorite

The marines come around (in full dress!) to collect the toys on the docks. I think that's such a great way to do that, and I love getting to thank them for their service at the same time.

Probably the best part about partying with the over 70 crowd is that everyone is gone by 9:30. Dad and I had all the leftover desserts to ourselves for the rest of the evening! (#sorrynotsorry)
Trainer gives the horses Sundays off, so instead of horsing, Dad and I went out to brunch at my favorite breakfast place The Lazy Loggerhead. We had planned to go look at a possible barn for Eros next winter, but it's in a gated community, and apparently you need an appointment to visit. So that didn't happen. Maybe next time.
It was a pretty relaxing day. The weather was perfect, so I sat outside and caught up on blogs for awhile.

And when the clouds rolled in, I headed off to the mall for a few minutes. There's a store there I wanted to go to for Dad's Chanukah present. This mall is ridiculous you guys. There's a Tesla dealer in it!

I mean, I've been to fancy malls, but that's weird right? It's right next to Tiffany's and Ferragamo. Ha. Needless to say, I did not buy a Tesla at the mall. Nor did I get dad's gift unfortunately, but I found what I wanted online later.
Monday was travel day, so not much to chat about there. I was home early enough that I could have ridden Eros, but the barn is closed on Mondays. Boo. Fortunately, I have a bunch of time to use up at work (we can't roll any over) so I had taken Tuesday off too. It was really lovely to have a day off at home. I rode Eros, gave the boys extra good groomies, bought the groceries, and worked on holiday stuff. Girl could get used to not going to work... If only someone would just pay me to live my life...
Today was back to the grind at work. Wednesdays are always busy, but when you have a Wednesday that's also a Monday? It was killer. Hopefully the rest of the week is quieter and I can catch up on what you've all been up to!

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!