Boo! December 31, 2007
Posted by kimayars Arena Work (Horse)
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Ahhh… I think I’ve almost made it out of the “Christmas Hole”. Just a few more days…
I had a FABULOUS ride on Ray. Or Gorbag. Or Hochnarr. Yeah, the name Ray isn’t doing it for me. I may just change his name again. We’ll see.
But today we had a wonderful ride. We have started to introduce the leg yield, so today we worked some more on that. Or rather, we discovered all the bad habits that resurface whenever I work on a new skill. But [Ray] was a very good boy. We started with counterbending on a circle, yielding in and out to help him engage his butt. It was kind of cute to watch him go through his little bag of tricks to try and avoid the work. He certainly has come a long way, though. His frame has really improved since I got him in June. I’m very happy with his progress. We then took it up a level to a counter-bend figure eight. It’s just like a figure eight but you start off in counter-bend. Then, when you cross the centerline onto a new circle, you switch to counter-bend instead of riding it in true bend. It blew his little pony mind. After a break we played a bit with my position in the leg-yield. I’ve got a lot of work to do in 1) keeping my inside heel down to weight the seat bone, 2) staying tall in the saddle and not hunching, and 3) not locking my hips. Unfortunately, fixing one of these things causes the other two to go to heck. It’s going to take some work.
The epiphany I came away with today was that I don’t think to much about giving releases on the outside rein. I need to make my outside rein more “inviting” so that he’ll want to be there. I will be working on a kinder, friendlier outside rein.
My foot is only just a tad stiff in the morning, so I think it’s okay to try and run on it. Generally, it’s been great so I can’t really think of a reason why not to give a run a try. I think I’ll call Beth today and see what her schedule is like. Worst case I’ll see Sherene at the gym on Thursday. I’m feeling a bit bloated so starting up the running again will be welcome.
Lisa sent out an e-mail about the Kirkland Half-Marathon. I perked up a bit. Another half-marathon? Hmmmm…
Happy New Year!
Pain? What pain? December 24, 2007
Posted by kimayars Uncategorized
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Okay, this is just plain weird. It’s like my foot/ankle never hurt. This morning it wasn’t even stiff. AND, I didn’t take any Advil today. I think a short run is in my future…
Advil, the miracle drug… December 22, 2007
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On Friday, I had a mild headache when I woke up so I took two Advil. I still had a headache near dinner so I took two more. I was laying in bed that night and it occured to me: My foot didn’t hurt.
I woke up this morning and it was a little stiff, but it loosened up pretty quickly. All day it has been pain free. Am I healed? I’ve been doing the alphabet with my foot and lightly massaging it, but other than that just feeling sorry for myself. I’ll give it a few more days of rest and see how it does, but I am VERY optimistic. I’m wondering if I was in this inflamation-irritation-inflamation-iritation cycle and the Advil broke that. I guess time will tell.
I lunged Mr. Ray today and he was an angel. I don’t remember the last time I lunged him, so I expected him to be a little confused and jumpy. He was perfect. His canter transitions were smooth — normally he bolts into them and then tears around like a madman.
I should be able to ride him on Monday. I’m looking forward to that.
I will continue to keep my fingers crossed on my foot! I would love to go for a run next week.
Gack! Chrismas has kicked my butt… December 21, 2007
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Christmas has officially kicked my butt.
Have I rode my horse much? No.
Have I worked out? No.
Have I made an appointment to get a PT script for my foot? No.
Have I gotten sick? Yes.
Have I eaten like it’s my last days on earth? Yes.
Put bluntly, this time of joy, peace, and love has turned me into the person that I totally don’t want to be. The weather sucks. I feel like I’m working harder than ever and can’t get a leg up. I see a foil-wrapped candy everywhere that calls my name. There are so many parties with buffets that it’s REALLY hard to watch portion control. I am failing the “Christmas test”. But I’m an optimist…
I’m sleeping in tomorrow, and may just spend the day in my pajamas. Then, Jeff and I have our first date in a long time. It’s kind of a “day off” so to speak.
And I still love the netti pot.
The week after Christmas we’ll try and get to the gym, even if I have to do the dreaded stationary bike. The foot is definitely feeling like a tendonitis thing now. Treating it as such has definitely helped it. It still quite sore still, though.
So, now is the time to pull up the bootstraps and get back to the life I was enjoying before the LVHM. Onward!
I love the netti pot… December 16, 2007
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I have just gone from netti pot virgin to netti pot addict. Erck.
Looking forward to a ride tomorrow with Rasyn and then a nice coffee with Sherne. Tuesday I’ll head back to the gym for some low-impact cardio. I’ve been treating my foot as if it was tendonitis, and things are slowly getting better.
