Over the Moon.. Another jumping lesson

Had another jumping lesson this past Wednesday. I was totally Over the Moon after the lesson.

Wednesday's lesson would be the second time I have ridden the new lesson horse Jazzy. She is a grey QH mare who has done a fair amount of local shows. She is perfect for someone to build their confidence and find their jumping legs again.. like me.

 Wednesday 's lesson went well enough that I  got to jump an actual course.. 5 fences to be exact at a canter!! They were small fences, just 18 inches or so but this was the first time I have done this in what seems like a 100 years. Man, those fences come up quick at a canter.

We had one 5 stride... and we kind of struggled on getting our stride right. This is the tricky part about jumping a course.. hitting your strides right..I thought Jazzy was going to leave for the jump at five strides but we didn't have quite enough momentum going and she decided to play it safe and put in another half step , which is never exactly comfortable or pretty.. Needless to say , Jazzy and I weren't exactly on the same page for that one so we went around and did that one over.  We managed to do a little better but because she is so short strided, it is hard for her to get down the line so I really had to push her , which just makes he go faster.. unfortunately, she still didn't make it in five strides , but atleast on the second go around I was a bit prepared for that extra step , if she decided she needed it.

So, something to work on for next time.  Jazzy is the sweetest little mare ,  I wasn't going to complain.

In spite of all that, I would be lying if I said it wasn't fun. I am enjoying this jumping thing.. more than I thought I would. My long lost position is starting to come back to me and I am feeling much more secure. The hardest part now has been . as my trainer refers to it, "riding into my leg" or getting more weight into my heels. This is your foundation over the fence so you can keep everything solid and secure as the horse jumps underneath you.
 I have this old ankle injury (years of  repeated sprains) that is complicating that riding into my leg a bit.

When I first get in the saddle with the short jumping length stirrups,  the tendons in that ankle kind of complain at the stretching that goes on with having your weight into your heels.

I did not realize how the dressage lessons  I had taken for two years really changed how I position my ankles (much more comfortable in dressage I will admit)  and since those lessons, I have learned to ride with a less "buried" heel. Now I am asking my ankles to do the exact opposite again!

After I warm up, the ankle pain lessens (or maybe I forget about it because I am having so much fun??)  I might have to work on some stretching in between lessons.  I might consider wearing a brace.





 

There once was a Morgan Mare.....

A lot of folks have been following this story  and it's not late breaking news..but I keep going back to read more about it. I can't help myself. Afterall, what is Maggie???

As the story goes, its about a Morgan mare , known as Rik or Rikki and her rider who successfully finished  the Tom Quilty Race in Australia. It's the premier race held in Australia and it was the first time ever that a Morgan qualified for it. 
But there is more to the story than that. Rikki came back to her endurance career after being exported to Australia and then raising a few foals. I would say she came back with a bang and a now looks like she has  promising future in the sport of endurance.

Rikki and her rider finished the race 19th out of 111 horses in her division. Nothing to sneeze at.


Here is the facebook link to read all about it. The farm that owns Rikki is Whirraway Farm in Australia and they specialize in what they are referring to as Sport Morgans, although in my opinion that seems to be rhetorical. Morgans are known for their versatility in a wide range of disciplines. I am surprised... I am totally inspired.

Even if you are a die hard arab endurance rider/lover,  how can you not find this story inspiring?




 

Greedy, Greedy, Greedy

How many times are you working your horse and your asking something specific. It's that something you have been working on FOREVER in training that continues to be a thorn in you and your horses side. It's just not happening. You present, you offer, you ask in every possible way you know how to.. you may even beg and plead  but you keep trying.. because your the trainer..that is what you are supposed to do and who else is there to do ? It not like you  have a professional trainer  standing there every time you take your horse out to the arena for a training session.
 And then one day, the light comes on..things really start coming together . You horse is behaving and responding to your requests .. just like that.. after all those times of trying , things start to work like you want..

So what do you do?? You keep asking for more and pretty soon, you are right back to where you were. Your horse is acting out, no longer responding as nicely .  Instead of being happy with the small step of success that your horse just took,you ask for more and it back fired.

You got greedy...

 It's one of those things in my own training program that I try  to be thoughtful of. Always thinking about  how much is too much? Am I setting things up for the horse so they can be successful in what I am asking? Am I presenting something and allowing the horse to think through the situation or am I pushing them through it? When is it ok to ask for more and when isn't it?? There is a lot of thinking involved for me when I work with a horse.. especially one as smart as Maggie.

This has been a full week of work for Maggie in the arena. She has been doing very well. Tuesday night, we did a lot of canter work . On Wednesday,  I was thinking it would be a night off. I was  tired  and she could use a break but I thought it might good to stretch her out of any stiffness that might have set in . She is currently confined to a corral since the grass is currently Founder Food...She doesn't get to run and move  a lot..

Earlier in the spring I spent a great deal of time with Maggie in the round pen on a lunge , learning some discipline , voice commands, and such. She was really bad about misbehaving on the lunge and we needed a controlled environment to get things sorted out. We worked through alot of those issues, including the explosive canter departs and then the attempts to run away. In the round pen, she now drops into a canter calmly and stay in a canter with out any of the nonsense.. ..that is... as long as we are in the round pen. If I go into the arena where she has lots of room , she reverts back to her explosions. Still need to work on that..

So on Wednesday I put her on the lunge , in the arena . My plan was to have her move around for a few easy trots both directions. It had been weeks since I had her work on the lunge so I wasn't sure what to expect.

Well, she was absolutely lovely. She offered a nice relaxed trot , and lots of stretching down with her head and neck and back.. She didn't want to get racey at all.. it was actually as perfect as I coud have expected. The work earlier in the spring stuck..

 We went back and forth both directions a couple of different times . I had her do a series of trot poles to get her to extend her shoulders and lift her back. She did that so nicely I put up a cross rail to continue exposing her to the idea of jumping.. and in keeping with the theme, she did that perfectly lovely.

I was so darn proud of my little mare, I just had to go and put that damn fence up , just a little,  to a straight rail.


As soon as I asked her to come around on the lunge and she saw that bigger fence, it dawned on me that maybe this was not the best idea but asking her to stop now wasn't good either, so when she saw it and made a slight hesitation as if to say :

"Oh, wow.. not sure about this boss"...

I encouraged her forward with a cluck and my command of "trot on"...

She listened to my request and did what was asked of her but then she she bumped the rail and it came down , which scared her. She exploded into a couple of jumps and bucks and then tried to gallop away.. I got her stopped with only a loud "whoa's".. but I realized I had just screwed up..

Damn...I got greedy.. and I knew it.. At that very moment , if I could have, I would have kicked myself..

Now what?? Now I had to make it right, and make it a positive successful experience for her.

I put the fence back down to a cross rail. Something I knew she could do without any worries. It took a bit to settle her back down after the rail came down . I asked to go back around to take the cross rail .She didn't even flinch an eye and easily stepped over the cross rail like nothing had happened.. (sigh of relief)

Time to stop right there.. I asked her to walk and then Whoa.. and gave her lots and lots of accolades , good girls, belly rubs and then hand grazed her for a while.

Lesson learned.. or rather re learned.  I was just really thankful that Maggie has made enough progress in the last several months that I was able to get her brain back. It seems Maggie has come even further than I realized. She is actually forgiving my snafu's like this and carrying on without getting rattled.  A year ago.. the fight would be on and I would have spent another hour out there trying to settle her emotions down.

Greediness- it is something I really try to be mindful of when I am working with a horse.. It's exciting when your getting through and things are coming together.. sometimes it's easy to get caught up in the euphoria of that.. and then push for more when it would actually make the training progress much further if you just find a good place to quit early.

What about you  all?

Ever find your self getting greedy in your training? How did you horse respond? Did you even recognize you were being greedy? What did you do about it? 
 

Get your Green on...

For those of you living in parts of the country that have gone from lush to "crunchy", and are craving green, this one's for you (Irish Horse)..

This is the reason I live in Montana. Beginning in June, it's like Ireland in the Flathead Valley.
We all suffer through months of cold and gray to experience 4 months of gorgeous scenery. It's truly the best time of year..Ofcourse, the green lush grass can be deadly for little fat Morgans so the horses have to suffer through dry lotting with brief grazing periods until things cure out a bit in July..

Since I haven't been on the trail much, you will have to suffer through photos of Acer Farm... With any luck, I can get out on the trail soon and get some other trail riding photos.

The front yard.. and south facing pasture beyond

The corrals- as you can see, Maggie gave me her best side for the photo..Brego taking a sunshine nap in the background.

The north yard , haybarn and corrals

Green grass you say??Yah, we got that...

another section of south facing yard , oak trees and one unruly Russian olive that needs to be chopped down for bonfire wood

Close up of south facing pasture- Death by Grass for Maggie

JB , waiting to be let out to graze

Looking off to the North . You can't see it because of the tree but the Big Mountain Ski Area is within view from my house in those distant mountains.

More lush pasture under the big old ugly Larch..It's a landmark...



Strawberry blossoms

The ditch bordered by Caragana shrubs

. Onions and strawberries... weird combo but it helps with keeping bugs to a minimum.

So there you have it.. green stuff  and lots of it..

 

And just for fun...

 

here's a really  horrible shot of me riding Fancy a couple months back in my jumping lesson.. it was dark and hard to see because he took the OLD camera, but this was the day I had some really awesome moments jumping. In this photo we are making our way around the arena to take my first in and out on her. Ofcourse, the photographer failed to take ANY pictures of that..

 

 ("T" is really talented at getting horrible pictures of me.. .)

 

 

 

MRI Results Are In and other horse updates

The last post I mentioned I was going ahead with having an MRI of my left knee .I was hesitant but the Orthopedic doctor was almost 99% sure I had a meniscus tear, medially and maybe laterally too. I went in last Tuesday and follow up on Thursday for the results.

As it turns out, the doctor was WRONG!!(this always happens to me with doctors..)

I don't have any Meniscus tears to speak of. 

No, as it turns out, I have " the cartilage and ligaments of a 20 year old "  according to my doc....**blush*** (wish I had other things of a 20 year old.. but hey I will take what I can get)

Looking at the image, it's more than likely I strained my ACL (a little bit of fluid there) and the  IT band.

It was a huge relief hearing that I was not going to need surgery. I have made it this far in my life with ever going under the knife and would like to keep it that way.

The knee is actually starting to feel about 70% better and I have been able to resume some squats/lunges in my workouts.  I have not gone on any hikes so I can't say how it feels on the downhills. The doctor suggested a lot of stretching and using a foam roller to loosen the IT band. Since the Spartan race, and vacation thrown in the mix, I have been way off the rails in the excercise and eating departments so I am anxious to get back on track.

I feel like I definitely dodged a bullet with the knee thing.

Here are  few other updates..

• The garden -its mostly in... need to plant a few more things but I am not getting carried away this year. Herbs, onions, garlic peppers, root veggies, and a couple of tomatoes.. I might get a couple of cucumbers or squash.. not sure yet.. I have been enjoying the asparagus that is FINALLY producing but after only a couple of weeks of production, the stalks are starting to get woody so it's time to let it go to seed again..

• Maggie -Since I am not planning to do any endurance with her this year, or maybe ever again, Maggie and I are not hitting the trail. Friends  and family keep asking me a lot of questions about it. I definitely missed it now that ride season in the NW is in full swing but I also have mixed feelings. I miss the idea of attending a ride, and flying down the trail on a good horse,  but I don't miss the endless conditioning I had to do last year with Maggie just to attend a 35 mile ride. I don't miss the worry and fuss because she won't eat and drink on the trail or after a hard condition ride,  until we get home to her beloved water tank.  I don't miss the fight when she goes all race brained on me.  I certainly don't miss the time limitations on the schedule so I can get home from work and get on the trail to condition. It was a huge stressor and felt like a job. That said ,  I am still riding her at home ,working on her flatwork/dressage.   In the last couple of  weeks, she has made some interesting progress. She is doing much better with responding      to   my requests for a slow , collected trot. She is even starting to be able to leg yield while in a trot without having a major fit.. It's small steps but it's huge progress for where we were.. Her roll backs are pretty amazing and I am able to cue her for halt, back and rollback with just a neck rope. It's totally cool.  She has impressed me to say the least. I hope the upward trend continues.

Just to mix up the arena sessions,  I have  jumped her a couple of times over small cross rails. She is still unsure about this whole jumping thing but does her best at it, even though her trail savviness tells her that she should carefully step over it... I might have to put it higher for her to get the idea of what I am asking.. I have no idea if there is any glimmer of talent there but it doesn't matter. Right now I am just using jumping as a break from the dressage stuff. With a horse like her, I have to keep things changed up ALL THE TIME or she gets sour on doing the same thing...

At the end of June, we are going into a 3 day "cowmanship clinic"  to see what Maggie can do on cows. She has previously shown some interest . Her grand daddy , her sire, and her brother (T's gelding) are all pretty cowy... so we will see what she thinks about the smelly beasts.. It's all part of finding her niche.. If all else fails, there is always harness training!

• JB- He gets his special shoes on this week and with out the demanding conditioning schedule, I hope to ride him more frequently. He really needs some work. His ground manners are embarrassing! I see some round pen sessions in his future.

• Finding the Fix - So Endurance for Maggie is off the books.. which makes it hard to stay in the game. I still love the sport and don't plan on leaving it. As a possible way to still "get my endurance fix" without a horse to do it on,  I have offered via the MT region endurance FB page  to ride for anyone who has an extra horse at any rides in the MT region or NW region.  I already have some potential opportunities. I am working out the logistics of those opportunities. If you know of anyone, keep me in your thoughts!  This sort of arrangement would be a great opportunity to see some other rides that I normally would not if I were taking my horse du to expense /time. Things become a lot more simple when all you have to do is get in your car and drive yourself to a ride..

• Jumping Lessons- I am still attending and it's a total blast.  I am planning to continue with a couple lessons a month as my schedule permits.  I have started riding the new lesson horse who is a sweet QH mare. She is much more "safe" than the Trakehner I was riding , but not as athletically talented. But she gets me safely to and over the fence with not a lot of complication.  Long term wish list.. find a horse that is suitable for jumping and endurance.. I am thinking an Arab or TB/Trakeher cross???? All I need is about $15k...yeah right(cough).

Equipment Failures:

• The trailer is busted. Going into a  trail head parking lot a few weeks back we heard a big clunk.  The parking lot had been used as a mud bogging area by local teenage boys with big trucks. Needless to say, there are big holes, trenches and no matter how slow you go, you get bounced around. One of our leaf springs busted in the process and we had to limp the trailer home.  It goes into the shop this week.  Even if I wanted to get out and ride , I couldn't go anywhere. I would just prefer to get a new trailer but gotta live with in the Long term plan budget for now.

• The Specialized saddle also had a minor issue. I got off Maggie the other night after riding her and my stirrup pad fell off. I managed to glue it back on with some kind of cement like glue I found in the garage. I have ridden in it once  and it held. The other stirrup pad looks like it's adhesive is starting to give way to so I see another glue repair in the near future. That is one complaint I have about the Specialized is that some of the craftsmanship is pretty chincy. Eventually I will have to get some of the EZ ride stirrups to replace these with.

The rain continues here , everything is lush and green and wet but still , the temps are pretty cool.  It's perfect for the still growing hay crops. Farmers usually start cutting and baling first cutting around the Fourth of July , assuming things dry out enough.


Hoping for warmer days ahead with lots of new adventures....




 

Vacation , Horseback Archery , doggie camp and a few other random musings

 

Well not much riding has been going on for me.  Two weekends ago we went for a trail ride about, 2 hrs only because my knee  really started acting up.. (more on that in minute) but that has been it. 

My hubby and I traveled to Vancouver BC to spend a couple days doing the touristy thing prior to traveling northward  on to MT Currie ,BC for his Canadian  Horseback Archery competition . Getting there made for a long drive, about 13 hrs one way.  But it was worth it.. seeing the ocean again was the highlight for me,  even if it was the cold Pacific.

We got to see a lot of the Vancouver area since we stayed with friends just outside the city for a couple of night.   BC is similar to Montana and the Rocky Mountains but with the added feature of the ocean and a much more wet climate.  Lots of lush thick green forests. Rain is common in that part of the country,  but we  lucked out and had a couple of really beautiful days. 

Once we got to where the competition was held, Near Whistler ,B.C, and on a reservation, the true adventure began for me. As camping goes, I haven’t ever really mastered the art of it… not being really into the “roughing” it without access to a daily shower. Luckily, I stayed with our  friend in Vancouver one extra day and only had to camp out one night.  “T’ went up a day early to get a little extra training time and I met him up there early Sat morning to see the competition.

When I arrived, I was thankful for the decision to stay in  civilization for the extra day , especially when I saw the bathroom facilities. It was two outhouses, with a 6 foot hole in the ground.

 

This was the “bathroom” sink…

 

 

 

It was a two day competition so as soon as “T’  was done with his turn on Sunday morning,  we beat it out to hit the road  and head home. We made it the trip home by Monday mid day, having to stop for an overnight on Sunday.. too tired to continue…

 

So now I am going to go off track a bit only because it was a major part of the weekend.  Have I ever really talked about Xena?? I don’t think so, other than the photo of her on the sidebar of my blog and a few random photos on various  blog posts. I suppose since this is a random post about lots of things, it seems like an appropriate time.

 

This trip was the first time in over 5   years we have had to kennel  a dog. It was the first time ever since having Xena and Duncan .  There was alot of anxiety on my part about doing so.

My anxiety about kenneling them had more to do with Xena  specifically, given her history.  Sadly, little Xena  had been tossed away  two other times before she was even two years old  by previous owners, with a rescue operation being her foster care home twice in between those times … until we found her..  It has taken us a considerable amount of time and work to bring her out  of her shell and deal with her issues. We got more than we bargained for when we adopted her but by the time we figured out what kind of severe issues we were dealing with, I was not willing to send her back to the rescue… once again. I wasn’t sure I  even liked the dog yet , as I recall, wondering what I had signed up for,  but I could not put send her back again.. it wasn't fair to her. She deserved a chance.

Xena  is more fearful  than anything but it comes out as aggression, aka; fear aggression . it is common in dogs who have not been socialized or exposed correctly at those crucial times during puppy hood.  It’s also common in German Shepherds. Fortunately with the help of a understanding friends who we have used as guinea pigs to give her good experiences with strangers(ie, you don’t need to try to tear off the hands of strangers)  and a Schutzhund trainer, we have made some  great gains.  

My biggest fear  with this   kennel experience was that it was going to throw her into a tail spin if she thought she was getting abandoned once again and undo all the work over the last two years. In preparation, I took her  for two walk thru’s  at the kennel at the suggestion of the kennel owner. This is supposed to give the dogs a good experience and then they get to go right home. The hope is that they remember that when they go for the real thing.

Nonetheless, it still killed me knowing she would be so fearful going to a kennel  and there was nothing I could do to make her understand I was going to come back for her, that it was only temporary, that I was not leaving her like so many others had done in the past. All I could do was tell her I would be back for her and hope she sensed it????  

Long story short, she did survive her stay. The kennel owner said she spent two days hiding in her crate. which I expected since that  is  her safe zone .   After a couple of days however, she reportedly did start coming out and handling things better. Beyond that, the word was she did fine.  When we arrived to pick them up, and she first saw  us, she must have surely been thinking

“really, you came back for me??? “ 

She was very excited to see us and she promptly peed all over my feet in all of her excitement.  I thought that was a small price to pay.

They ran and played all afternoon and evening in the back yard once we got home and  we tried to tame the  jungle of what was previously a back yard.  The grass could almost be hayed.. When the evening came to an end  and we all headed to bed … Xena went and laid down in the bathroom . I got up to check on her and she appeared fine but I walked thru a wall of an awful smell emanating from her...

**warning- those that have a sensitive stomach may not want to read this next part..

Little Xena apparently relaxed , maybe just a little too much and blessed us  with the expression of her anals.. all over the  bathroom floor..(there could have been worse places this could have happened, like the living room rug, which would have ruined it beyond repair).

Let me tell you if you have never experienced this darker side of dog ownership… take my word for it… you don’t want to… It's not a smell  you will ever forget..

 I think since she was finally able to relax that it just , well, released.  She was utterly humiliated by this accident. The whole dark side of dog ownership isn’t new to me but I will say that I have never seen a dog leave a puddle of fluid behind like she did.. usually it’s just a moment of  “OMG , what is that smell???” but you don’t actually see anything…this time there was an actual puddle of clear fluid on the tile and then, if that was not bad enough she managed to get her tail and hip in it....

Ugghhh...

So as the clock struck midnight , we quietly (ok , gagged and dry heaved ) through getting her and the bathroom floor cleaned up, opened the windows, lit a few matches,  sprayed Lysol  all  in an attempt to clear the  odiferous remnants of her accident.

I sincerely hope this doesn’t ever happen quite like that again… I am not sure my stomach can handle it again.

So , vacation is over and now it’s time to try to get on some routine with riding again. Remember back at the beginning of the post I mentioned the knee?? 

So it seems I may have a lateral and medial l Meniscus tear (thank you Spartan race)I went this morning for an MRI for a positive diagnosis  and I should have results by Thursday afternoon . If it’s positive, meniscus  tears do not get better with therapy or rest. That means surgery.. which means a period of healing..which means no riding…  But I can’t keep on with the way it is.. It’s hurting to do any physical activity like biking, running, even walking. Worst of all.. it’s hurting when I ride.. a lot..

For years, this knee has occasionally given me trouble but nothing that has impeded my activities up until now. I suspect that I injured the knee years ago when I took a bad fall skiing. 

Several weeks ago, I did the Spartan race and about 2 miles from the finish, it really started hurting on any downhill.. By the time I made it across the finish line, I could barely bend it. I spent two days icing I and it got mostly better but ever since, it flares up with any physical activity. Squats , lunges.. out of the question , running or biking pretty much make me wince in pain. Even walking for more than a half hour   puts me in a fair amount of agony and riding?? That was painful. Stay tuned for results  and keep your fingers crossed it is not going to require any surgical treatment.

Shannon Falls

Mt Currie, BC, HBA course location scenery


 

Running Through the Woods -My Spartan Experience

 "Active, healthy, excited about change, and an opportunity to  return to our ancient roots where running through woods, getting dirty, and facing adversity was part of everyday life". That is the Spartan mission. Spartan events are all about challenging today’s perception of normal. Getting off the couch, getting out of your comfort zone, challenging yourself mentally, physically and emotionally. An opportunity to dig down to the very core of your being and see just what you are made of and proving yourself through actions, not words.

Sounds cool, right??

So here is how we ended up placing:
( no records set here but still.. )

Individually Overall- I finished 1866th overall in a group of around 4200 participants so essentially I ran mid pack..or slighty better.

Individually for Age Group- I finished 105th (not sure how many were in my age group)

Team Overall- We finished fifth !! What really helped here was the one guy who is a serious trail runner , is 6'6 and is an absolute endurance machine naturally.. he finished the course in 59 minutes.. he probably qualifies for Elite status..

It took me just under two hours to complete the race.

Details you say???

Here ya go.. I hope that I have tried to hit the highlights .. there were just so many!

I will start by answering  a couple of questions that  a lot of people have been asking me for months..

What made you decide to do something like this??


It started back last late fall when my husband put together a team to join the first Spartan race being held in our area. A Spartan Sprint, The smallest and most "attainable"  Spartan race for a first time Spartan goer. That would be us. It sounded like something I could use as a goal for better fitness. I work better when I have a specific goal in mind.

How did I go about training for this??

I spent the winter doing a lot of running ,  a lot of interval training , weights and practicing my burpee abilities(something I am still no expert at) in preparation for this race. I did some snow shoeing and a lot of walking up hills on my treadmill mostly because of the cold and snow.



As time went on and the date got closer, our team numbers dwindled. Media started doing their thing and hyping up this race.. Lots of elevation would be on this race.. we would be climbing over 2000 feet in elevation. Just days before the race, several team members started realizing they just hadn't trained hard enough or decided that while it sounded really cool , they just didn't believe they could do it  and bagged out. I wasn't far from joining that list. Oh, how badly I wanted to. I had been traveling for work and my workouts weren't as intense as I thought they should have been.  As rumors flew about how hard this course was, my confidence dwindled.  We were hearing that the terrain and trail course were so challenging that the Spartan Corporation was planning on making this location a championship race location.. 

I had not been able to get out and train hills hard enough on any actual trails.. I knew I would not have the upper body strength to pull myself up a rope climb (one of the obstacles) or get myself over an 8 foot wall....  but it is pretty hard to bag out when you spouse is the team organizer. No backing out for me.

Race morning arrived. Our team was down to 9 people. We had lost 5 members.There were over 4200 participants signed up for this race. They let out 200 racers at a time every fifteen minutes. Looking around the crowd and seeing that not everyone in the crowd planning to race looked "Spartan ripped like"  helped calm me a little. I found myself  thinking,  "well if he/she can do it, I can certainly get through this.".. atleast I had hoped so..

We had a half hour before our start time and watching some of the elite  racers come through a couple of the obstacles wasn't helping my nerves at all. They were the cream of the crop and they were 45 minutes into the race..and they were struggling.

Listen, you all have to realize here that I have never been blessed with any natural athletic ability. I don't have a past life of being actively involved in competitive sports to revert back to..  I knew  watching those elite athletes struggle, that I was probably way in over my head. By his time it had been confirmed that the rumors were true.The race course was longer than what the sprints typically are.. usually somewhere between 3 -4 miles,  this one was 5.2 miles roughly. Generally, there are 15-20 obstacles in that distance.. this race had 38 obstacles  and as far as elevation??
Well, that was the cherry on top.. we are in Montana.. elevation is  everywhere..can't avoid it..  we would in fact be climbing over 2000 feet in elevation. It was not good news... this would prove to be a bigger challenge than I realized.

15 minutes to start time.. I wanted to vomit and cry.. but there was no backing out now.. The only thing I had going for me right about then was sheer determination.  I would just go slow, and get as far as I could, one step at a time even if it took me all day.

We headed out and the first obstacle is a mud pit .. followed by climbing cliffs and rocks.. with muddy shoes..
               
Fantastic.. starting the day with muddy shoes...

We climbed and climbed and jumped over logs, heaved ourselves over some wooden structures and under other wooden structures. We climbed solid wooden walls and  managed to  safely pass by the  gigantic Scotty Highlander bull who lived on the property.  Thankfully he just looked on as if to say.. "what the hell is everyone running from?"

The pack started to split up by now and alot of my team members (who are in their 20's and  have a background in track or distance running) had gotten ahead of us. I walked on a lot of the uphills and ran on the down hills. If I have learned nothing from endurance racing, I knew that it was key to take it easy in the start.. set your pace and stick to it . DO NOT GET CAUGHT UP IN THE FRENZY!!
We climbed up rope ladders and shimmied down wooden ladders..My first issue came on the monkey bar obstacle when I was not able to get a good enough grip to make it across and thus began my first punishment of 30 burpees...

We carried on to climb  more rock wall faces,  and hike up very steep terrain.  So far, my pre race hydration and food plan was holding up and while I was getting tired, I was still feeling ok..The worst thing I was struggling with was a side stitch,  something that has plagued me with running for years.. regardless of my repeated attempts to avoid it (correct breathing, good hydration and not eating prior to running for atleast an 2 hours.) It was really slowing me down due to the pain. The trail footing was rocky and uneven and I really had to be careful not to take a bad step. My left knee started to complain a little on some of the downhill... an old skiing injury that occasionally gives me trouble..

We ran through a series of obstacles that required more waist high mud, some heavy lifting or dragging of cement blocks(in the Spartan time, these would have been boulders), flipping over humungous tractor tires,  and pulling a cement block up a pulley system.  Those all went pretty easily and quickly for me..I am not sure if it was pure adrenaline at this  point, but I was lifting , pulling and heaving more weight than I ever trained for yet  it never really seemed unmanageable. Adrenaline can be a good thing..The worst of the obstacles was  solid wooden walls that kept showing up with ever increasing height that I had to get over. The walls of hell was what I referred to them as. Thankfully  my husband stayed with me and helped heave me over them.  Had he not been there, I am not sure I would have made it over those and would have had to do a lot more burpees.

Around the halfway point, coming down a very steep downhill section , the tread on my shoes didn't hold up and I slipped and landed on my butt. Luckily, I  managed to bounce back up and keep going.. one foot in front of the other relatively unscathed minus the dirty that went down my shorts...

Hell I was already covered in mud.. what was a little more dirt??

We finally made it to the rope net climbing obstacle where you had to climb  wooden slats  where they had strung rope netting across to the other side and then climb down rope netting into  a mud bog..The obstacle is way up in the air and I am afraid of heights.. I was shaking as I made my way across that obstacle and down the other side but  I made it and went on to the next two obstacles; the   rope climb and then the sand bag carry. T
These were the obstacles I was spectating earlier as I waited for my time to run.  Announcers were bellering their cheers and encouragement as you made your way. You climb up steep section of trail only to come right back down and head to the rope climb. These ropes were about 12 feet high with knots in them that you had to climb up , ring the bell and climb back down. I took one look at those slimmey  muddy ropes and walked straight over to the burpee station and did my 30 burpees. I knew there was no way I had the strength to pull myself up that  slimey rope.  I also knew I had a ways to go yet and it was probably best to save my energy. This was a "work smarter, not harder" decision and it proved to be the right move.

The very next obstacle was the sand bag carry.. once again , up a very steep section of trail, only to turn around and come right back down. Not only was the trail steep but it was muddy and rocky.. I grabbed my sandbag (not sure how heavy these were but I would guess about 20 lbs) and started climbing..I was thankful for strong legs right about now but  I had to take the downhill slow because of the knee,  which was really starting to complain..I wasn't entirely sure it was going to hold up in fact.


The next section of trail was yet another steep climb.. only this one went on for what seemed like forever. It think this was probably the hardest part of the race for me. My heart rate was not recovering quickly and I was starting to  run out of gas.   I eventually made it to the top where my husband patiently waited for me.  We carried on through a nice open two track section of trail that had , for the first time.. nice footing. I painfully jogged alongside my husband through this section , hoping I wasn't doing permanent damage to my left knee. We came across the second water station, rehydrated and carried on to the final and highest wall to get over..a wrenching 8 + foot wall.  Even with help from my husband, this was no easy wall to get over.. but I made it .. and we slogged through another waist high mud bog which smelled as though it was probably an old elk wallow. Yours truly managed to find the only sink hole in it and almost fell .. but caught myself and kept on going..

Right about we could hear the crowd and the finish line was only moments away. Just a few more obstacles to go.. but that last part of the race was the longest...

We had to  belly crawl through,   yes,  you guessed it... more mud . Only this time there was also sand and rock mixed in for good measure...and  barbed wire just over our heads, all the while being sprayed with cold water . Sounds pleasant doesn't it?? We then  had to roll ourselves under a very low wooden bridge (maybe  2  feet high??) If you were claustrophobic.. this obstacle would have been terrorizing. We rolled through the mud, sand and rock, adding yet another layer of grime, just in  case we weren't muddy enough..I felt like a chicken wing dredged in egg and flour preparing for the fryer pan. The skin on my elbows and knees took a beating. 

I managed to pull myself up one more wall only this wall had a slant to it  instead of being straight up and down , along with a rope assist.. only the rope and wall were muddy and slippery. There were no foot holds to speak of. As I pulled myself up that wall and was  about to reach the top , my feet started slipping and the strength in my shoulders and arms were not going to hold me long.  There was no way I was going to let myself fall  so I flung my upper body across the top and pulled myself up the rest of the way. The only problem with my less than graceful technique  was that I landed on my rib cage  across the top edge of the wall, nearly knocking the wind out of myself.  I thought for a second I cracked ribs.. the pain  ripped through my rib cage and I couldn't  breathe. I got pretty light headed and feared for a split second I might just pass out .. then realized that if I did, I would fall of this damn wall and probably break my neck. My husband kept yelling to me to keep me going forward. (he said later that when I fell against that board at the top, I turned a shade of greyish white so he knew I was in a fair bit of pain) .  I just focused on his voice encouraging me to keep going and got down the ladder on the backside ... somehow...

 Alas, I  could see the finish line.. I jumped across the fire pit , pushed through the guys at the end with big foam blocking things and finished my race...  covered in mud , sweat and a huge sense of accomplishment..
It was over and I had made it.. I was never so happy to be done with something in a long long time...

Post Race Status

My knee injury may require some professional medical attention..I have been icing and using ibuprofen. It's getting better but I suspect maybe there has been some  damage to the meniscus. I will see how it goes over the next couple of days and reevaluate.

My knees and elbows are a fine mess of scrapes, scratches and bruises..They are well earned.. but they are not pretty.

Almost every part of my body aches on some level and going down stairs is pure hell on the quads and calves.

I am still trying to get all the mud out of my toes.. despite multiple scrubbings.. probably need a pedicure to remedy that mess...

I am bummed that our team didn't get team photos . We should have done before and after but we all arrived at different times ...By the time we finished, we were all too tired and a lot of team members finished a half hour before us. By the time we got across the finish line they were already cleaned up and having their complimentary beer. There were a lot of photographers along the trail that I believe work for Spartan corporation . I don't know if I got captured in any but I am hoping for atleast one.

What really struck me about this experience is how encouraging complete strangers were to each other. From what I saw, everyone helped everyone out . Offering a hand up a cliff wall, offering aleg up over the wooden walls of hell. When you were on the side of the trail trying to catch your breath, people came by  and encouraged you. Often times, you heard "good job.. or " you got this.. keep goin", "Go Spartan"... from complete strangers. More than once, these encouraging words from strangers quelled the doubt floating around in my head and made me keep going.. Sadly, I can't say the same about my favorite sport of endurance. I have not seen that level of camaraderie or willingness to help others. I know it does indeed exist in endurance but I have not witnessed it at this level.

This race taught me a lot about the unlikely athlete in me.. I am not an athlete but I got through it. It comes down to mental toughness, fortitude and not giving up.. Put one foot in front of another and keep on going.

I think that is a message that can have meaning in so many aspects of life.

Tevis doesn't seem to unattainable after all!