Skills Testing Take 3

This last week at CF was my third to at our skills testing. Format is a little different this time- first week is the heavy lifts, second week (still coming) is the skills and benchmark WODs.

The lifts I did were back squat, press and dead lift. I didn't have any recent numbers on my back squat and dead lift as the last time I did them was a year ago! I did improve, but would have liked to do heavier (of course!). Numbers were :

Back squat: 205
Press: 87.5
Dead lift:260

Press I really wanted to hit 90, but there was no way. Pretty happy with my back squat number and dead lift though. Improvement of 20 lbs on the back squat and 55lbs on the deadlift.

Bad updater.

Did it again, have gone awhile without updating my workouts. Whoops.

They've been going pretty well, I've been trying to get in more consistently again. Diet however, has gone down the tubes. I feel like I've gained quite a few LB's since coming back from Hawaii because I never did get the train back on the tracks after that. Ugh. I should really do another 30 days of serious clean eating, but with the holidays coming up its hard. So right now I'm just trying to do the best that I can.  Skills testing is coming up again in a week or so, and I'm interested to see what kind of weight I can throw around this time. I've been doing 3x3 sets at a decent amount for me, so we'll see.


Riding has been going fairly well too. New program for Arwen where I'm only jumping her twice a week, and then she gets hacked the rest of the week with potentially an extra jump school from Trainer if she needs it. Arwen has definitely seemed happier with this program. Not as dull as I have felt her getting when we needed to start working, and no hesitation at fences at all. So I think its definitely been helping her attitude.

And then, because I'm only jumping her twice a week, for my third jump lesson I've been getting to ride some other horses. Its been a really great experience because all the horses are so different. Some similar trends are coming through though in my riding, like needing to be more assertive and being careful about not locking my elbows. However, its definitely made me more away when I do get back on Arwen the kinds of bad habits she caused me to develop over the last two years. I think we're finally breaking through the small plateau we've been sitting on where I've been feeling like it might be time to stop riding her. So, its giving me hope I will get this last year with her and get to do some 3' stuff on a more regular basis. Probably not at a show, but at least at home.

WOD Catchup

Only hitting up CF two times this week since Saturday we have our Zombie mud run. 5K full of zombies and obstacles, should be a blast! May do a light run on Friday, or just take the dog for a walk. Or do a couch WOD. We'll see.

10/15/12

"Dirty Thirty"

30 Box jump
30 Pull-ups
30 Kettlebell swings (55/35)
30 Lunges
30 Knees to elbows
30 Push press (65/45)
30 Back extensions
30 Wall ball (20/14)
30 Burpees
30 Double unders

Did everything prescribed except for the double unders. That just would have been too intense. I really need to get back to practicing them. Started this time with the burpees so that the burpees and wall balls were broken up. MUCH BETTER. Completed in 18:05.

10/17/12

4 rounds:

5 DL's
7 hang power snatches
9 OHS
200m run

Prescribed women's was 85 lbs. I did 75 lbs, as I knew that I could do that weight for OHS. I have done snatches at 85lbs before but they were hard. Thinking back, I probably could have attempted prescribed but it would have taken me awhile. Instead, I completed in 11:05. Felt pretty good, I was able to do most of the rounds unbroken with the exception of the second round where I had to drop during the OHS because my hands were slipping. Smartened up by the third round and chalked my hands up!

Getting naked!

Not me, but Arwen.

I'm actually quite proud of myself, I did my first ever body clip on her yesterday afternoon and it looks pretty good! Took me almost three hours though (UGH!) because I admit to being a little slow (and overly careful when I first started) and taking some breaks because towards the end my back started killing me. But, I got it all done, including her face and ears. Its funny, she's a totally different color when clipped. With her coat she's a very bright bay (with reddish undertones) but when clipped, she's a light golden almost seal colored bay. Totally different looking. She looks good though. Her long winter coat was making her look a little raggedy and with the clipped coat, she looks sleek and pretty again. I just have one patch on her butt that needs to be touched up a bit, but other than that she's good. Next week I do need to do her mane, however.

This was also my first time really seriously using the clippers I bought last year. I really like them. They have enough power, are fairly light and very quiet. Not too impressed with the blades though. I basically used one for the entire clip, and towards the end I had to take shorter and shorter strokes to get it to cut through the hair. I did a blade change about halfway through and that blade didn't even last for part of her body. Fortunately I bought it from Smartpak, so I'm hoping they will send me a replacement (even though it was a year ago). We'll see if they live up to their legendary customer service reputation!

Anyway, I'm hoping this helps her not be so grumpy and hot when we're working. Its supposed to be pretty warm this week, so I'm definitely glad I clipped her.

Another riding update and Sacramento International

Had my second jump lesson of the week on Saturday. Again, we weren't sure how Arwen would come out but she came out great. I mean, not as awesome as I've felt her in the past but still MUCH better than she was. There wasn't any rushing, she was doing some nice trot jumps and downward transitions. The jumps were pretty simple, just a couple diagonal lines and then some bending lines. Then we jumped a line on an angle (which was very fun!) and called it a day.

The highlight of my weekend was the Sacramento International going on in the area. Its a big two week show that draws a lot of people from the Bay Area, PNW and even Canada this year. First week is what most of the ammy's go to, because it has lower divisions. The second week is jumpers only, and the lowest division is 3' so it definitely weeds out quite a few people. The second week also has the big evens, like the Ride and Drive and the World Cup Qualifier Grand Prix. This year a few people from the barn bought a box, which is 8 seats right on the side of the arena. It puts you super close to the action, and is fun because you just kind of hang out in there with friends and all the other horsepeople (right in front of the vendors, so people are constantly walking back and forth, stopping to talk and say hello). So I basically spent three nights at the horse show, watching all the events. It was a great time. Drank a lot of wine, chatted a lot, and watched some super super horses go. Can't wait for next year, and would actually be fun if Arwen and I could go. Doubtful, but one can wish!

Puzzling.

Had my first jumping lesson on Arwen last night post disasterous Saturday. M had treated her Wednesday night, she got a long turnout prior to my lesson so I was really REALLY keeping my fingers crossed that my girl was feeling good again.

And thank GOD she was.

Seriously so odd that she was so out of whack on Saturday she turned into a pulling mess. I am still not 100% sure what the heck happened in such a short period of time. Regardless, I'm glad that she is clearly feeling better (although she's still feeling a little dull in warm up). We did a couple trot fences and where she was rushing them last week, she trotted up to this one just fine and cantered away nice and quietly. We also did a couple lines to see how she was and sure enough, back to her old self. Was listening pretty well, and even took a launcher of a long spot like a good girl.

After my lesson I went over to watch the welcome grand prix of the big horse show that is going on. That was super fun! Its always a good time hanging out with horsey friends, drinking wine, and watching the pros (and some ammy's) jump the big jumps. At first glance the course didn't seem too difficult, but it actually turned out to be pretty tough. Only a few people went clear (and it was a speed round only), a lot of people had one rail, and then there were a few who were knocking them down right and left. The toughest spots seemed to be the combos. There was a one stride set of a pretty tight rollback that people kept knocking, and then a one stride to a two that a lot of people knocked too. It was interesting to see though that even the people at this level make mistakes. We saw some scary distances, horses doing rider override (which I know too well), refusals (not many, but some) and one rider even tried to gun her horse down the first line that was set as what we thought seemed a pretty normal 7, in a 6! It was scary. She did ask pretty soon after landing but her horse was small and I think just couldn't do it. So she had a horrible out, horse crashed through the fence and tripped (I think) and she of course came off. Rider and horse were fine, but that was definitely the excitement of the night! Oh, and seeing Rich Fellers ride. He actually didn't end up doing well (placed out of the top six due to having one rail) but last night was not the GP that counts. He has won the big one coming up for the last two years in a row, so we'll see if he can hold onto it!

WOD 10/3/12

Working on presses again. They actually felt pretty good last night, I probably could have gone a little bit heavier. Only problem with presses is that I can either do them, or I can't. Its such a small muscle group failure happens pretty quickly, lol. So I erred on the side of lighter.

3x3 at 75 lbs.

WOD:

10 min AMRAP

8 wall balls
10 swings
12 sit ups

Honestly, I should have made this a little harder for myself. I did everything as prescribed, but managed to fly through 7 rounds. I was aiming for 6. Wall balls felt good (either should have thrown to the mens line, or used the 20 lb wall ball) and everything else was pretty quick as well. Some people did weighted sit ups, I didn't know that was an option and I noticed too late. Ah well. Next time!

Arwen Quasi Update

So yesterday we just had a light hack/flat lesson. She still felt somewhat locked through the left side, but definitely better. I just rode her around on a fairly loose rein with a very light contact, we didn't ask her to get in a frame so she got to poke her nose out a bit.

Afterwards, the electro acuscopist poked and prodded around a bit to check for sensitivity, and found that she is definitely sensitive through her right side. She commented that this would for sure make it harder for her to bend on that left jaw, since Arwen would be hesitant to use the right side/hind leg at all if its hurting her. So. She's getting treatment today, and we'll see if it helps even her out a bit. We also discussed getting a chiro out to do some body work on her, because if she's uneven, its indicating something is out of whack. Ahhhh, another thing to spend money on! The joys of keeping a sport horse comfortable and performing.

Arwen also got to spend another night out in turnout to just keep her neck stretched down to help those neck/back muscles stay loose. I am definitely going to try and turn her out overnight on the nights I ride, because that essentially gives her about 12 hours of turnout versus the zero she usually gets when being ridden. I also discussed with S the idea of giving her a couple weeks of vacation, which S thought was a really good idea. She said she always used to do that with her horses, and that they came back much happier than before. I agree, particularly since last fall when I gave Arwen about six weeks off for that weird lameness stuff, she came back and was fantastic for about two to three months (and then spring hormones hit). I'm thinking if I do do it, it will need to be before the weather gets bad, just so she can get lots and lots of turnout. A vacation stuck in her stall won't do much good, afterall.

So we'll see. Jumping lesson tomorrow with trainer who is back in town. That will be the real indication of how pony face is feeling!

WOD 10/1/12

Still working on the 3x3 backsquats. Increased five pound from last week, total of 160lbs. Felt pretty good, the last rep in the set of three is usually a little bit of a struggle, but not bad.

10 min AMRAP

100m sprint
7 OHS w/DB, each side rx'd women at 25 lbs
7 box jumps

Did 5 full rounds, and then got through 5 OHS on one side. Felt pretty good, those OHS are HARD though. Its funny because doing it with a barbell? 75 lbs no problem. But with just the one arm and only 25 lbs, your body tries to twist itself around and its much harder to stablize. I remember doing these a few months ago though and the 25 lbs felt really hard. Wasn't "easy" last night, but definitely didn't feel as hard as I remember.

Failure all around...

So this past week was a total CrossFit and riding FAIL. To the max. After doing Fran last week, I somehow didn't get my butt in the gym again. Wednesday I actually had an excuse (work thing for DH) but then Friday, I just decided to be lazy and go watch the big horse show that is in town instead. So this week (and the next three weeks) it is back at it because the 5K is coming up. Zombies, mud and lots of running. Gotta be prepared!

As for riding. Well...where to begin. We had a somewhat difficult day on Tuesday where Arwen didn't want to do a simple trot pole exercise. Okay, this is not a normal thing so I wasn't too  miffed by it. Wednesday she was then hacked by a junior and then by me on Thursday. She felt okay, a little dull, just not fully herself. And not dull to the aids, she just didn't feel as sparkly or spunky I guess as she normally does? However I decided to chalk it up to being in a super thick fur coat already with temps still in the 90's. Friday we did our first jump school of the week and while she wasn't horrible, she wasn't great. We were having some slight issues with left turns, in fact when I asked her for one left roll back she totally ignored me, braced on that left rein, and kept going straight. Straight over a jump we had just jumped, in fact. Jumped it well though, and the next time through she did the left turn no issues.

But...then came Saturday. Warming up she felt okay, again just a little dull and not herself. But, overall not horrible either. We started jumping some trot lines, which she wasn't thrilled about, but was okay. Then we started to do our course. Singles were okay, she was listening fairly well, not having many issues. But down this one particular line...OMG. It was like iron on the left side of her jaw. It was totally locked, and she was grabbing onto that side and veering right. She was still jumping, but it was starting to get a little annoying. The last time through, I tried to correct it but she was totally in a far away head space. I thought she was still going to go, but at the last second she slammed on the brakes and spun out to the right. I was completely taken by surprise, and flew over her left shoulder into the standard. Ugh. This was probably the worst feeling fall I've had in awhile, because it totally knocked the wind out of me. I should have seen it coming too, what with her locked jaw and it only getting worse and worse as we kept doing that line. But, silly me I just kept going.

At this point I'm a little upset at myself, and at Arwen. Honestly, I know that she has only been like this when something is bothering her. I don't think its her hocks because she just had those done. Could be her coffins, but when the vet checked her hocks he said her front end looked fine. We pressed around her neck/poll area and she was definitely sensitive there, so that could be it. I don't know though-I mean really, how much discomfort is she really in that she can't just carry herself somewhat and be a normal horse? I'm sure that I'm dropping the ball somewhere in my riding her, but then again, so is she. I'm just getting tired of her going well for a few weeks, and then having major back tracking for whatever the reason du jour is. Its annoying, and while forward progress isn't that important to me, I still want this to be fun. And when she is completely un rideable like she was on Saturday, it is NOT fun.

So yea. I'm not sure what I'm going to do. Selling is not an option but I am considering giving her a little bit of a vacation to let her body just rest/relax, since really, we are in a training program but aren't really training for anything in particular (since I really never show). Also, definitely going to give the ulcer meds a go. Or giving bute occassionally.  Or even giving hormones a try, since I'm wondering if the tight muscles/pain are associated with her cycles. Also in the plan is restarting doing stretches on a regular basis, we did some carrot stretches yesterday and she got a couple nights of full on turn out and already she was feeling a little more limber. We'll see though.

WOD 9/24/12

"Fran"

21-15-9
Thrusters (65 lbs rx'd womens)
pull ups

To put it simply, this WOD really blows. Mainly because its a lot of effort across a short period of time. In some people's cases, a REALLY short period of time (like...two minutes). I obviously did not go that fast and I *almost* made my goal, which was to complete in sub seven minutes. I did it in 7:04. Which, for my first time ever doing this WOD as prescribed, I'm fairly happy with. My weakness really lies in my pull ups. Towards the end they were slooooooooow. I think I just need to get on the bar more after workouts and really practice them because its a strength and technique issue. But the thrusters felt fairly good. I made it through the first 21 unbroken, and ended up being the first off the barbell which is pretty much...a first, lol. Definitely lost the lead at the pull ups though. And then my next sets of thrusters had to be broken up. But, the 65lbs did not feel unmanageable at all, which was nice. So next time, goal is definitely to get within the six minute range.

However, it must be said that I beat my last Fran time by 40 seconds! Woot. And that wasn't as prescribed either. So at least there is some improvement.

WOD 9/21/12

Ahhhh. This one hurt.

20 min AMRAP

200 m sprint
20 wall balls
15 box jumps
10 DB cleans (rx'd for women was 35 lbs)

Did 3 and 3/4 rounds. I got through 6 of the cleans before time was called. Oh man though, I did the rx'd weight for women and it just killed my back. Towards the end it was hurting to walk. So if my back hadn't been acting up, I know I would have been able to get 4 full rounds in. Oh well. Next WOD on the agenda is Fran, again. Last time I did her was about three months ago I think? Basically when we started this new programming of lifting and ramping the WOD's every week. I did it as rx'd and I remember it being really painful so uh...yea. We'll see how it goes.

Riding this weekend was pretty good. Arwen has been jumping pretty well, and listening to me, which is nice. The jumps have stayed pretty low, with the exception of Saturday where we did a fun little grid where the out was a 3'3"-3'6" oxer. So easy for my girl!

Even with the jumps though, we've been doing a lot of transitions after/before fences, which is definitely good for us to work on. Also, when we've had the option, I've tried to do inside turns on rollbacks just to make things a little more complicated. Overall though, its been pretty good. Nothing amazing but also nothing horrible to report!

WOD 9/19/12

So this one was interesting. When I checked the WOD first thing in the morning, it was only 20-16-12-16-20 of DB snatches (total reps, not per side) and TTB. However, when I checked it again before leaving, the owner decided to slap on 50 wall balls at the beginning and then a 500m row at the end. I guess doing just the snatches and the TTB were not taking enough time (WOD's this week are supposed to be between 15-20 minutes). Not quite sure whats going on, but programming has seemed a little off lately, lol. First there was Kelly last week which was during our 12-15 minute week, and now a short one during our long week. Basically, the WOD's should have been flip flopped.

Anyway...

WOD

50 wall balls with 14lb ball. Got through 25 unbroken, but then my arms suddenly died and I had to do the last 25 like a gimp.

20-16-12-15-20
DB snatches with 25 lb dumbell-these felt great
TTB-did on the rings, and these did not feel so great, lol. At least not towards the end. My hip flexors started to give.

500m row-didn't check my actual split, but I imagine it was between 2:05 and 2:10, since I kept a pretty consistent pace throughout.

I think the hardest part was the rep scheme because once you get to 12 you're like "oh crap, I gotta go back up!". Its a little bit of a mind game.

Overall time was 18:14 as rx'd. Not horrible, but it would have been nice to get closer to 17 minutes. Part of the reason I was slow was because I kept tasting my lunch. Funny that this is the WOD that made me feel like ralphing.

WOD 9/17/12

So we were warned that this week was going to be a lot of running, which, believe it or not I'm actually kind of okay with (I KNOW, I never thought I would ever think that). I think I'm okay with it because we did a lot of running last week, so I'm kind of like "eh, its not that bad". Don't get me wrong, my running still isn't great but its definitely improved and getting easier at times.

WOD was:

800m run
20 DL (rx'd for women was 175lbs. HAH. I did 115lbs)
30 sit ups (10 lb plate)

400m run
15 DL
20 sit ups

800m run
10 DL
10 sit ups

Time was 18:24. Not too bad, I really wanted to get around 17 but honestly, I didn't push that hard on the run. My goal on the run was more consistency and keeping the pace, and not killing myself for that half mile at the beginning and the end, which I did. So overall, I'm pretty happy.

The 115lbs for the DL's was pretty light though. I'm thinking when the DL's get back on the cycle its definitely time to start upping the weight and lifting a little heavier. Since I started using a weight belt, my back has felt pretty good.

WOD and riding catchup

WOD 9/12/12 -
Press, heavy triple. Got to 85 lbs, which seems kind of weak. Eh.

"Nancy"

5 rounds for time:

400m run
15 OHS women's RX'd at 65lbs

I did it as prescribed, and came in at 17:04, I think. I really wanted to do around 15 minutes, but my running is just too slow at this point.  I'm not too disappointed though, for my first ever shot at this WOD. Surprisingly, the OHS were fine. I did all five rounds at the RX'd weight pretty much unbroken.

9/14/12 WOD

DL, heavy triple. Got to 185lbs. I know I could have done 200lbs, but with my back I didn't want to push it.

4 rounds for time:

400m run
15 box jumps
15 wall balls

Did this one in 17:44. I have to say though, the original WOD was supposed to be "Kelly", which is 5 rounds of a 400m run, 30 box jumps, and 30 wall balls. Let me tell you...when I first saw that in the morning I was PISSED. Mainly because jebus...we had been running a TON and Kelly? Is not a short workout. I probably would have taken me about 40 minutes. So I stewed about it pretty much all day, debating if I was going to go or not. Finally, a couple hours before I came to a peace about doing Kelly, and decided it was going to suck, but I would do it. I checked the website one last time, and lo and behold, they had changed it to the WOD above. Turns out it was taking everyone waaaaaay too long (the WODs were only supposed to be 12-15 minutes as part of our owner's training "plan") so they changed it for the afternoon. So when I got there and got to do that WOD, I was not complaining! Don't get me wrong. I'm sure Kelly will pop up some time and I'll do it, and it will be fine. But I really didn't want to deal with it!


As for riding, had a decent lesson on Friday, and then an okay one on Saturday. She was being kind of a cow on Saturday, so we put the bungee on. Helped a lot, and after that we were able to successfully jump a pretty nice course, including a two stride coming off a very short turn.

I also got to flat around my trainers horse which was so much fun! He has a horrible trot only because there is so much lift from his hind end. It pretty much tosses you out of the tack so hard that you have to use all your ab and leg muscles to help hold yourself up. His canter though? Is to DIE for. I thought Arwen's was nice, I think his might be better. Different than hers because she travels pretty flat. Covers a lot of ground without much movement.  Him though-he felt like riding on a rocking horse. Lots of power and just kept a really nice pace. Stayed nicely in the bridle too, which is one thing I have trouble with on Arwen. Would be fun to try jumping him sometime, but I'm not sure that will ever happen in my lifetime!

WOD 9/10/12

"Helen"

400m run
21 swings (rx'd 35lb kettlebell)
12 pull ups

Last time I did this one was in December of 2011. It was part of the second day of skills testing, which unfortunately I missed out on in June (due to being sick. Ugh). My time back then was something like 13:30, I did do the prescribed kettlebell, but I used the blue band for pull ups.

Weeeeellll...this time I did everything as prescribed and did it in 13:04! And to top it off, our 400m was made about 25m longer than before, as it turns out it had been short. So, woot! Next time the goal is sub 12. Where I really need work is my running, and then trying to do more unbroken pull ups.

This week is so far shaping up to be the week of benchmark workouts. Tonight is "Nancy", which is 5 rounds of 400m run and then 15 OHS at 65 lbs. Ouch. Can't remember if I've done this one before-I think I have, but I'm not sure I recorded it on here. Either way...75 OHS is NO. JOKE. 15 minutes is my goal. Not sure that is going to happen though...

Catching up on riding, CrossFit and life!

Oh man, I can't believe I haven't posted anything in here since July. Bad, bad me.

Riding:

Some big news here-finally took Arwen to her first show! It was just a little local B show that I trailered into for two days with a barnmate. First day started in the 2'3", then did 2'5" and 2'7". We uh...definitely did NOT take the classes by storm, but we put in presentable rounds. It definitely got better as we went on, and my last round was the best of the day. I was just having issues with having so much space! The arena that we were in at the show is so much bigger than the one at home. Next day I asked Trainer if I could bump it up to 2'9", because the 2'7" seemed so...tiny (I know, never thought those words would come out of my mouth). They did though, especially when you're starting low and they only raise them a hole at a time. So the second day we started at the 2'7", and then did 2'9". Didn't go as wonderfully as the first day, but it was still fine. Had a refusal in the 2'7" so we got buzzed out (it was a 7 stride line, we had a fine distance, but I was asking Arwen to fit in the 8 since we had a bad in, and I forgot my leg. So she stopped). Then in the 2'9" we had two rails down, so got buzzed out again. Eh. I was just happy that I got to show her finally, and that it wasn't a disaster. She was being SUCH a good girl too, wasn't even phased by being trailered in and out, did great in the warmup ring and TOTALLY took care of me. I was very happy with her. Prior to the show she had been pretty excellent in most lessons (with some crummy ones thrown in here and there), we had been consistently jumping up to around 3' and doing lots of roll backs. The day before the show, actually, trainer had upped quite a few of the jumps which in hindsight I was really grateful for because it made the show jumps look puny.  Now I can see why they say you should be schooling 3' to show at 2'6", and 3'6" to show at 3'.

Lessons since then have been hit or miss. A couple weekends ago I came off her when she pulled one of her old tricks, which is drag me down the line, bulge to one side, and then stop. This was the first time in a couple months, so I was a bit bummed. We started wondering if maybe it was time for hocks (it had been a year, according to my past blog posts) so when the vet came out he looked at her. She wasn't lame, but she definitely flexed positive. So it was time. We injected her, gave her a week off, and I just started riding her last week. Started out a little shakey (I was riding very tentatively, I think it was a combination of not wanting to hurt her and having residual fear that I would go flying) but by the end of the week it was great. Arwen is pretty good at letting us know when she is feeling discomfort. I think the only times that she has been REALLY bad have been times when sometime is wrong, and its usually injections. We've been able to postpone doing them for awhile because of the electroaccuscope treatments she's been getting, but they're still a necessary evil to keep her comfortable.


Fitness:

Kind of a fitness fail lately. Was going 3x a week pretty consistently, then had a lazy week, then got sick, then we went to Maui for half a week. So, the entire month of August was basically fitness free. Its ok, I'm back at it now, but its scary how easy it is to get out of the habit, especially since I was still riding. Riding makes me feel like I'm doing something, and therefore do not need to work out (WRONG)

Life:

Like mentioned, we went to Maui for three days and it was awesome. It was my first time back there since I was a kid (and totally did NOT appreciate it). I remembered pretty much nothing about it, lol. We basically just spent a lot of time snorkeling, eating and drinking. It was a little trip for my 30th bday, so much appreciated!

Will try and update on here more, especially with WOD's. 

Such a slacker!

I really need to start posting here regularly again, because looking back at some of my old posts are definitely helpful! I think I've stopped because well, things are kind of boring right now. I've been going to CF fairly consistently (with the exception of last week, I totally failed at CF) and Arwen has been fairly decent.

But for the sake of updating, here it goes.

Fitness/Diet:
Been working out pretty regularly. My back is still bothering me, especially after sitting. I really need to see a doctor but I'm just so lazy! Sometimes though it starts feeling great, and then I do something to mess it up again. Good job, Katie.

WOD's at CF lately have been incorporating strength work pretty much every day which I have been loving. I really missed doing the barbell work. Last night I did the "Filthy Fifty" for the first time ever and my time ended up at 34:10. Not bad (I wanted to go sub 35) but not great. I got REALLY tired towards the end. I think a lot of it is my diet, honestly. I haven't been keeping it as clean as I should. So for the next 30 days, I'm going to get a little more strict because...HAWAII!! Gotta look decent in that swimsuit...

Personal:
So, yes, Hawaii. Coming up in about 30 days, woot! The only problem is that means my birthday is also coming. Tomorrow in fact. The big 3-0. Its funny because I don't feel 30, and 30 still seems so young when I think about it. Yet I remember being a teen and thinking OMG 30 is so old. And yet here I am. Gulp.

Riding:
My lessons have been fairly decent lately. I've had a couple of harder ones where Arwen has been a little testy, BUT she is taking all the fences. I rarely ever feel hesitation from her anymore. I think I've started being more consistent to the base, which gives her more confidence. I have a really bad habit of twitching the reins on approach (like loose, slack, loose) because I will tip forward with my upper body. But lately I've been trying to focus on keeping my upper body up and abs tight, which inevitably makes my arms/hands more stable, and makes her trust what I'm asking her. Because she has definitely given me some freebies, but also, we just haven't had a super scary distance in awhile.

I've been riding her almost exclusively in the three ring at this point too. The hackabit just had to much play for me, and I feel like encouraged me being too handsy which I DON'T need. The three ring stays more stable, which gives me a better feel, which in turn gives her better communication, which she likes.

We've also been throwing in some higher jumps here and there, at around 3'. Still am not back up to a full 3' course, but I'm hoping we'll get there before winter time. If Arwen continues this way, we should. Also hoping to get to some shows (doesn't that seem to always be the hope?)

I FINALLY got a new helmet too! I ended up ordering the One K Defender in black suede. I double crossed my fingers in hoping that it would fit,  since I didn't get a chance to try it on. But, I couldn't pass up the Rider's Awareness helmet sales that went on in June (20% off!) especially given I did need a new one. Fortunately, it turned out fitting perfectly and looks fantastic. Its a very spiffy looking helmet actually, not too radical but still different from the CO's and GPA's that dominate. Its very low profile on my head, and extremely flattering. What I really like though is the removeable liner feature so I can wash it when it gets too stinky.

So yea...thats pretty much it. I have the next two weeks of lessons with Trainer's assistant since she's away at a show. We'll see how it goes!

Skills Testing Take 2

Last night was the second set of skills testing, six months after our initial test. I improved pretty much across the board, with the exception of deadlifts, which I wasn't able to handle due to my back. Hopefully when the next skills testing rolls around, I'll be back on them.

Anyway, here were my results from December:

800m run (had to be done in under 5 minutes)- 3:45 (I wanted to do sub 4, so I was happy with this)
1 RM Deadlift- 205lbs. On par with the most I ever lifted, but in June. Will be working on these.
Max consecutive ring dips (in two minutes)- HAH. Did these with blue band, 10. These are fun.
Max Double Unders (in two minutes, allowed to break up)- 35. Totally proud of this because I did 35!
Max consecutive pull ups (in two minutes)- 15 with blue band. Hands and forearms gave out before anything else

Benchmark WOD "Christine"
3 rounds
500m row
12 deadlifts (RX is bodyweight)- I used 115. At this point, my back was feeling a little tweaked and I didn't want to push it
21 box jumps

Time: 16:30


Same exact workouts this time. Results as follows:

800M run- 3:30. I'm very happy I beat my time, and by 15 seconds! Next goal is to get that closer to 3 minutes.
1 RM Deadlift- did not complete
Max consecutive ring dips (in two minutes)- 12, with the red band. Not only did I do more, but I did it with a harder band. So, score. But next will have to do no band.
Max Double Unders (in two minutes, allowed to break up)- 44. Ugh. This was a cluster. I got started a little late, the rope kept getting stuck on my feet, and then like 15 seconds before time was called my rope broke! So...kind of DU fail. At least I improved my numbers, but not by much. Would have liked to have done better. 
Max consecutive pull ups (in two minutes)- 12 with no band, kipping. I knew I could bang out at least 10 since I've done that before. Was hoping to hit the 20 mark, but oh well. Next time.

Benchmark WOD "Christine"
3 rounds
500m row
12 deadlifts (RX is bodyweight)- I used 95, which is 20 lbs less than last time. Again...didn't want to push my back
21 box jumps

Time in 15:15. Which...if I hadn't gone faster, that would have been pretty pathetic.  At this point I was really freaking tired.

Overall though, I'm pretty happy with how things went. The heat made it much harder, plus I am still trying to get back into the groove of things after vacation. But, some definite gains pretty much across the board. Next test is up on Wednesday!

I have been so neglectful!

Its been a LOOOOOONG time since I've posted anything! I feel like such a slacker. It might be because on the fitness and riding front, not much has changed. Personally though, I've taken some fun adventures. Last month took a long awaited vacation to Argentina where husband and I spent two glorious weeks eating and drinking, and taking in the sights of Buenos Aires and Mendoza. Spent much time napping, eating alfajores, and drinking cafe con leche at 5 in the evening since in Argentina time, thats really like 2 in the afternoon since nothing gets started until late. Great, great time but I really missed all my animals! Next up in Hawaii at the end of August for my 30th birthday. That will officially mark off the "pre kids" vacation plans on the bucket list.

Riding wise, still working on trying to ride Arwen well, and do it consistently. Consistency is really what I'm struggling with at this point. We have some really awesome fantastic days and rides, some not so great, and some downright crummy. The past couple weeks I've been doing lessons with trainer's assistant, and we worked quite a bit on bending, and pace and getting to the jumps on a good rhythm. It helped quite a bit, but now I just need to stop being in my head so much and being concerned about all "the steps" to get there, and just ride and feel. I think towards the end I was holding Arwen a bit too much because she started rushing a little. That is always a sign that I have too much hand (i.e. not giving through my elbows and upper back) because she won't rush when we have enough pace and/or she doesn't feel like I'm holding her face to the fence. UGH.

Fitness wise, took about 2.5 weeks off so I'm just starting to get back into the swing of things. This week is my second set of skills tests, to see where I have improved from 6 months ago. Should be interesting. I know I have made definite progress in pull ups (no more bands!) and double unders, but I haven't done much in the way of weight lifting and my back is still messed up so I doubt I'll see improvements there.

Either way, will do a more detailed and specific post later.

Where Arwen proves she CAN go around nicely

Had my second lesson of the week last night, first lesson after my involuntary dismount. The back of my right hip was a bit sore, in addition to my neck. In fact, I was getting pretty concerned about my neck because at one point in time yesterday it was starting to hurt to swallow. Fortunately, that resolved itself by today. I think it was just really sore from holding up my noggin getting knocked around.

Oh, and speaking of noggins, when I get back from vacay I think its time to buy a new helmet. The helmet I have now has been with me for about 3 years, which is about halfway through the recommended useful life with NO falls. That helmet has seen a few bumps. None of my falls have been me crashing onto my head (since I tend to either land on my feet, or my butt) but last night, I know I did knock my head a bit. So...new helmet time. I'm looking at the new One K helmets, they look nice and light and hopefully, slightly shallow since my small forehead always makes helmets look like mushrooms on me.

So...onto the riding. I put Arwen in the two ring with the flash again, mainly because she actually wasn't horrible in it the night before. Before we started, Trainer went and grabbed a bungee (also called a chambon). It clips to the girth, then is run through the bit rings and over the top of the poll. Basically, it helps the horse keep their head down. If it goes up, pressure is put on the poll. Trainer wanted to try it, since oftentimes Arwen will make a bid for the fence the last two strides, head in the air and all inverted. Its hard to get control/see a distance when she's going like that. We w/t/c'd around for a bit, and I immediately felt a difference at all gaits. She was definitely using her back better, was going slower, and not as wiggly/fussy with me. Also, I think it helps stabilize the bit a little, so she was much more willing to be on the bit. Which is good, but also tells me that my hands are not as good/consistent as they should be. So I need to work on that.

Because the bungee is so flexible, you can jump in it. It really does have quite a bit of give, you just have to make sure the horse doesn't get tangled in it. So we started out doing a little crossrail, Arwen felt great. Nice even pace to the fence, and after. Then proceeded to do a little course. Again, nice even pace. I was able to keep a longer rein since she wasn't throwing her head in the air. And then, when Arwen is soft, I can actually be soft too and focus on things other than her being silly.

Of course, we had to do the 4-1 again to make sure she would go through it. She did, no problem.

I think the bungee actually helped her jump better, even though some people say it restricts their movement. I felt like she was slower over the jumps, and actually using herself. Wasn't as flat/quick over the fences, and then on landing didn't scoot away.

So, overall very interesting tool in the tool box. I won't be using it all the time, but I think its a good thing to use once in awhile to remind her how she needs to be going. Lesson tomorrow morning, we'll see how that goes!

Ow.

Last night was my first ride in the past week. I had gone to the Bay Area to help out my mom who had gotten hip surgery. During that time, I pretty much did a whole bunch of nothing. Tried to go to a CrossFit gym out there, but then an emergency popped up with my grandfather, so I had to cancel. And then the next time I was considering doing something (like running down by the Bay, there is a lovely trail) ANOTHER emergency popped up with my grandfather. I was able to squeeze in one workout of running up and down the hills my mom lives on, plus some air squats and pushups but that was it. So going into my ride last night I felt ok, but I could definitely tell that I had been out of the saddle.

Arwen started out feeling great. Her last electro accuscope treatment had been on Friday, and then she had a super light weekend (just a trail ride on Saturday, plus some turnout). We flatted for a bit, and then the other woman in my lesson started freaking out about her horse being "frisky". Not exactly sure what was going on, but it basically looked like he just needed to be cantered around a bit. Either way, you could tell she really wanted Trainer to get on the horse to "ride it out". So she did. Arwen and I sat there for about 15 minutes while trainer acted like a human lunge line. When we finally restarted, Arwen was feeling slightly more punky, since after long periods of standing around she sometimes feels like we should be done. But, she wasn't being horrible. Listening pretty well with the exception of a single fence down the longside to a left roll back. But, in all the lines she was coming back to me fairly well. At one point, we decided to tighten the flash she had on a bit because it was extremely loose. Oh man. Arwen was not pleased with that and when we started jumping again, she was snorting like a dragon and extremely focused on the flash. But...still being pretty good.

So trainer decides to add onto the course. It had been single, left roll back, outside bending line, diagonal five. The add on was after the outside bending, to do a 4-1 combo that had been set as a 5-2 last week, but that Arwen did just fine the week before. So we start the course, its going pretty well. Get to the 4-1, have a decent in, so I decide to just sit, keep leg on, and let her roll through the four. Its a tiny bit basey, but Arwen usually doesn't have a problem jumping from the base (her issue is with the super long flyers) and the distance was right. There. It felt like we were going. I saw no reason why we shouldn't be going.

And yet, somehow, we didn't.

Next thing I know, I'm flying over her right shoulder and making arena dirt angels. I see Arwen standing on the other side of the fence, with all the poles on the ground. I know I didn't take them out since I clearly landed on the other side of the jump. Arwen of course, is standing there (she always sticks around after I fall, good girl?) looking like "ohhhhhh crap" because I know she doesn't like it when I fall. You can tell she feels bad. Trainer, of course is pissed because we're all like "WTF just happened?". Distance was good, we weren't flying to it all disorganized, the jump SHOULD HAVE HAPPENED. And yet, it didn't. So Trainer gets on and gives her a pretty tough school. Takes her through the combo multiple times, which of course by now Arwen is jumping like her life depends on it. Does this for probably 20 minutes, I get back on, and we proceed to go through the combo again. And again. And again. I give her pretty much the same ride I did the first time, and its fine. She did peter out once, and throw in her usual half hearted turn out, but it was NOTHING like before. I mean her turnouts now are really lame and pretty easy to stick. The one she did before, its like I didn't even have a chance!

So we're thinking its possible she just didn't even see the jump. I'm not sure she came out last night with her game face on, so to speak. After having some time off and being ridden pretty lightly, I don't think her head was really in it to work. And then with the circumstances of standing around, plus the tightened flash she just wouldn't get over, she might have been so distracted that jump just crept up on her. Because it really did feel like she was going, and then all of a sudden crashed through the fence. I dunno. Either way, my butt cheek and my neck are pretty sore today from all that excitement.

Updates all around

OMG, I have been such a slacker about updating here lately. And there have been some interesting developments!

Lets start with fitness first.

I have continued to be able to get to CF pretty consistently, there was a week in there that I only managed twice, but the rest have been three times. Overall, still feeling good AND have been doing all my WOD's with unassisted pull ups. The most we've done so far is 50, which is a lot! The first time I attempted it my hands gave out before I did, so I had to do the last few as ring rows. But since then,  they have been okay. The only set back I've encountered is my back, and the fact that I've primarily been doing metcon's for the last 6 months or so. I mean my endurance is definitely up, but my strength is suffering a bit. The other day we did a WOD with heavy deadlifts and oh man...I could barely DL 95 lbs. My back was killing me, my form sucked and it was just really UGH all around. I may try and see about doing a strength program, but haven't decided if thats the best course yet.

I also caved and weighed myself, I'm sticking right around 172. Esty and I made plans to do Maui in August for my 30th, so before then I would like to lose at least another 10 lbs. Which ultimately means reining in the diet again. I've been pretty decent about staying gluten free this month, but the one thing I haven't been able to stay away from is desserts. We've had chocolate or coconut icecream pretty much every night.  Not good. 

On riding... (this is gonna be long)

Lots of developments here. Last I posted, I felt like progress with Arwen was going well. We had had a couple of really, really nice rides during the few weeks that Trainer was back in the barn between shows. Well, she went to the first show and left M in charge. As you know from my previous posts, my last bunch of lessons with M were...okay. She had basically dissed me and my horse, and we agreed that for the two weeks Trainer was away at shows, we would do some serious focus on flatwork. I was good with that plan-I think that flatwork can ALWAYS be worked on, and it would do nothing but improve my connection with Arwen. Well...first lesson out with M, we do *maybe* five minutes of flatwork, and then she wants us to start jumping. I say "ummm, I thought we were planning on focusing on the flat?" and M responds "you're not trying to be a dressage rider". I'm a little miffed at this point because just a couple weeks earlier, we had had a really good conversation about working on the flat (and I had even told her I wanted to do dressage lessons, which she poo-poo'd to me and told me I could just do them with her. WTF?) but decide that since Arwen had been really good the past couple weeks, I could probably handle some light jumping. So, we pop over a low vertical a couple times, halt in a straight line. Arwen is being decent. M then proceeds to tell us to start cantering a jump on a circle. I start cantering this jump, but M starts getting annoyed with me. Apparently, I am not circular enough. I tell her that we must have a different sized circle in mind, which we do, because she literally wants me straight for only a step or so before and after the jump (note: this would probably be a similar exercise to GM's circle of death, which is pretty advanced). I start getting tense. Arwen starts reacting, and running off a bit. M, annoyed (I can tell she is annoyed by the look on her face) tells me "lets try something else" (and at this point, I'm not even really sure the purpose of the first exercise, and what she was trying to achieve with it) and takes me over to a little one stride that is set up. She sets the fences low, around cavaletti height. Then plops a ground pole in the middle. We go through, and its a rushy mess. At this point, Arwen has no respect for the size of the fences (laughable to her) and is just blowing through me because I'm sending her all these conflicting aids/messages from being tense.

So M pulls us up. She then proceeds to have a talk with me about how she's concerned about my safety. How Arwen and I aren't a good match and if I were her client and this horse were in her program, I would be pulled off of her while she got nothing but pro rides for the next two months. She also felt that Arwen was dangerous, which is completely INSANE. Arwen is probably one of the safest, sanest horses I've ever ridden. Even when she's flailing, she knows *exactly* where her feet her. She has never crashed through a jump (she stops), she never bucks, rears, or does anything stupid. My girl has a very well tuned sense of self preservation, and also does try her best to take care of her rider. The worst thing she does is get fast. So at this point, I'm feeling really frustrated and confused since I had just had a lesson on Tuesday with Trainer where everything was great, and suddenly everything is shit and my horse is dangerous only two days later. As M is trying to tell me she just "cares about my safety", I start the waterworks. Mainly because I do sometimes feel that Arwen is too much horse, but also like I said...the extreme frustration. This was EXACTLY what I had been trying to avoid by doing the flat only lessons. I feel like M set me up a bit for failure, so she could make me feel like crap. And yes, I think some people do respond well to being torn down and being built back up but I do not operate that way. I mean don't make everything happy all the time, but deliver a negative message to me in a constructive way. Don't diss me, my horse and my trainer all in one fell swoop.

So M then begs me to basically give her the next two weeks to "turn us around". I say "okay, I'll see what you have to offer" because apparently I am a sucker for punishment. So her solution? She bits up Arwen in a pelham. Slaps on a martingale. And then rides her "for me" before my next lesson for whatever reason (to ride her down? Who knows, because she never told me that that "pro ride" was going to happen that day. I found out from one of the juniors) and tells me how soft and wonderful she was. Said she trotted her over a lot of jumps. Well...Arwen is pretty good over trot jumps. So I get on Arwen again, who was ridden for god knows how long by M, in this pelham/martingale set up (another side note, bitting her up is incredibly ironic, because when I've ridden Arwen in the controller, M had made comments to me about how that is waaaaaay too much bit for her. Hmmmm....) and take her over a couple fences. Arwen is not being horrible, but shes not as great as I've felt either. At this point, Trainer shows up at the barn with some horses she's bringing back from the show. I think takes one look at my face, and basically tells me to get off Arwen because we're bringing her to the showgrounds to school around. I can tell that M is kind of panicking at this point because I think she was hoping to have some kind of magikal turn around with Arwen and me, where I would have nothing but glowing things to say. Instead, I had just had two really shitty lessons and I was about to go talk to my trainer. So, on the way back to the show grounds, M calls Trainer and tells her about the Arwen and I not being a safe match. Trainer disagrees and at that point, her phone cuts off. M never calls her back, I'm assuming because she sees the axe coming.

We get to the grounds, I re-tack and we go jump around the big jumper ring. Ended up being a lot of fun, but my brain was slightly frazzled and the jumps were high (Trainer insisted they were only 2'6", turns out they were like 2'11") so I did have some crappy distances and stops. Towards the end, we got it together but Arwen was tired. So Trainer comes over to find out what exactly went on. The waterworks start again as I tell her everything that M said, and the stuff that went down in the past two lessons. I apologize because I had wanted to deal with it on my own and not make Trainer have to worry about it until after all the shows were over. Trainer tells me not to worry, that we did great, and that she is not happy with M.

Next morning, Trainer talks to the other adult ammy who took a lesson with M the night before and according to her, had "the worst lesson of my life". Trainer is pissed. Combined with me, who cried like a baby, and a few other poor experiences other people have had in the past (M called another woman dangerous, because she rides in a very forward position. However, she's been riding for her entire life and is one of the most balanced riders I've seen) M was not looking good.

Long story short, M got the boot. She tried calling me after it happened, and left me a tearful message that was basically an apology for making me "feel bad" but not for what she said. Oh, and that she really does "love my horse". Yea...So, if I ever run into her at shows I'm sure she'll still think my horse is dangerous and unsuitable for me.

The week after that, Trainer was still at a show so she called S, who I've taken lessons with and really enjoyed, to do emergency sessions. Lessoning with her was like I could breathe again. She trains so similarly to Trainer, is accepting of Arwen's quirks, and realizes that there are probably just some things we will never change about her. So we had a really nice week, and then last week, Trainer was back. Had some more really nice lessons that involved a lot of fun combos (2 2-strides, 3 strides) which Arwen just pinged through. I also really really tried to focus on keeping my eyes up the whole ride, and it definitely made a difference. The combos felt the smoothest they ever have, and Arwen stayed pretty consistent throughout.

Phew. That was a saga! During this past week I also had Arwen electro-accuscoped, which I'll post about separately.  Results though were fabulous!

Arwen Update

Since its been awhile. At least two weeks almost, based on my last Arwen post!

So. Some positive progress in the form of connecting with Arwen better and having some really nice rides in the last two weeks, with maybe one slightly more difficult one. I have been taking a slightly different approach to warm up than I have in the past. Instead of letting her meander around on a loopy rein to get warmed up, I've taken up some contact (not working contact, but enough to have a feel of her mouth) and asked her to really move her butt. I think it makes her realize that I mean business. Same with my leg yields-I'll ask nicely, and if I get a half hearted reply, I'll boot her with my heel. She of course, gets very dramatic but then complies. I've also tried to do lots of circles and serpentines, bending and straightening, and changes in tempo, all before we even start trotting.

When we do pick up the trot, I'm asking her to get engaged pretty quickly, especially since we've probably spent at least 15 minutes getting warmed up at a brisk pace at the walk. I do some of the same exercises, lots of bending and flexing, circles, and yielding that inside jaw/not locking against my hand. Then, when I finally do pick up working contact, for most of the rides, she's been more willing to go nicely into the bridle. Amazing! I think this is the most I've ever ridden her "on the bit" where she actually feels like she's using herself. I know I'm still trying to play catch up with my hands/body/seat at times and that is when she'll pop up above the bit again, but when I stop and really focus and ask her for that inside bend from my leg into outside rein, she complies. Its pretty cool. I'm still struggling with it at the canter though, I think it might be something about my position that is wonky. So I have to play around with it more.

All this work from her on the flat though is definitely starting to translate to jumping. One thing I've been working on almost exclusively is keeping my g*****n head/chin up. I tend to drop my chin at the last second before fences, and I KNOW I like to travel around on the flat staring between my horse's ears. This happens in  "real life" too, as I have been told by my CrossFit coach. And in all things that require balance, dropping your chin is a VERY bad thing. It throws the weight of your head forward, which when you think about it, is only supported by a very small amount of muscle/bone. So it starts this chain reaction all along your body, and for me, makes me crumple into myself. Which, as we all know, is bad news bears when it comes to riding Arwen. She needs you up and straight and connected with leg, not hunched over and grabby and pinchy.

So with my trainer yelling at me about pretty much every fence and "looking beyond" we've actually had some really decent rides! She's been listening well, and we only had one day where she was kind of rushy and not listening (it was one of our first days back in the indoor after many moons since March here has been crazy). The rest of the time though, she's been really good about staying a fairly consistent pace, taking all the jumps (even from some crappy distances) and doing adds/going forward if asked. This is not to say she's been easy though. Still nothing like she was a few months ago, but even though she is still throwing me some sass, I'm at least *kind of* feeling back to being able to ride her, and ride her decently. I'm not feeling like I've taken a bazillion steps backwards anymore. I'm definitely still clawing my way up though, and I think it will be awhile before we bump up the fence height again (right now, its about 2'6"-2'9") but I'm okay with that. Trainer is away at shows for the next two weeks so I might not even jump at all, but again-I'm okay with that. I've already seen a big difference in our flat work, and her responsiveness to me so I wouldn't mind spending the next month continuing to drill it down.

30 Day Paleo Recap

So...technically it was more like 27 days because we had friends over on Saturday and I didn't want to limit what they were eating (although we did manage to stay gluten free. We did not manage, however, to stay away from sugar. Pick your battles). But I have to say, those 27 days went by fast and fairly painlessly.

The premise and the challenge. Challenged myself and my husband to do 30 days of very strict Paleo. And not just paleo, but primal eating as Paleo can *sometimes* flex the rules a bit (like drinking alcohol, eating baked coconut flour goods, etc). I made everything from scratch, the only "processed/pre made" food I used along the way was bouillon once, canned tomatoes, tomato sauce, coconut milk, curry and bacon. We completely cut out alcohol, dairy, grains and legumes. The only thing I couldn't do consistently was buy grass fed meat.

The reason I wanted to embark on this challenge to myself was we had just spent a good month and a half basically gorging ourselves. My inlaws had been in town for awhile and my mother in law is an EXCELLENT cook. We were eating very, very well with dessert often, and a couple of bottles of wine a week. I wasn't gaining any weight as we were still making it to CrossFit consistently, but I found myself dragging through some of the workouts, particularly after those binge nights were I was having two glasses of wine, a lot of cheese/cream, and probably two pieces of dessert. So as their visit was coming to a close and my progress at the gym was stalling a bit, I knew I had to get back on the wagon and it had to be drastic in order to reset my body and my mindset. So I made sure my husband was on board (he was hesitant at first, especially the thought of GIVING UP BEER. OMG), rounded up some forum references/recipes, and purchased a wonderful Paleo/Primal cookbook, "Well Fed" by Melissa Joulwan at the recommendation  of another Paleo eater (that was probably the best $30 I could have spent before embarking on this whole thing!). I also went through my fridge/pantry and tossed a lot of stuff. Always a good idea to purge these on occasion, even better when you have a purpose.

So, get on with the results, you say. Very well.

Lost some weight. Although this wasn't at the top of my reason list for doing this 30 days I knew it was going to happen. I just didn't have a set number or goal going into it. I didn't weigh myself before, but I know when I started I was around the 184 range. I had been fluctuating between 182-185 for a few months with not much movement since the first two month of starting CrossFit.

On a quick side note, I did a slightly involuntary liberation from my bathroom scale when we moved. The scale was packed away, I was too lazy to unpack it, so I didn't weigh myself for a good two months. That was probably the best two months, ever. Seriously. It takes SO much pressure off you to "lose the weight" and just eat more intuitively, and THINK "how are my clothes fitting? How am I feeling?". Obviously it went a bit off the rails for me with all the eating but I am 99% sure I was able to maintain my weight over those two months. It might have fluctuated a pound or two, but for the most part, the fit of my clothes didn't really change much so I was comfortable.

Anyway...after not weighing myself for two months, I decided that I was going to do these 30 days not weighing myself either, since the goal wasn't about weight loss. So when I finally stepped on the scale, I was pleasantly surprised. I *knew* that I had lost some weight since I was able to fit into some clothes I hadn't worn in awhile (or in one case, EVER. WOOT!) and guesstimated the number to be around 10 lbs (I've done the weight loss game so many times I know for my body, I generally drop a size around the 10 lb mark). Lo and behold, it was 10 lbs. I clocked in at 174 when I stepped on the scale on Friday. That means in less than a month, actually, I dropped 10 lbs. Not too shabby!

Started eating more intuitively. I know I mentioned I was already doing this a bit, but doing the 30 days really drilled it home. One of the great things about Paleo is its a lifestyle change, not a "diet". At least not a diet in the traditional sense where all the goals are short term. Thats part of why I started this whole CrossFit adventure in the first place, right? I had always been so short sighted in the past when it came to my health so I inevitably lost weight only to gain it right back. All the "diets" I had done before were either VERY restrictive (I did Medifast for over a year. Thinking back on forcing that powdered crap down my throat for that long now makes me want to vomit. BUT...it did help me lose 35 lbs, which I promptly gained back with a vengeance) or focused really heavily on calorie counting/measuring. Paleo does no counting, no measuring. Just eat until you are full. Eat real food. Focus on how you're feeling. These are all ideas I could get behind and more importantly, maintain in REAL LIFE. Not only that, but I found myself listening to my body more, like what makes it feel good, what makes it feel bad. Case in point, I mentioned our dinner guests on Saturday. Some of the leftovers were consumed by me on Sunday and oh boy...my stomach was not happy with me. Instead of accepting that as okay, I had green beans for lunch. My body was CRAVING something green and so I feed it that. After, I felt much better, more energized. Funny how that works...

And along with that, started reading labels more carefully. I had to be VERY aware of what we were eating since we were supposed to have NO GLUTEN/GRAINS. And let me tell you...finding ANYTHING prepared without gluten is pretty impossible. Gluten is everywhere. Its used as flavoring, coloring, binding, etc etc. Its amazing, really. So I came to really feel for people who have legit cases of celiacs. But, that is essentially why I started making a lot of our sauces from scratch. Yes, they do not last as long but you have the control over what goes into them. And, newsflash, they taste better. It takes a little bit of effort but its well worth it. Doing that is not something I'm planning to stop because HELLO, homemade mayo? Its freaking awesome. 

Performed better in the gym. This was really the top priority. In addition to having the energy to attend more consistently (which I'm sure also helped my performance) I have been able to go longer, improve my endurance, and lift heavier in certain WODs. I did my first full workout with unassisted pull ups, used the 35lb dumbells and RX'd a couple WOD's here and there. I felt like my energy levels throughout the workouts stayed more consistent too. 

So. Overall, this experience was definitely a positive one. Was it all roses? Definitely not. That first week I was craving shit LIKE MAD, YO.  I would longing stare at a piece of bread. However, as we got further and further in, I would look at bread and sigh, but I wouldn't be fighting so hard to resist. I also had to drink my coffee black. That was a HUGE adjustment for me, since I really only started the whole coffee drinking this year and I've always loved it with lots of cream and sugar. However, that too I really came to appreciate on its own. The ONLY thing that remained a challenge throughout? No alcohol. I do love my wine.

So going forward...we are sticking with Paleo, but definitely loosening some things. I'm willing to reintroduce chocolate into my life. Wine is DEFINITELY coming back, but obviously not as often as before (I think one bottle a week is reasonable). We're also going to let ourselves have one cheat day a week which still doesn't involve gluten (so we can have sushi, sans soy sauce) but could involve some other form of carb (french fries, ice cream, tortilla chips, etc) just so we don't go too crazy. I would also like to lose another 20 lbs to get to my ideal weight but honestly, its not a huge concern. I'm also going to continue my relaxed relationship with the scale. I have a couple of pairs of pants in my closet that once I fit into them, I think I'm pretty golden on my weight. So I'm excited what the next couple months will bring!

Its been awhile!

Since I last posted, not much has happened. Have had a couple of really great rides on Arwen, and then a couple of so-so ones. But nothing HORRIBLE.

Did have a pretty extensive flat lesson with M last weekend that was good. In talking to her, we decided that pretty much every lesson I do with her from here on out is going to be on the flat. I think thats better for my brain, and its also really good for Arwen. I always try and do some of the flat stuff we were doing when I warm up/hack by myself, but it does make a difference having that groundsperson telling me what I'm doing wrong. Like one of my really bad habits is I soften that outside rein waaaaaaaay to much. I essentially throw away all the hard earned contact when Arwen finally softens. Or, I take my leg off at the wrong time, which causes her head to pop up. Basically, anytime Arwen's head pops up its an evasion to my aids, so we are going to be working on getting her and I more connected.

Pretty decent on the fitness front too, I've consistently been getting to the gym 3 times a week for the last month (with the exception of last week, only twice. Wah). I'm also approaching the end of my 30 days of strict Paleo, so when that happens I will definitely have a write up. So far, I can tell you I have a lot more energy, I do still get a little sleepy sometimes in the afternoons (especially if I've had a larger lunch) and all my clothes are fitting me much better. In fact, I wore a pair of pants yesterday that I haven't worn since Esty and I got married...almost FIVE YEARS AGO (yes, I hang onto clothes that long vowing that I will wear them again *someday*). Granted they were a smidge tight, but whatever! They fit(ish). I think wherever I end up falling in the scale numbers, with another 10 lb weight loss on top of that, I would fit into pretty much everything in my closet. Its a nice feeling, especially since I wasn't really embarking on this 30 days to lose weight. Any weightloss is just an extra bonus to feeling the healthiest I have in awhile!

Back on track...sort of

So after Thursday's semi decent lesson, we had a really nice lesson on Saturday. Kept things very low and simple, but it was good. Just focused on the canter and looking beyond the jumps. I tried not to mess with Arwen much before the fences, and focused on my upper body. She was great, for the most part. We didn't have any rushy spots, she was listening, and our distances were pretty much on key. I was definitely trying to relax and just get out of my head again, and I think it helped a lot. So, hopefully onwards and upwards from this point. I'm a bit nervous about all the shows that are coming up in April (probably two weeks worth) where I will have to lesson with M again.

Things have been going well on the fitness and eating front. Just wrapped up the second week of strict Paleo and feeling good! In fact, I know that I've lost some inches because I was able to wear a pair of breeches this weekend that I haven't ever worn. I bought them probably over two years ago, and at the time was maybe 10 lbs too heavy for them. So although I'm pretty sure I'm about the same weight I was when I bought them, I'm slimmer from actually working out.

Was able to hit up CF 3 times last week too. WOD's were are killers. Will have to post a massive WOD update soon, so that I can have that record.

So I had a bit of a mental breakdown yesterday...

As you know I've been obsessing mulling over my issues with Arwen lately and just feeling a bit down and out about the whole thing. After a week of so-so lessons where I felt my head was really stuffed full of new information about how I should be riding, I finally broke down in a pile of complete self pity and wallowing. I was leaving work and on my way to my lesson with Trainer (who was just back from the show), knowing she was going to ask me how lessons with M went. I was thinking "crap. What do I tell her?" I mean honestly, they were not bad. They could have been worse. I just felt like there was a lot of time when I froze up there because I was trying to ride and follow instructions and just go everythingatonce! Which then made Arwen refuse, or rush or whatever, and ended with me very frustrated.

I then started thinking about some comments M made about choosing horses for your level (I don't think she meant this in any mean way-she's a very tell it like it is person, and I know there is some truth to what she said. I think thats why it bothers me so much) and how its the trainers job to choose a horse the client can ride, with the horse's experience/abilities only slightly above that of the riders. It wasn't said, but it was implied that Arwen is pretty much way above my level. Which I don't necessarily disagree with. She is a very challenging ride, but is teaching me a lot. Trainer and I have had this discussion quite a bit about the fact that I could have bought a much easier ride and would probably be jumping around 3'+ courses easily. But what would that have really taught me? True, getting a horse like that is a very big confidence builder and I admit on a scale of one to ten, my confidence is about a 3 right now. I wanted a horse I could grow into, not one I would have to sell on in 2 years. Would I be having a lot more fun, instead of agonizing how much I suck right now if I had bought that easy ride? Probably. But the big part of riding is learning. Learning how to connect with your horse, and form that partnership and be a RIDER. At least for me it is. I mean I know plenty of people who would be happy to own that push button ride that isn't complicated and doesn't require much of a sense of feel or thought. But not me. There are certainly DAYS where I think "man, it would be so nice if Arwen stayed straight and balanced and on tempo without my help" but not all the time. It would be too easy if that were the case.

But...those are not the thoughts that were running through my head last night.  Last night, of course, I was thinking "crap, maybe M is right. I bought a horse way too advanced for me. Maybe I should sell her". As soon as that thought crossed my mind, I started tearing up. The more I thought about selling Arwen, the more the tears started rolling down my cheeks. The whole time I'm throwing this pity party for myself, I'm thinking how stupid I am for crying about it. But I just couldn't stop myself. I also figured heck, might as well get it out of my system now before I see trainer otherwise I might turn into another crying mess. So there I am, driving down the freeway, tears flowing, feeling sorry for myself. The only thing missing was some sad country music.

I finally get to the barn, little to no expectations for how the lesson is going to go. Trainer of course asks me how it went, and I tell her honestly how I feel. That I was a little overwhelmed, but everything that was said to me was true. And that M did try and help me, but she didn't give me a lot of room to work things out on my own (which is one thing I really love about my trainer). Also, I think I just wasn't in the right headspace to take the way M teaches due to already being a bit frazzled from the previous couple weeks of Arwen acting up. Trainer tells me "okay, lets just see how she does tonight and we'll go from there. Just ride her like you know how to ride her". And I did. And it goes great. Arwen was listening to me, wasn't trying to run away, and a couple times I actually got her too collected down the lines so we did some serious adds, and had one refusal where I rode her down to nothing.

I will say, there were some things that I really thought about that M drilled into me the last week. One was softening right at the fence. I did not do that. Another was I kept my shoulders back, leg on, auto release, like we practiced. So to say I didn't learn anything last week would be untrue. I mean I definitely had some great learning moments, but then also some lows where I felt like I couldn't ride. Either way, trainer had a good point when she told me "just take what you can from this. Even if its one thing, thats great. You learned something". And I definitely did. From here on out, hopefully its onwards and upwards.

Its been awhile...

Haven't posted on here for awhile, which isn't to say that there haven't been new developments (not all good)

Lets start out with the riding first. 

When we left off, Arwen was being so so, I believe. Well, for about a week or so after it started going seriously down hill. Not listening to me, charging down the lines, etc etc. Just like before. I, of course, had a bit of a mini meltdown because where I had been feeling like "man, I can finally ride my horse!" I was suddenly back at square one after a years worth of pretty hard work.

But then I got to really thinking about it.

How much did I *really* do to work on changing how I rode? Sure, I started working out which helped a ton. But, other than that I think during the last year its been more about me learning "feel". And then maybe slightly changing my ride (learning to sit back more, be more tactful, react quicker, etc). But now, this year I REALLY need to work on changing the way I ride. Releasing a lot of the tension I hold in my back and hips, making sure my leg stays on, making sure I'M doing the right things to keep Arwen engaged and listening to the fences. I had some eye opening lessons these past few days where really consciously thinking about some of these things made a pretty big difference in the way Arwen went. I mean in a span of ONE lesson, she was rushing to responsive to rushing, depending on how much I ACTIVELY thought about my ride. Pretty interesting stuff, right? So I'm going to my goals for 2012. I want to just really work on being a more active participant, instead of a passenger. Because I think that is where a lot of my issues start. For some reason, I have an expectation that Arwen will help out a lot more than she should. And that makes her uncomfortable. She wants to be told what she should be doing, and if she isn't, her decision is obviously going to be "well, I'm going to do whatever is easier for ME" which is getting flat and strung out and rushing around a course. So at this point, I don't care about fence height or showing or anything. I just really want to spend the year drilling down how to ride my horse to the best of our abilities every time. And yes, there will still be bad/hard rides in there, but I think there are A LOT of tools that have been given to me over the past year to be able to deal with it. I KNOW how I'm supposed to be riding her. I just need to spend a lot of time developing the muscle memory to do it.

Some of the things I really need to work on:
1) upper body. I feel like I'm sitting back and up, but I still tend to lean forward a lot. I don't think its a strength thing, but it could be. So I'm going to ramp up the core work.

2)getting Arwen engaged at all times. I've been struggling with this for awhile, but because at this point in time she's not wanting to carry herself, we really need to work on her using herself, especially on the flat. Because that translates to how she is going to jump, and also, developing MY feel for when she's getting a little flat/strung out

3) timing of my aids. I really need to work on not taking my leg off, or softening too much at inappropriate times. This for me, means lots of transition work and ground poles on my own.

I'm also planning to take a couple of dressage lessons to shake things up a bit. I did a lot of flatwork stuff in my lesson yesterday and man...I really do enjoy flatwork. So I think not only will it help with my sense of feel and getting Arwen engaged, it will be something different to do just for a little while.

On the fitness/health front:

I've actually been pretty good about hitting up the gym! In the past month I've been able to go pretty consistently 2-3 times a week (3 times more often than not). Feeling really good again which is nice. I've also started to really rein in the eating because it definitely affects my performance at the gym. So until the end of March, hubs and I are doing a strict Paleo diet (will write more about this later). So far, so good. It hasn't been super hard to give up a lot of the stuff we were eating and I think I've actually been more creative with our menu planning in advance. So hopefully will this not only affect our waistlines and fitness, but our wallets! Its nice to be able to bring my lunch to work instead of eating out a couple times a week because I didn't cook anything for dinner.

The major win is I hadn't weighed myself for two months and when I stepped on the scale yesterday (after a week of strict paleo) I was down 6 lbs from the point I had been at two months prior! Pretty awesome. However, I made a vow that the scale isn't what I'm concerned about. What I'm more concerned about is how I'm feeling and performing at the gym (and on a daily basis-am I still crashing around 2 because of my blood sugar? Not lately!). So I'm not going to weigh myself again until the 30 days are up. I don't want to be a slave to the numbers (because really, the whole CrossFit thing was never really about losing weight, it was about getting healthy. And I don't want to lose that focus)

And other things...

Learned how to ride a motorcycle this weekend! Hubs and I did the motorcycle safety class that is done by the CHP. It was pretty basic, but a good course for both of us. I was the only one in the entire class who had never sat on a bike as the driver and I think I did a pretty good job! Had some trouble at first with stalling (letting go of the clutch too fast, not enough gas) but got the hang of it pretty quickly. Second day I started having an issue with braking and revving the engine, which I think will take some time on a bike to resolve. But, all in all a very good experience. Now I just have to go to the DMV to take my written test and will then be an officially licensed motorcycle AND car driver! I honestly don't think I'm going to ride much, but its nice to have.

Arwen is off. Again. And other updates.

So, after the disaster that was two weekends ago I went out on Tuesday night to hack Arwen. The plan was a lot of flatwork, with ground poles to work on some of the rideability issues we had. Felt fine at the walk and trot, and cantering on the right lead, but as soon as I picked up the left lead, something felt off. She wasn't lame, but it also wasn't the usual canter. Just kind of shorter in step, bouncier, and she was pulling slightly. Figured she would work out of it, which she kind of did, and then we went to do a left to right lead change. And she missed it. She hasn't missed a lead change in awhile, so I was a little miffed. She isn't an auto changer by any means, but if you set her up decently enough all it usually takes is just sliding that outside leg back and she'll change. I decided to not school it, since that wasn't really my focus for the day. Set up some ground poles and she was fabulous going right, but then pretty horrendous going left. Doing the same thing to me of bearing down on the bit and just charging around, unbalanced and not really listening. Called it quits after trotting over it a couple times because it was getting dark.

I left the arena pretty discouraged at this point. Oh, and she was also super spooky that night. I get off her and start to groom her, and notice there seems to be a bunch of dried mud on the inside of her left hock. The lighting in the crossties isn't the best, so I started currying it to get it off. Arwen jerks her leg up and proceeds to give me the look of death. I stop, and pull off a piece of the "mud" and realize its not mud, but blood. She has about a three inch long scratch on her leg, that had apparently been there for at least a day from the looks of it. I clean it up with a little water, and then put some silver sulfadene on it and text my trainer that its possible she was horrendous because her left hock is a little sore.

Next day, trainer tells me she definitely feels she's favoring that leg, doesn't feel normal, so she just walks her around and has the groom clean it up. Tells me I'm still on for my lesson the next day. I come out there the following day and holy cow, Arwen's leg has blown up like a balloon. So now, she's on antibotics and taking ANOTHER little vacation.  I swear, I don't know how this horse does these things to herself.

In the meantime, I've ridden some other horses. Rode Ready on Thursday (who I fell off of, due to my old standby habit of not seeing a distance, and throwing myself and my reins at the horse's head. They of course can't save me, so they stop and I go flying. Second time I've done that in two weeks), then rode a horse named Valentine on Friday, and Goldi on Saturday. All very different horses, which challenged me. A lot. Ready is good for me mostly because he reminds me to keep my leg on at all times. If I don't he sputters out. And he is usually not a stopper, but the fences were at 3ft and poor guy...he can only do so much to save me when we're running at a jump all disorganized. Valentine was good because she's a little like Arwen, just not as sane. So similar ride, but her brain seems to get a little more frazzled than Arwen, so does require a slightly more tactful ride. At one point after some nice trotting flat work, I asked her to canter which she did, and then proceeded to start bucking. So I got off, trainer had her lunged, got back on, and did some small jumps which went great. She's a fun little horse. Goldi was polar opposite from everything I've ridden. Doesn't want you in his face, and is super squiggly and quick to move off your leg. At one point we were weaving back and forth as I was trying to figure out the correct leg pressure. He also carries himself pretty well, and with decent pace, so it was really weird to not have much contact with his face. Totally different jump too, he definitely jumps "up" to the rider, and is much slower over fences, versus Arwen who gets a little fast/flat over the smaller stuff.

All in all though, the rides were okay. The definitely showed some major weaknesses in my riding though, which is both good and bad. Good because it gives me more stuff I need to work on, and bad because HOLY HELL am I ever going to be able to ride? Of course, when I think like that I have to remind myself to take a step back and remember that I haven't really been riding that long.

As for fitness, I did manage to drag myself to CF three times last week. OH and I finally kind of managed a kipping PU. WITHOUT A BAND. And not just one, but two in a row! AND AND AND...did 9 DU's in a row. Pretty exciting stuff. Getting closer to that 6 month goal I set, which is nice. Still need to work on my diet/weight loss, but I'm fairly happy with things fitness wise. It feels really good to be getting back into the swing of things at CF.

Bad week all around

On both the fitness and riding front. My lower back is STILL bothering me so I only went to CrossFit once in hopes laying off it a bit would help. It felt better one day, then I think I slept funny because the next morning both my neck and back hurt. Awesome. The one WOD I did attend was a long, hard one so I ramped down the dumbell weight to 15's (rx'd was 25) which I felt wussy about, but I knew it was going to put a lot of stress on my low back and hey...not trying to be a hero. Putting me totally out of commission is worse than only being semi out of commission, you know?

Riding. Well. Where to start. Had a lesson Thursday night which was LOVELY. Arwen was super responsive and "on". We nailed pretty much all the fences, even a tough bending line of a five stride to a four stride. Went through it no problem. So we didn't jump much, just called it a night.

Mistake number one: Proceeded to go out to dinner with trainer after my lesson where we consumed a lot of wine. There were three of us. We drank two bottles. I was not drunk, but drinking that much even if I don't wake up hung over has shown in the past to be a hinderance to my riding the next morning. Slower reaction times, and just complete loss of brain power. But...since Arwen had been so good, I figured why wouldn't she be good the next morning?

Mistake number two: Assuming I would have the same horse in the morning. I was in a group lesson and running a little late, so we did a quick flat warm up. Did some transitions, a little lateral, but I mostly just wanted to get her warm enough to catch up to the other riders (that was Mistake number three). She started out okay, but then started her old trick of scurrying through the lines and totally blowing through my hand. I've been riding her in a new bit (Mistake number four) that she HAS been good in, but I think has to be the right kind of rideability (and owner has to be the right kind of rider) for it to be successful. Its a pretty strong combination (mullen mouth hackabit with a curb chain. Shanks are pretty long) and I can't get too handsy with it, otherwise she bears down on it. Well...I was already a little off from the alcohol consumption the night before (trainer even told me I seemed really "loose" through my upper body)  which I think made her take advantage a little, and it just devolved from there. I got handsy, she got strong. Got three refusals and ugh...this is the worst part...I came off her. GAH!!!! First real come off on a refusal in MONTHS. And in the combo/bending line she did SO beautifully the night before with NO issues. What happened was we came into the line really strong, she charged through the five strides and then was running to do the 4 stride in 3. Of course, at this point my brain is in total overdrive and shutting down-I think I assumed she was just going to take the flyer (again, due to my issues with seeing really long distances when all things go to shit. I think its because with that flailing, fast canter its nearly impossible to see anything). She of course was like "what to dooooo?" and slams on the brakes. I go flying over her left shoulder, totally unprepared. I manage to swing around the underside of her neck, narrowly avoiding the jump standard, and land on my butt. Still hanging onto the reins too. Trainer asks if I want her to get on, and I'm like "no, I'll work this out" and we did. It actually ended on a fairly decent note-after that Arwen decided it was better to listen to me.

So...mistake number 5 (6,7,8? who knows what number I'm on at this point) was not being more "on" that day with my riding. Arwen is like the freaking raptors from Jurrassic Park. You know, always testing the fence for weaknesses? Well...just call me the fence. If I'm not always being really conscious of my body position/placement and what I'm asking of her, she will take advantage. I know I've posted about needing to always "ride" her. Well, again I think I've fallen into the trap of complacency because she's been so good for the last two-three months. Not anymore though.

Well after that disaster, Saturday morning was even worse. Again...a rushed flatwork warmup to catch up to the rest of the lesson (another lesson relearned after this weekend, cannot skimp on demanding excellence from her on the flat) and a different bit since another girl was using the one from the day before. Arwen started out okay, was a little speedy. But...thinking about it I'm pretty sure I spent a lot of that lesson reverting to something of a tense, anticipatory, handsy grabby hunchback. At least down some of the lines. Arwen don't play that game. She was blasting through the lines, and after doing one TINY little vertical to try and get her to listen to me again, she took off and blasted around the arena a couple times in a full on gallop. At this point I'm ready to call it quits, but trainer doesn't want to end on that note. So I trot the same vertical a couple times and bring her to a stop before the turn. She ended feeling pretty good (i.e. not racing at the trot jump, and stopping when I ask her, no bracing) and then we quit. Trainer tells me she thinks she might be going into heat but I think a lot of it was me. No, I KNOW a lot of it was me. I think the hackabit we were using is much less forgiving than the controller noseband. It is a lot of leverage, and if I'm being a good, soft rider its a great bit that really makes her listen. However, as shown on Friday and Saturday if I can't stay soft, it all goes to hell. And I think that applies in general, but its really hard for me to stay soft when she's being this speedy, charging, bracing monster.

Oh, the other thing I'm ditching next ride is the spurs. I think wearing them makes me nervous because I think I'm going to goose her (even though they're super soft, little roller balls) which causes me to take my leg off. And more hand over leg on Arwen is just no bueno.

So we'll see. Hopefully the reset button has been pushed on both of us and we can pick up again where we left off next time I ride her. Hopefully.

Weekend Lessons:The good and the bad

Lets first start with the good, shall we?

The biggest win of the weekend was I jumped over some legit 3' fences. Two to be exact, but who's counting? They were kind of spaced out in our course that day, but one was the "in" of the line, the other was set as an out/single that we were doing rollback turn to. It was a lot of fun.

Now for the bad (this is a lot more lengthy than the good)

Arwen refused twice on me on Friday. First was because of a horrible deep spot I put her to on one of the 3' fences. She probably would have crawled over it if it were smaller, but at 3' its a little harder and she just isn't that type of horse. Second was because I was riding her like a drunk monkey through a bending line. She had no idea where she was going, and suddenly I point her to the fence two strides out and she slams on the brakes. Fortunately, I stayed on both times (in fact, no where near coming off knock on wood) but I'm disappointed because it had been, up until last week, a REALLY long time since she's been refusing. I'm wondering if her coffins are bothering her again, and really hoping NOT since I just got them injected two months ago. If it is her coffins, I'm going to do x-rays because seriously, this horse should not need maintenance that often. She is jumping little speed bumps and doesn't get worked that hard.

Other bad-Saturday's lesson was okay, but no where near the greatest it has been. I was riding her in a different bit and I think it caused me to get a little handsy because she started rushing a little, and we also just couldn't get the distance to this one particular fence. It was a fence off a right turn, and she kept sticking through the corner so our distance was always a little funky.

Well, of course I had to get out there Sunday and play around with that turn by myself. I know when I have to figure things out, its best if I do it on my own. So we did a little crossrail, off a similar turn. Lightbulb moment for me in 3...2...1...I'M the one who is HOLDING her through the corner. Girl is only sticking because stupid rider up top is simultaneously trying to keep her impulsion through the turn while holding onto that outside rein waaaaaaaay too much as opposed to just putting on more outside leg. Because the first time we did that cross rail, same thing. Crappy, chippy distance. Did it again and realized I was totally holding her through the turn. Third time through, I let go, and just let her naturally flow through that corner with some pace with very little rein, and only added outside rein as we were getting straight to the jump. Voila. Great distance. Oy. One of these days, I think I'll learn how to ride/ride my horse. Or, at least that is what I'm hoping...

This really frustrate mes because I KNOW the holding through the corner is one of my really bad habits. No idea why I do it either. But now that I'm aware I just really need to keep working on it.

WOD 02/01/2012 and Tuesday night lesson

Last nights WOD was another ass kicker. Had to scale down the swings because my back pretty much screamed at me when I picked up the womens rx'd kettlebell. Feel kind of bad about that, but I also have to listen to my body. Still am not sure what is going on with the low back, if it doesn't improve in the next couple weeks might go see a doctor.

WOD as follows:

5 rounds

21 swings (women's RX'd 35lb bell, used 25 lbs which was too light but there was nothing in between)
15 burpees
9 push press (rx'd 25 lb dumbells

Completed somewhere in the sub 16 minutes, I believe, which is what I was aiming for. Would have been pleasantly surprised with below 15 minutes, but thats okay. Burpees kick my ass. Did the first round with 15 in a row though, so that was fun.

Feeling good being back at CF though. I missed having every muscle be sore!

Had a lesson Tuesday night. Rode Arwen in the two ring with the controller again. I like the two ring better, mostly because its a double jointed mouth piece, and its smooth. She doesn't really need the twist that is on the Beval gag, plus its only got a single joint. I got there early enough to warm her up outside, and then we started a little jumping out there. She started out okay, and then steadily got worse as it got darker. I went to take her down one of the lines, where the out jump was a bright white jump, with the blue solid river panel that she doesn't love. Three strides out I felt her spook a little, but pushed her forward. We turned to do it the other way, and wouldn't you know-she refused. The jump was set at like 2 ft! Trainer was like "WTF, she can WALK over that" so we jumped that line about 4 times both ways until she jumped it nicely. After finishing that, she said to me that perhaps its because Arwen can't see the jumps well at night, at least not ones that aren't brightly colored. Plus, the indoor arena lights were on behind the jump, which probably brought Arwen's eye up a little and possibly blinded her a bit (because going the other way away from the indoor was much better). So we decided to try a little experiment and jump a few jumps in the bright indoor. Arwen still had some residual speediness at first, but after jumping a couple and realizing she could see them, she was back to herself. Jumped with absolutely no spook or hesitation. Trainer even bumped one of them up to around 2'11", which I proceeded to bury her to the base on the first one, and she still jumped out fine.

Upon more thinking on the issue (I like to talk things through, so does my trainer) we looked back and realized that most of my REALLY hard lessons have been at night. In the dark. One comes to mind from last winter when all we did was circles around and around the arena trying to get Arwen to do a lead change. She was so amped up though she just wasn't listening. It was crazy. Then there was last Thursday, where she was being a total poop, but then was an angel on Saturday. 

So the consensus is if I can't jump when its still light out, we will be jumping inside. Kind of stinks, but we want to preserve my confidence along with Arwens. A more seasoned confident rider who could feel the issue and actually do something about it would be able to ride her through no problem, but for me we just don't want to mess with it. Luckily, daylight savings is just around the corner and its already staying lighter out later, so I won't have to deal with the indoor for long.