2009: A Year in Review

/ Ashley Wingert / Leave a comment

While it’s very tempting to blow off 2009 as a horrifically crappy, overwhelming year, that just wouldn’t be entirely true.  Yes, many aspects of my life were very overwhelming, and still continue to be so, hence my lack of posting in the latter months of the year.

While I might not have gotten to near the number of rides I would have liked, I did have a successful ride year.  4 rides, 4 completions, 175 miles.  3 50s, 1 25.  2 near-turtle finishes, 1 mid-pack, and 1 top ten (that weould be the 25).  3 rides for Mimi…all 50s, one ride on a friend’s horse.  That includes finishing the notoriously difficult Man Against Horse, with ponies that were still bright-eyed and pulling at the finish.

These horses, and endurance rides, are my refuge, sanctuary, and therapy.  I would truly be lost without them, and all of my endurance friends.  I’m so grateful for the connections I’ve made…enduring friendships that I hope will last a lifetime.

So, then, to recap:

January: Mimi spent the latter part of 2008 cogitating on whether or not she really wanted to be an endurance horse, and therefore wasn’t fit for Wickenburg.  We did pull ribbons after the Valley of the Sun 3 ride, but that was one of our few outings for the month.  I took friend Cindy Brown up on her offer to ride her horse Harley in the 25 at Wickenburg.  We had a fabulous ride, and even Top Tenned, coming in 9th.  I got along really well with Harley and enjoyed riding him.  School resumed again for me, after enjoying a five week break.

February: Mimi got her head (and hocks) aligned, and we got several really good training rides in, enough to feel comfortable going for the 50 at the Valley of the Sun 4 ride.  We finished, although she could have looked better when we got home…she was dehydrated from the unexpected heat, and a little bit crampy.  She recovered within an hour of getting home, and was bright-eyed the next day.

March: Lots of training rides, filled with spring-fever energy.

April: brought warm temperatures, snake sightings, and the opportunity to go crew at Tevis. 

May: meant more warm weather, and a good excuse to take the ponies down to the river and ride around the water.  Mimi turned 16, and we celebrated with a great training ride.  School recessed for a three-week period, then resumed after Memorial Day.

June: was hot, as is expected in the AZ summer, but we still did a lot of riding.  I took Mimi barefoot in the back for the first time of what would soon become an almost-every-ride occurence.  We took a weekend camping trip to Little Elden Springs with a few other endurance friends.  (I went to look for the link to this story, only to realize I never finished it.)

July: Tevis!!!  Spent lots of time talking to rider Lucy Trumbull about crew odds ‘n’ ends, and hoof boots, then hopped on a plane for a week of Tevis fun.  I never did do the full write-up (my computer ate it), but I do have the cliffnotes, and will someday produce a full write-up of my adventures.  The next-best things are the photo albums on Facebook: riding Foresthill to El Dorado Creek and back; Tevis; and the rest of the week.

August: was quiet, and hot.  I had a few weeks off school again, and spent the time hibernating.  T’was also my birthday this month, and I got new tights from Evelyn at Just for Horsin-Round.  I have two pairs, and they’re fabulous…I’ll be ordering more soon.

September: Didn’t exist (according to my blog, at least…nothing worth reporting got blogged about.)

October: In a last-minute flurry of avtivity, we decided to go to Man Against Horse and try the 50 again.  We finished, and in fine form this time.  Both ponies looked fabulous at the end, and never lost that sparkle in their eyes.

November: Let’s go gangbusters and do a ride two months in a row!  Valley of the Sun Turkey Trot 50 was a good ride, with another sparkly-eyed finish.  Two great rides like that in a row was a good confidence booster for me.  Thanksgiving, and the start of the holidays.

Decemeber: Mom and I took a trip back to New York while the ponies got a break.  School again let out for another 5-week break.  Christmas shopping was once again easy, as there were horse things Dad needed.  Let the new ride season begin.

Rain Check!

/ Ashley Wingert / 1 Comment

I think I really  understand and appreciate the term “rain check” now.  Having grown up and lived here in the desert all my life, I’ve never fully appreciated the full extent of a true, multiday storm system.  Sure, I know all about flash floods, and not driving your vehicle through more than a couple inches of running water.  That’s pretty par for the course in Arizona monsoon season, although someone always has to test it.  (“No, no, my insert vehicle of choice here can handle it, it’ll be fine.”)

At the San Tans, the trails drain so quickly that, unless it’s pouring rain at the very moment, it’s nearly impossible to get “rained out” from riding.  And even on the few occasions we do, it’s due to the aforementioned flash flooding of the washes, and not the actual trail conditions.

So to have Wickenburg cancelled for this weekend due to weather wasn’t something I was really expecting.  Granted, it would be cold and wet, especially Friday, but the trails shouldn’t have been a problem.  And they weren’t.  It was the roads. 

Arizona infrastructure is coping very badly with the current weather conditions, so much that major highways have actually been temporarily shut down.  I didn’t really grasp that notion until I pulled down AZCentral’s Road Closures page and realized that there’s almost no way to get into Wickenburg.  Good reason to cancel, if a) half your riders can’t get out of their house and b) the other half can’t get to the ride.

The ride has been rescheduled for February 6th.  Here’s hoping for lots of sunshine, for us and our surrounding states.

I think I’ve gotten off lightly from this storm — the worst we’ve had at my house was that Dad had to pump some excess water out of the fishpond to keep it from overflowing.  That, and there’s a corner of the roof over the dressing room on the trailer that’s been leaky, and it dribbled in one corner of the trailer.  Fortunately, I anticpated this, and there wasn’t much actually in the corner to get wet.

More rain is predicted for this afternoon, but right now, it’s blue skies above.  The wind is picking up again, so those grey clouds on the horizon could move in…eventually.  It’s a good day to curl up with a good book or movie, a steaming cup of your hot beverage of choice, and a cookie.  Sounds like a good idea to me…

Double Standard

/ Ashley Wingert / 3 Comments

A Cautionary Warning: There is much generalization and use of the term “people” in the following post.  I’m not trying to say “everyone” does this, but rather, a broad spectrum of generalized behavior that I have noticed over the past several years.  This is not intended to be critical of anybody, but rather, my personal view and opinion on behaviors and attitudes.  Consider it, or take it worth a grain of salt.

Recently, there’s been a flurry of discussion activity on Ridecamp about hoof boots.  Every winter, it seems, the topic of “shoes versus boots” gets dragged out.  Thus far this winter, people are confining themselves to boot…comparisons.

While I could probably write a dissertation based on my opinions of the topic, that wasn’t really what stuck my fancy today.  What I wanted to touch on is the seeming “double standard” that exists for hoof boots.

Everyone seems to be concerned with finding the “perfect boot.”  Their standards for that boot seem to be: easy to fit, doesn’t rub, easy to put on, and never comes off.

All I have to say on that is, “When was the last time a horseshoe never came off?”  Please, someone, share with me that they’ve never, in their entire career of horse ownership, had a horse that has lost a shoe.  Pretty much impossible, right?  So why are people so critical of a hoof boot coming off? 

It seems to be an unfair expectation…as soon as people hear a story of a boot coming off, they write it off as being “no good.”  And yet, shod horses that pull shoes get pass after pass, get the shoe nailed back on, and nothing more is said.

As a hoof boot user, I’ve had my fair share of them come off, some of them in places never to be seen again.  I’ve calculated that I’ve got probably about $200 worth of hoof boots and hoof boot parts scattered across Arizona and southern California.  But did that mean boots were worthless?

No, it just meant that something wasn’t working.  It took some experimentation, time, and willingness to think outside the box and my comfort zone, but I eventually found what works for Mimi.  One of the nice things about the popularity of the barefoot/hoofbooted movement taking off is the availability of different hoof boots on the market.  There’s virtually something for almost anyone and any horse. 

(Note the virtually and almost: I do believe that it’s entirely possible that boots might not work for every single horse out there.  Dad’s first horse, a Foxtrotter mare, had an extremely exaggerated sliding action in her hind feet.  Boots gave her too much grip, and made her movement too abrupt and jarring on her joints and muscles.  It’s possible, given time, and knowing what I know now about hoof trimming, that we could have worked more with and gradually adapted her to using boots.)

And incidently?  Mimi has lost at least one of every footwear I put on her.  Regular shoes, padded shoes, aluminum shoes, regular Easyboots, glued-on Easyboots, Epics, Bares, and Renegades.  No one thing out there is perfect.

I’m sure this is a topic that will never go away as long as there are metal shoes to be nailed on, and hoof boots to be fitted, and horse hooves that need protection.  And that means the double standard will likely live on, too.

Wickenburg Prep

/ Ashley Wingert / 3 Comments

I’m watching the weather forecast for the coming week like a hawk.  The major Pacific storm system that is supposed to sweep California before venturing over here has me concerned. as rain is predicted all week.  (However, just talking to a friend in San Diego…he says he’s not gotten a drop of rain all day, so we’ll just have to see.)

I’m not content to just “let things be,” and am moving ahead with ride prep as though we are going to get buckets of water dumped on us.  The hope in being prepared this way is, of course, that over-preparedness will result in not needing any of it.  *crosses fingers*  Fortunately, the worst of the rain is predicted for Tuesday-Thursday, and down to a 20% chance on Saturday.

I’m currently sitting at my desk, sniping and tying fringe on a piece of fleece to make myself another in-trailer blanket.  My blankets keep getting sacrificed to Mimi, so I finally ordered her a second Trail-Rite Cooling Blanket.  Now I have a whole pile of horsehair-covered fleece blankets to pull out of the trailer and launder, then I can use them for myself once again.  Hopefully her blanket arrives before Friday.  (Just got an email, it’ll be here Thursday.)

I also ordered a new GPS from Amazon.  After much indecision and waffling, I finally ended up getting the Garmin eTrex Venture HC.  I like the fact that it has color, and the high-sensitivity receiver.  As much as I really liked the more expansive, expensive models, this has everything I need it for…basic mapping, and I’m really after mileage and speed calculations.

This’ll be my third Garmin eTrex, and I really like them.  My first one was one of the first generation eTrex  (Venture, I think…it was the one with the teal-colored casing) and it worked really well…until I slammed it in the Suburban door.  Word to the wise: don’t ever balance your GPS in between the vehicle frame and the open door, then leave it there to acquire satellites, only to forget about it and close the door.

My second one was the eTrex Legend (blue casing…still an early generation, before the color or high-sensitivity receivers were an option).  I really liked it, until it inexplicably stopped working.  I can turn it on, it’ll work for about five minutes, the nthe screen goes blank save for a vertical line of pixels running down the middle or off to the side.

I’ve been without a GPS now for the past year and a half, and I’m eager to ride with one again, especially at rides.  It’s made me get very good at pacing and timing, to have to rely on watching the clock and knowing trail distance, and it helps to know Mimi’s average speed for any given gait, but I’ll be happy to have my technology back.  I rode with a friend’s GPS at McDowell in November, as she wanted a map of the trails, and that made me realize how much I missed having one.  It should be here Wednesday.

New splint boots are ordered, and should be here today.  I’m waffling on using them…they’re the same model as the ones I’ve been using, but my old ones are 13 years old.  Will the quality still be the same on the new ones, or might there be potential for rubs from an ill-placed seam?  The rain for the week, combined with Dad’s work and my heading back to school, is curtailing the amount of riding I’ll be able to do to test them, so I’m down to pre-riding Friday.  I’ll try them then, and if all goes fine, use them for the ride, but toss the old boots in the crew box.

My new helmet also got here last week, a Tipperary Sportage Plus I bought from a friend who bought it, wore it once, didn’t like the fit, and has kept it around since, so it’s still brand new.  I love it, and even though I haven’t had a chance to ride in it, I sat around on my computer with it on my head for an hour, and it felt great.

I’ve got my Goretex rain gear, as well as the two non-Goretex “waterproof” rain jackets.  Both ponies have two rump rugs…a fleece, and a canvas-topped fleece each.  Each pony has four (!) wicking-type sheets…Beamer has two fleeces, and two wool coolers, and Mimi has two fleeces (plus an extra if absolutely necessary) and a wool cooler.  They both have waterproof sheets (his moreso than hers) and Goretex blankets.

My right foot is still sore from yesterday’s race, so I’m taking a very aggressive icing/Motrin treatment to try to get it in check before Friday.  I can see some bruising in the sore area, but no heat or swelling, so I’m guessing it’s probably some kind of concussion-related pressure bruising. 

I’m kind of wishing I had ice boots for Mimi that I could steal and use, as I only have one good icepack, and two marginal ones, for myself.  Ice boots were on my “to buy” list, and I even thought about getting them for Wickenburg, but the chilly forecast and wet weather means I probably won’t need to do much leg icing.  I thought about getting them for the 75, but I know we’ll be finishing after dark, which, in February, is still pretty chilly, and I don’t know if that’ll chill them too much or not. 

I took a quick trip down to the barn this afternoon, between rain showers, and did a bit of work on the trailer.  Ponies got to go out in the big pasture and run while I did that, which made them very happy.  Overfed and underridden…that’s them.  They’re definitely ready for 50 miles.

PF Chang’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon

/ Ashley Wingert / 1 Comment

Taking to the Streets
Or, An Endurance Rider’s Cross-Training

I have a new respect for my pony and her fitness level. I participated in – and completed – my first half marathon on Sunday, January 17th, the PF Chang’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon here in Phoenix.

The decision to participate was all part of my bid to improve my fitness level this year, and I figured it would only benefit both me and Mimi in the long term. After all, she appreciates in when I get off during rides and walk/jog alongside her, so the more of that I can do, the better.

“Running” is a relative term for me. I’ve not been gifted with a natural runner’s physique, but I make do with what I have, and my idea of running consists of a lot of power-walking interspersed with shorter amounts of jogging.

The PF Chang’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon is a 13.1-mile course that starts in downtown Phoenix and ends up in Tempe, right in the middle of one of the Arizona State University parking lots.

The half marathon started at 8:30 in the morning, with a wave start. The over 21,000 participants were broken down into 26 starting corrals, each released one at a time. I was in corral 23, and finally crossed the start line at about 9:00. I had 4 hours from that point in which to finish the 13.1 miles.

Within the first mile, my body began to question my sanity, but that was nothing new. It’s the same feeling I get within the first five miles of an endurance ride – when my lower back starts whining, and my feet go numb, and I wonder, “How can I stand 45 more miles of this?” It’s shortly after that point my brain and body tune each other out, and I can continue on without much thought to discomfort. The same thing happened here.

My pace was about 14 minutes for the first mile, and I was able to sustain that for pretty much the entire time. Right around the halfway mark, the course became very familiar, as it was part of the route I drive to/from school every day. This was good in that I knew where I was, and kind of what to expect. However, the feedback you get from driving a route is vastly different from running the same route.

For instance, academically, I knew there were a couple of slight grades between miles 9 and 11. Very slight, the kind you don’t even think about while driving. Well, from the perspective of being on foot, that “slight grade” on Van Buren Street between 44th Street and Loop 202 seemed like a major hill.

After passing mile 11, it was mostly downhill from there…past the Phoenix Zoo, across the Mill Avenue Bridge, onto Rio Salado Parkway (another uphill…ugh) and into ASU’s Lot 59…blessedly downhill. I was able to make up for dropping off the pace on the uphill parts (about an 18-minute mile) with being able to really stretch out on the downhill (about a 12-minute mile), and I had saved up enough energy to pick it up on the last ¼ mile in to the finish. The adrenaline-buzz from cheering spectators lining the finish line area helped, too. :)

I finished with a time of 3:28:50, coming in 19,451 out of 21,460 participants. Out of 13,486 female participants, I came in 11,839. My brain short-circuits at the idea of that many participants, and all that matters to me is that I finished.

My goal time, when asked on the registration form for start corral seeding purposes, was 3:30:00. I have a pretty good sense of my own personal pacing and physical abilities, but I was really happy to get that close to my goal time. It averaged out to a 3.999999 (okay, 4) mph pace, and about a 15-minute mile.

The last four miles, I had to really slog it out. The uphill climbs, for one, and then the last two miles, I could feel the effects of 11 miles of concussion on pavement starting to catch up. My hips were letting their displeasure be known, and the outside of the right foot was starting to whine. Interestingly enough, I felt the most sore while maintaining a walk, but when I’d pick up a jog, a lot of the aches would disappear.
Unfortunately, my lungs wouldn’t let me sustain a jog the rest of the way in, so I alternated jogging with walking, and for the last mile, the “finish is within my grasp” adrenaline kicked in and pulled me through.

Physically speaking, that was one of the toughest things I’ve ever done. I think my first 50 with Mimi was actually easier, mostly because of the partner-bond with the pony…when things got tough, we could pull each other through. Out on the street, it was all on me, and I had to pull myself though it. I got really, really good at personal pep talks, as well as giving myself a good ***-kicking when necessary.

One thing that really helped was all the amazing energy at the race. It’s hard to have that many people together and not have energy. The spectator turnout was also amazing. So many complete strangers lining the streets of Phoenix, out there cheering for people that they don’t even know, encouraging us to keep going, telling us how great we look (lies… I think I looked like roadkill by about mile five), and how we’re going to make it.

The volunteers were also amazing. There were water/sports drink stops about every mile and a half, and the volunteers would be lined up on both sides of the street with cups of water and Cytomax, passing them off to runners as we’d come by, always with a smile and encouragement.

So, what does it take to get me through a half marathon, intake-wise? About 90 ounces of water, 40 ounces of Cytomax sports drink, 3 packs of GU, one pack of energy beans, 6 electrolyte caplets, and a whole hell of a lot of encouragement and personal drive. Thank goodness for porta-potties along the way, because I definitely stayed hydrated.

Would I do it again? Sitting here the day after, musing about my still-sore, visibly bruised right foot, and some sore lower back muscles, I’d still have to say, yes. Finishing the race was an incredible personal accomplishment for me, and I’m still enjoying the post-run satisfaction high the day after.

Interestingly enough, I’m actually less muscle-sore than after an endurance ride, and I think the riding really helped keep my muscles in shape for that kind of physical effort. It’s just the concussion aspect of running that the rest of my body is slightly less impressed with, but chalk that up to needing more long-distance conditioning.

The running process might be a bit arduous for me, and I definitely prefer trail running to street running, but I get a lot of satisfaction out of it, as well as a lot of personal “think time” where it’s just me and my thoughts. Call it therapy of a different sort, parallel to riding.

So there you have it. Cross-training in action…but this time around, it’s for the rider. Rock on.