Wednesday, May 31. A swim again.
Went for another swim today since my foots not ready for running or fencing yet. Did the standard workout put pushed a little harder during the pyramid and the arms w/kneeboard laps. Still feels pretty good. Next week, I'm going to start timing laps to see how I'm doing. I received some information from the Pentathlon Association with event times, so now I have something to compare myself to. Should be getting info on pistols soon too, I'm really looking forward to adding this last piece to my training.

Tuesday, May 30. A swim at last
Finally got my butt into gear to go swimming again. With the work I've been having done on my foot, I wasn't too hip on getting right back into the water, but I certainly could have gotten back in before now. Since I can't really run or fence with the foot work, I really need to get back into the regular swim thing to stay in shape. So...did the afternoon swim. There weren't many people there so it was nice to have a lane to myself to ease back into things. I felt really good technique wise and cardio wasn't bad either. I did my usual swim workout and even got down to 15 strokes/length once on my arms w/kneeboard laps. Not bad for not having done the swim thing in two weeks. I need to gear back up for coach Wendy soon too.

Sunday, May 28. Event viewing.
I opted to go down and watch Laura and other riders from Hilltop compete in Eventing rather than head over to Yakima to watch polo. Since I did my first jumping course on Thursday (a mini course to be honest), I really wanted to start watching more jumping and get a feel for what it would be like to start going to these events. I arrived around 11:00am to find that Laura had already won 2nd in her trainer category for the cross country event. I got to watch Coho (sp?), Caroline and Lindsey ride. I have to admit, cross country looks pretty fun.

Thursday, May 25. A coarse first course.
Oooooh, I was excited tonight! I arrived at the barn to find five jumps set up in the barn...and no one was on Pet yet. The probability was high that I would be doing some more jumping tonight, so I was reved up as soon as Laura confirmed that yes, indeed we would be jumping. It was myself, Kelsy and Lindsey that would be riding the jumps. Kelsy and Lindsey are both experienced jumpers, so I was to set off first while the jumps were still low. I jumped straight poles and cross rails although there was an oxer (sp?) and a fence on the course...little too much for this beginner. I started in on my seven jump course and ended up having to take two or three swipes at each, almost fell off three times and missed several jumps (in the correct order anyway). Don't even want to think about the time faults I would have added up. My feet fell out of the stirrups four times, and I'm sure my whip that Laura gave me to get Pet started up must have been a real mess because she finally asked me to drop it. But, I finished my first jumping course EVER. Wow, do I have a long way to go. I was exausted, my back was fatigued...but I did it. My highest jump was about 2'6", far from my 4' height, but on my way.

After my round I was able to watch Kelsy and Lindsey ride, what jumping was really supposed to look like. The jumps went all the way up to 3'6". They had some challenges too, as well as Laura afterwards jumping on Mac, so it was good to know that my issues weren't only from being a novice, I'll continue to have the challenges even in the higher levels of competition.

Thursday, May 18. "Patience in your brain".
I was a humbled rider again. Tonight, becausse Sheila was jumping Pet the lesson before me, I rode "Vesty", a bay a bit smaller than Pet. Vesty was a notch up from Pet in skill and experience, but it proved a major challenge for me. Vesty was very responsive to my balance issues and I spent most of the workout just getting a feel for Vesty...and vice-versa. He would stop on a dime and relied much more on reigning than Pet ever did for aids so I found myself way off balance many times when trying to figure him out. Once we got in the groove, things went pretty well. The canter with Vesty had challenges too. There was a delicate balance between slowing down and complete stop with Vesty, but with some work I was able to get things to work. It was hard keeping him at a walk between drills, but one of the neat things about Vesty - once again a very experienced horse compared to Pet - was that he will go into a canter right from the walk. I felt like I was back at lesson one with Vesty, but since I ride unfamilar horses in the pentathlon, this is a good piece of humble pie. Its times like this, as in polo, that I feel I'm letting down the horses. But, in a way, this makes me work harder. Laura sensed my frustration and reminded me "it takes patience in your brain" several times.

Monday, May 16. More footwork, no footwork.
Started the morning by helping out the SYC women's crew team by riding in the launch and videotaping their workout. The SYC women's boat recently one their 50+ Opening Day race by half a second (and had better times than the 30+ and 40+ age groups!). It was a beautiful morning, sunny and Lake Washington was like glass. It made me really want to start rowing again. I may try to get some sculling in in the afternoons and even some sweep in on the days I don't have to work at 5:30am. I raced in the 1999 Opening Day races. We got 3rd place after a tough race with Sammamish so I appreciate the women's accomplishment this year.

Had some more work done on my feet this morning. More of the...plantar warts (remember...I'm trying not to spare the reader of any of the realities of athletic life). Had the final work done on both feet in order to get back on training track as soon as possible. The running felt so good and I've really been missing the fencing. I did go to fencing tonight, just to watch. I missed the footwork portion but did get to watch a few fencers. Also watched Leon give Bernard his epee lesson. They did some pretty amazing compound attack work. Can't wait till I'm back in play.

Sunday, May 15. Go coach!
Went to watch Laura, my riding coach, compete in her 3-Day eventing. It is a pretty big, as in space and grandeur, sport. The cross-country course is so big that you can't really watch the whole course from any one point. I arrived just in time to watch Laura compete. I was able to see two jumps, a water obstacle, a sharp downhill corner and then another two jumps. Its great to see your coach in action every once and a while.

Thursday, May 11. New Balance.
No not the shoes, although I will be getting a new pair of running shoes when I get my next paycheck. I write of a new sense of balance I achieved in riding tonight. I learned a lot from the weekend of polo, so with Laura's help we set in to correct some problems...mainly, that I was balancing with my hands. The drill that finally cured me (at least for this particular training session) was letting the reigns drop/hang while keeping my hands back at my hip. This forced me to balance with my body rather than with my hands. Overall the ride felt great, my canter was the smoothest its ever felt and I felt a lot more confident after the balance drill.

Wednesday, May 10. Running man.
Well...I was supposed to come home after work and Madison student tour (I was a volunteer naturalist for Madison Middle School students at Schmitz Park in Seattle over the lunch hour), go for a swim in the afternoon, go running at Greenlake at 5:30 and then go to fencing. What actually happened is that I came home from the tour, was so tired from trying to keep the attention of a bunch of 8th graders that I took a nap, and ended sleeping until 7:00. Whoops. So...I decided to go for another run. During the run, my left thigh was a little fatiqued and the inside of my right ankle felt a little tweaked but I think this was because I had just gone for a run the previous night and my muscles were still in shock that I was actually back running. Cardio felt great again.

Tuesday, May 9. Here comes the run again...and the rain.
I was way to soar from polo to do any trainin on Monday. But an interesting thing happened on the way back from orthodontist this morning...I ran. Yes...I RAN! I was late (a bracket fell off my braces) so I had to run back. Surprisingly, it felt pretty good. It was only about four block, but it felt good...healing foot, new orthotics and all. So after work, feeling a little track fever since it had been almost four months since I last ran, I decided to go for a run. I did my old 3 mile course around Portage Bay. It felt so good. My feet felt great, my legs felt great and my cardio felt great. I wasn't even tired afterwards which means my cardio is set for picking up where I left off with running (I guess the swimming had mad a difference). The run felt so good. And the rain gods were smiling too. There was a medium rain during my whole run, but two minutes in the door and it poured so hard that I couldn't see the house across the alley from my bathroom window. I think more than anything, the running really makes me feel like I am training and like I really am a pentathlete in training. Now its time to bring the other events up to snuff.

Sunday, May 7. Polo strikes again.
Went to Yakima this weekend to try my hand at polo again. There are lots of details from the weekend on my polo page, as it did the last time I tried it, polo really brings out where my riding opportunities are in general. The same stuff...keeping my heels down, more expressive but subtle with my aids, BALANCE, and recovery. I had a great time learning a little more about polo and how to play, but learned a lot about how far I have to go in my riding.

Friday, May 5. Horse talker and stellar swim.
Something is right in the universe. I had an amazing ride last night (even before I started the jumps) and today my swim was stellar. I started my afternoon by heading out to Hilltop Stables to pick up my shoes that I forgot there (yes, Cinderella forgot his shoes again). It wouldn't have a big deal, but my new orthotics were in them and I wanted to have them for this weekend. Turned out that Joan Ranquet, an animal communicator (I wrote in December about her thoughts on Eli. Having been raised around zoo animals and been accused of being able to relate to them, I have a lot of faith in the communicators. Sounds weird I know, but it works. And I really think I could use the insight when I'm meeting my horse for the pentathlon (you ride an unfamiliar horse in the event...you get 20 minutes and 3 jumps before going onto the course). So, I think I'll take one of Joan's courses to see if I can get some value out of it.

Maybe it was the alignment of the planets, maybe shiva is looking fondly upon me, either way my swim this afternoon was awesome. I had a lot of energy through the whole session, but most importantly, I felt like my technique was back. My final push at the end of each stroke felt the strongest it ever has and I was able to get my number of strokes accross the during the knee board section down to 15. I'm really pleased...and ready for Wendy to coach me into the next level.

Thursday, May 4. Horse jumping 101.
I was so excited when I arrived and Laura said "So, do you want to jump tonight?" I was totally psyched and felt more like jumping out of my skin! I was a little late arriving and a little excited to get started so I ended up putting the girth, anklepads and chin strap on wrong. Pet put up with me though as I got everthing corrected out in the arena. The trot felt really good, the canter incredible. We brought the stirrups up a notch and then little work at two point, posting and at the canter. Felt a little strange, my legs being in a different position and all but my balance was feeling really good after the dressage saddle last week. Then, it was time to start the jumping. We started by putting three poles on the ground between the two posts. I rode at the trot, and tried to remember everything Laura told me...look up, put your knuckes on his neck, lift up out of my saddle to the two-point, keep my heels down and stay at two point for a couple strides after the jump...I jumped over the poles on the ground and then brought pet up to canter out of the jump...

I did several laps in both directions. It felt pretty good, but I had to keep tinkering with little things here and there. Then, Laura raised two of the poles to form an "X". They were pretty low, but I definitely felt the difference in the way Pet was jumping.

I had to really concenetrate on getting up to my two point, keeping my hands on Pet's neck and keeping my heels down, especially just before and just after the jump. Then, Laura raised a single pole across the posts, a foot, then to 18 inches, then 24 inches.

In the end, I only almost fell once...well twice, but no one really noticed the second one. I'm pretty pleased, as was Laura, that I went to 24" so quickly. I still have a lot of work to do at the two point, so that I don't have to rest my knuckles on Pet's neck, as well as some balance and stirrup work, but...

Wednesday, May 3. Fencing hooky.
I should have gone to fencing tonight, but decided to play hooky instead in order to take advantage of the nice weather and attend a book signing for a new rowing book.

Tuesday, May 2. Siesta Swim.
Since I started my 5:30 am - 1:30 pm shift at Nordy's today I had the afternoon off. So, since I missed my swim day yesterday, I decided to make it up today. The pool wasn't crowded, and I was feeling pretty good so had a pretty good swim...I did my standard workout. I still feel like my technique is not where it used to be, but with a little focus I was able to keep it acceptable. I think the weights are affecting my stroke somehow, I feel like I'm not moving as fluidly as I used to. I think I'm going to tone down the weigts a bit for now, don't want to get big anyway. I'd rather do erg workouts and build back muscle that way than direct weight workouts anyway. This biggest problem was...and I wouldn't want to spare the reader any of the realities of being an athlete here...breathing only out of my mouth since my nose was a little stuffy. Just another challenge to overcome I guess. I'm also starting to bike to and from work every day, about 5 miles round trip. Not much, but its a every little bit counts.