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.

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.

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.

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 revved 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 exhausted, 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.

"Patience in your brain"

I was a humbled rider again. Tonight, because 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 unfamiliar 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.

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.

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.