The week of Jan 11-15 was filled with field work and a few riding sessions.
The long weekend of Jan 15-17, I travelled to SF and Tahoe. For the most part, it was a lovely weekend. Walked around the city, spent two days in the mountains. Only cons of the trip - my "new" snowboarding boots gave me terrible blisters and heavy storms hit the area, so we only got two half-days in on the slopes.
The week of Jan 18-22 was a little more field work. I began a new routine of spending one evening climbing at the gym, and one evening practicing tele skiing, every week. Dedicating myself to just two evenings of heavy physical stuff seemed a lot easier than committing to light physical work every day of the week. So far, I've been sticking with the routine pretty well.
Jan 23 was supposed to be the next 30-mile endurance ride I could compete in. As usual, it was cancelled due to poor weather. The nice thing is, there have been so many cancellations and postponements, I've been starting to expect something to come up each time! *sigh*
So, I spent Saturday resting (and maybe a little moping). Sunday, I was invited to go for a laid-back 16-mile ride with a group near the Santa Rosa Plateau. It turned out to be a great training ride for both me and the horse. Jabar, who is getting fitter by the ride, was busting at the seams that day. He was particularly excited because we were with the large group of new people and unfamiliar horses. It was a challenge to keep him slow and steady! But, it was great to get a feel for how a horse typically will act in a race atmosphere - and learn what needs to be done to keep him calm and under control.
The week of Jan 25-28, I went climbing for two nights, and didn't go skiing. I've noticed I've gotten rather lazy with my climbing routine. The last few times, I have been just doing slow, easy roped routes, and not really working on my stamina anymore. Since I've noticed this, I've been forcing myself to at least do a few bouldering routes (with calculated descents along the same problems), before I do the "fun easy stuff" on the ropes.
The weekend of Jan 29-31, I headed up to Big Bear Lake for training to re-certify my Wilderness First Responder. The training was a blast! I also got a few hours of snowboarding in on Friday night, and two hours of practicing tele Saturday night. It was great to be back in both a classroom atmosphere, AND in the snowy mountains!
The week of Feb 1-4 I didn't get to build a sweat at work. I had only one day of field work, and an easy one at that.
I did stick to going one night climbing, one night tele. I'm slowly, put surely, developing my strength and balance telemarking. However, it is slow going. My "coach", a friend who has been teaching me, says it's because of my old equipment. I picked up all my tele gear second-hand. The boots I picked up are over 20 years old, and all leather. A far cry from the more advanced and secure plastic tele boots of today. I'm desperately trying to track down an inexpensive pair, but no luck so far. Tele gear is pricey! I simply can't afford to pay 200 or over for a pair of ski boots, especially with trying to raise money for the fundraiser.
On Feb 5, I worked at the adaptive ski program. I was rather anxious about my first experience leading the bi-ski, and the challenge of providing a fun and safe atmosphere for a participant who not only may be physically disabled, but cognitively as well.
I ended up being assigned to a 14 year old girl named Molly. She had severe cerebral palsy, and a speech and language disorder from the condition. It was very difficult to communicate with her at first. After about an hour, I observed she understood me very well, she just had difficulty responding. "Yes" and "No" were easier responses for her, paired with head nodding or shaking when she couldn't form the words sometimes. As long as I faced her when I directed any questions, made eye contact, spoke clearly, and asked simple, yes/no questions, we were able to communicate quite well.
I also found I could tell her stories. Though she couldn't verbally reply to them, she seemed to understand most of them by physically responding.
For example, when it began to snow on us on the chairlift, I noticed it bothered her a lot. She would shake her head and moan, trying to lift her hands to block her face. She wasn't able to lift her hands due to her disability, and when I held my hands over her head, some flakes still managed to land. To distract her for the few minutes we would be on the lift, I told her how much I used to enjoy catching snowflakes with my tongue. I proceeded to stick my tongue out, catching flakes with it. A few seconds later, she mimicked me, smiling and laughing when a few landed on her tongue. It felt like a small miracle, finding that bridge to communicate.
I was successful with controlling the bi-ski, albeit slowly. My partner (who helps me lift the bi-ski with the participant in it onto the lift), has been volunteering for over a decade and could lead the bi-ski on some faster, more exciting runs. We found that Molly loved to go fast, but she also enjoyed the runs I led as I would keep up a constant flow of jokes and commentary as I carefully and gradually maneuvered on the hill.
The experience of working with Molly was challenging, both physically and mentally (at first), but in a good way. I can't wait to do another day of volunteering with the program.
The next day, I headed up to the mountains again, to practice more tele-ing on the fresh snow that had fallen - and was still falling.
Unfortunately, the storm turned to rain in the elevations under 7000 ft. Most of the resorts were at that elevation, so we formulated a new plan. Since I had driven all the way to Big Bear Lake already, we decided to find a fire road to ski on that was at a higher elevation. The highest one we could find (at over 8,000 ft) winded up to Onyx peak, a few miles from the lake.
When we drove to the base of the fire road, which began from a turnout on highway 38, it was snowing there. Cheered, we strapped on our tele gear, and went skiing up to the peak. It was gorgeous - no one else was on the trail, and everything was blanketed in white, and it snowed gently the whole way.
It was a cold day, but the uphill climb kept me warm enough to shed most my layers. I felt like I was on a nordi-track the whole way to the top! The exercise was great though. After only a few minutes of lunch at the peak, I was freezing and ready to get moving again.
After eating, we had a blast coasting all the way back down to the car. I didn't bother to practice my tele turns. I just don't have the muscle and balance yet to do that in deep, fresh snow. But the experience inspired me to practice even more this season at the resort. I am determined to master proper tele-turns, so I can finally skip the crowded ski areas and head into the beautiful backcountry.
Sunday I led an Outdoor Excursions trip to the Mountain High resort. It was a gorgeous blue-bird day on the mountain, with loads of fresh snow from the last two days of storms.
I was feeling rather exhausted from the last two days of skiing, so I went snowboarding instead of skiing while the participants had lessons from the resort. It was the best day on the slopes this winter season so far. The conditions were perfect and the crowds minimal (probably due to it being Superbowl Sunday). I pushed myself to make as many runs as possible by the end of the day, despite my exhaustion.
The moment I got back from the trip I was ready for bed - at only 7pm! But, I pushed myself to spend the evening with friends. I didn't hit the hay until midnight. By that point, I was running on fumes and feeling rather sick.
Big surprise, the following Monday I woke up with an awful head-ache, pain all-over, and a little delirious. My exhausted body succumbed to a full-blown flu. To make things worse, I got word that evening that there is an endurance race the following Sunday. This one was a 50-miler, but the weather looked good, and the horses looked good. Everything - but me - seemed like a go for this one!!
So, for the entire week of Feb 8-Feb 11, I slept, went through boxes of tissues, drank gallons of chicken soup, tea, water with lemon juice, and willed myself to get better.
Wednesday morning the fever was gone. By Thursday evening, my only symptom left was coughing. That evening, I left the house for the first time all week, and took the horse for a short ride to see how I felt.
I was definitely a little weak, but I felt with two more days to rest, I should be ok. My knees were bothering me a little - especially my right knee - so I bought two knee braces for them.
On Friday I felt even better. I went back to work for the day, and packed for the ride that evening. Saturday we drove with the horses towards the Eastern Mojave Preserve where the ride would be. Everything was looking like a go!! I was feeling loads better, the horses looked good, their owner felt good, and blue skies were predicted for the whole weekend.
Saturday night, I went to bed at 8pm. I woke up Sunday...with no cough!! I felt great, rested, and ready to go.
At 7am, we took off, and the ride began.
I have never ridden in such beautiful country. The horse did fantastic, despite a few stumbles and a brush with a cholla bush. He successfully passed the vet checks at the start and at middle (mile 25) of the race.
I got smacked a few times by Joshua Trees (after all, we were riding through the largest Joshua Tree forest in the world), but it wasn't as bad as it sounds. We also got lost twice, losing about 30 minutes time.
By mile 35, I was starting to feel a little queasy. I have never ridden more than 25 miles at a time, and never that length at such a fast pace. I was going to start with a 25 or 30 mile race, but we had had to cancel on the only short distance rides offered at the beginning of the year. It was going to be a 50-miler or nothing - and I was determined to stick it out.
By mile 40, I was definitely tired. My calves and knees were on fire. Everytime we trotted, the rider does the equivalent of squats as the horse jogs. You never really get a chance to rest in the saddle during that time. And we trotted everytime the footing was good for the horse - which was a lot!!
The horse, on the other hand, seemed to get his second wind as the miles flew by. He pretty much took over as I started to fade. It was awesome.
As we came in sight of the camp, his ears and head went up in interest. As we began to catch up to a couple riding in front of us, it took all of me to hold him back from breaking into a full-speed gallop. (I never thought horses actually LIKED to race until I met these horses!!) It was really great to feel his energy and strength. I had worried so much that he wasn't going to make it through. The last 50 mile endurance ride he was in he ended up being pulled from due to lameness. He took months to recover.
When I slid off to walk him to the final vet check, he wouldn't stop prancing. I held my breath as the vet checked his heart rate. The maximum heart rate is 60 bpm when the horse gets vet-checked. I continuously monitored his heart rate, and it was still between 61-64 bpm as we neared the vet. Probably due to his prancing, silly horse! After she listened to his heart, she asked me to lead him in a walk and trot, while she looked for any lameness issues. Then, with a casual nod, she passed us.
We had successfully finished my first 50 mile endurance race.
My legs ached like I had run for most of those miles, and a week later, I'm still downing ibuprofen. But it was worth it. We had not only finished successfully, but we also didn't come in last. In fact, out of 54 that started, we finished in the 30's. We might have come in the middle of the pack if we didn't get lost, and if I let him run during the last mile. But I'm glad we took it nice and easy. My goal was to finish with a healthy horse, and we achieved that by being cautious. I am more than happy!!
In short, I'm hooked. I can't wait for the next endurance ride. One day, I would love to do the infamous Tevas Cup - 100 miles in one day, from Tahoe to Auburn.
Feb 16-18, I relaxed. Monday through Wednesday, I took the horses on short walks to loosen their muscles after the race. They look like they are recovering well. Yesterday, they tore around the arena when someone's engine backfired. They sure didn't LOOK like they were tired and achy from going 50 miles this weekend!!
Wednesday night, I felt like I had recovered enough to practice some more tele-ing. I only did 3 hours, but I had a small breakthrough. For some of the turns, I was able to finally kneel down low enough to bend both knees (a proper tele stance when turning). At the end of the night, my quads were on fire. But I felt like I actually did some REAL work with this sport - no pain, no gain!!
I still need to work on balance and strength, but that will only come with more and more practice. But I'm totally inspired with the small improvements I've been able to make. It also feels really good becoming stronger, and noticing my stamina is better all around.
Keep this up, I think I'm going to be quite ready, at least physically, to climb Rainier.
For the next few weeks through Feb and March, I will be doing more volunteer work, keep up with climbing and tele, and two more overnight trips for Outdoor Excursions. I also will be training to do some bird surveys in the last weeks of March.
And of course, work will provide a few helpings of some tough hikes with heavy packs in the field. Hopefully, when life settles down a little bit (hopefully by April), I can finally start focusing on organizing some fundraisers.
For now, I'm having a blast building my strength and spirit.
