Two Minutes To Post

Jingle Bell Run

2008-12-14T23:02:00.000-08:00

It was a good weekend. Saturday I had a lesson with Courtney, then hacked General on the trails near Farrell McWhirter. It was really cold, and General's arthritis was acting up a bit, but it was so quiet and peaceful outside. I took a wrong turn, and ended up on a longer ride than I had planned, but we made it back to the barn before the snow started. We ended up with maybe an inch overnight, but lots of ice. I almost decided to sleep in, but crawled out of bed to meet Jennifer and Victor for the 5k Jingle Bell Run in downtown Seattle at 9am. About 10,000 people participated I think. It was a slow start, and the race had a number of icy patches, but it was a lot of fun -- everyone was festively dressed. Victor and I hit a coffee shop afterwards, then I went home and took Ms. Cli for a walk in downtown Kirkland. It was cold, but sunny and crisp. Cli tried on some winter coats at Barkz, but I couldn't make up my mind as to what looked best between the Ivy-League Baker wool look, or the L.A. sheepskin shawl. She looked really cute in both. I then drove back to Capitol Hill to meet Victor for a movie at the Harvard Exit. We saw Slumdog Millionaire -- it was great. Afterwards we had a great dinner at Poppy, which included a number of creative vegetarian options. It will be hard to go to work tomorrow.

End of the Season(?)

2008-11-23T22:46:00.000-08:00

Today was my last cross race of the season (I think). It was up at Monroe; pretty cold, and damp start, lots and lots of mud, and my feet were numb after the first lap. The course was pretty drab; not too difficult; only two run-ups, no barriers, although the mud fields were quite the slog. I think I ended up 11 of about 26 or so. Not near as good as the last race, but I think it hurt to have last weekend off, coupled with a very lax training week, due to a business trip. It seems like you can't really let up on the intensity training for these races. On the plus side, the bike handling was good, no mistakes, and I was comfortable (but still in pain of course) going through the mud. Not a bad end to the season; I think I'm currently ranked 8th for the series, but that will change after next weekend, since I won't be able to race due to going home for Thanksgiving. It was a good couple of days, coming off of a crappy work week, with the trip to central Washington. Friday I turned 38 -- Brad and I went to see the so-so Quantum of Solace, followed by dinner at matts in the market. Ran into Jen and Mark there. Brad's birthday present to me was a customized Gunnar Roadie -- white frame, black and silver decals, with red accents (wheels, wire tips, headset, etc.). The bike looks great, and I was touched by all the attention and time he put into it. I took it for a spin on Saturday, although I was loathe to get it dirty. Then I trailered General to Tall Firs for a lesson with Courtney, Sally Sue, and Durrel. It was a beautiful day; Brad and I then just relaxed at home, watching the amusing Iron Man before bed. Back to work tomorrow, but at least it will be a short week. I had contemplated taking my cross bike home to do a race in Murrysville this Sunday, but it is so expensive to take the bike on the plane. I got an email from the sponsor I had emailed about the race, trying to get me to come, but perhaps it will be to crazy with everything going on at home. Might be a good time to put the cross bike away, especially since it's finally clean.

Elusive Blue, Elusive Podium

2008-11-09T16:42:00.000-08:00

It was a great weekend. Brad went home to Rhode Island, so I decided to catch up with some friends and get outside. Friday, Andrea, Kore and I went to Sitka & Spruce. They hoped to get us seated by 8:30, but it was more like 9:45 when we sat down. We passed the time by ordering a bottle of wine at the bar, and had laughs all night. We didn't get home til about 1-ish. Kore had suggested that we see some live music, but I was psyched to just be up past my bed time of 11:30, and to have made it downtown for dinner. The restaurant's food was good, but atmosphere was a little tight, service a bit too casual. Saturday morning, I took General to another dressage show at Gold Creek. We rode Training 2 again. He placed 2nd (again) out of about 7 horses, but he was so lazy, which warranted the "needs more energy" comments the judge gave us. He just seemed tired. Perhaps he sensed I too was tired from too much wine the night before. Still, it was a nice sunny afternoon, and a couple of guys came from the barn for moral support. Saturday nite Jen and John were kind enough to make a drive up from Tacoma to meet me for dinner at Steelhead Diner. We had a bizarre combination of food, from french fries with cheese and gravy, to potato latkes, but everything was good. This morning I woke up at 6:30 for a cyclocross race in Bremerton. I was late getting out of the house with getting the dog and all my gear ready, and thought seriously about staying home and reading the paper. I'm glad I didn't, because it turned out to be my best race. The course was so fun, taking you through mud fields, single track, and even through the concrete aisleways of the fairground exhibition barns. I finally got the hang of keeping up my momentum when mounting and dismounting, and running harder and faster up the hills and over the barriers. I avoided making any big mistakes, and ended up 4th overall. I think the big jump in placing was due to the high intensity training I've been doing the last week and a half. I stopped commuting after I crunched my road bike into a concrete pillar in a parking garage while it was on the roof rack. I wasn't too disappointed, as I looked at it as a forced rest from commuting to and from work. In any event, I've been spending more time on the trainer, getting comfortable with the pain of threshold intervals. I think it really helped today. So, not bad - a red ribbon, and a 4th place bike finish -- I think I'll go to Nordstrom tonight to celebrate by buying some shoes.

We've Gone Country

2008-10-24T08:00:00.000-07:00

Having now thoroughly integrated into western ranch life, Brad and I are likely unrecognizable to the normal Seattle eye. Let's see, we've been clearing brush George Bush-style, we made (and stocked) a compost bin, tore out old fence posts, moved rocks, created burn piles, scooped up manure, and split wood. I've been busy cooking for Brad each night, although with mixed success. The pie was great, as was the nut-stuffed squash. The butternut squash gnocchi was pretty tasteless (I swear I followed the recipe to a t), but last night's mushroom/spinach fettucine was really good. We are currently in the midst of a very intense scrabble championship - Brad is winning though 4 games to 2 (I really think he's been cheating). We went to Sun Mountain Lodge on Wednesday for a mountain bike ride (using the Indie series course map), and then yesterday I took General out to our real estate agent's 150 acre ranch for a trail ride. She borders state land, so we just rode and rode and didn't see anyone for miles and miles. We did see three young horses who looked like a mini wild herd, and a few deer, but nothing else. Just sage, pine, old homesteads from the 1800's, and views to die for. When we returned to the ranch, some of their cows had gotten into the wrong pasture, so General had to try to use his previously-deficient cow herding skills to get them back together. One cow freaked him out, but then he was pretty good getting a baby cow into the right pasture (whatever it takes to get up his confidence!). He seemed pretty proud of himself. For our last day here, we might go for a hike since the weather looks like it's going to be clear and dry again. First though I think I'll make some omelettes for breakfast. This would be an easy life to get used to. Now I just need to convince Brad that we need a second horse.

Monday in Mazama

2008-10-20T21:43:00.000-07:00

Brad and I started our fall vacation this past Saturday, and drove out to the cabin for a week. It will be the longest we've stayed here since we closed Labor Day weekend. It's been absolutely amazing. The fall colors are brilliant -- the whites of the alder trees, with bright yellow leaves, contrasted against gray river rocks and green pines. Already there's some snow at the top of the mountains. We arrived late Saturday afternoon with our three furry friends - Indy, Clio and General. Tom, the guy who was working on a corral for General, finished it before we arrived. It looks fantastic (definitely something we could not have done on our own). Saturday evening we spent time unpacking and arranging all of our gear, and putting together a coffee table and side chair that we bought at World Plus Market. Sunday morning I got up at 8 am and starting moving the old stone path that was to the garden (which we partially tore down during fence construction), to the entrance to the corral. Then I started taking out the remains of the garden from the inside of the corral. I'm glad I did -- it was full of blackberry bushes (that I had to dig out), but the bushes were held together by twine and wire, not to mention some rails and nails. Horse nightmares. Brad pitched in after buying a wheelbarrow, rakes, and other misc. tools from the local hardware store, and we created a number of "burn" piles -- kind of the thing to do out here. Needless to say after all of this, we were so sore. I took General on an hour trail ride though through the Freestone Inn and back. We had comfort food -- pizza, veggie burger and fries at Jack's Saloon in Winthrop and went to bed early. This morning we got up, I threw a bareback pad on General, and Brad, Clio and I headed to the Mazama store for the paper and scones. It was so cool to be using my horse for transportation on quiet country roads with no traffic in sight. We later headed into town (not on horseback) to pick up groceries and run some errands, then came back to learn that the reason our land line has been dead, was that the fence installers had cut through the line. We'll need to have that fixed later this week. This afternoon, while Brad was tearing down the tree house that was in the back of the property, I started to cook believe it or not. I love to make stuff, it's just that I never have the time. So, for this trip, I planned to make a number of recipes, and also went to the bead store so I could work on some necklaces. I put some bread in the breadmaker (can't take credit for the bread), but then launched an ambitious effort to make an apple/pecan pie and stuffed delicata squash. The squash was good (or so Brad says). The pie is still baking, but looks and smells awesome. Brad was so amazed that I made this from scratch, including the crust, that he took a picture. I'll supplement this later when I find out how it tastes. What a great day though. I took General for an 8 mile loop from our place on the well maintained community trail. I couldn't believe how nice this trail system is. It goes across rivers, bridges, through pine forests and alder groves, and has signs marking your way. I came across a family of deer on our way back. General was too focused on getting home to pay them much attention. They were so cute though -- they hop in stead of run by jumping off all four legs at once, just like the skunk "pepe le pew." This evening, while I was cooking dinner, Brad burned our first "burn pile" -- we were a little nervous that we would burn down Mazama, but it turned out okay -- it was really nice and warm. Tomorrow night we'll have smores while we do the next one.

Sea-Tac Cyclocross -- A very painful 30 minutes

2008-10-13T17:36:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was my fourth cyclocross race. Hmmmm, I "guess" it was fun. It felt good afterwards (maybe 20 minutes afterwards; immediately after my finish I had to lay down on the ground to catch my breath; haven't felt that way since I ran the 400m sprint in high school), but the first lap was extremely difficult. So bad, that I started telling myself, "hey, no one will see if you just duck under that yellow line there and act like a spectator." I didn't warm up as much as I should have - I spent probably about 30 minutes riding around the course, and my mounts were so completely terrible -- I really need remedial mounting training. It just freaks me out having to jump on my bike during the race. I literally am stopping, tilting the bike over, and swinging my leg over. Really awful form. After the first lap, I started to think that I could salvage the crappy start. I kept trying to remind myself that in mountain biking it always felt like I was doing worse than I actually was, and how I actually ended up. So, I didn't duck under a yellow line, and tried to keep at it. By the end of the second lap, I felt warmed up, and then it was horse to the barn -- the thinking was, 'the faster I go, the faster the pain will be over.' When it was all said in done, I ended up 17 out of 38. Not quite as good as the last two races, but I don't think I could have done much better than say, 15th, if my mounts were good, and if I was able to ride through the damned sand. The next race is this coming up weekend, but we're planning to go to Mazama for a long-awaited week off. It's tempting to stay for the race, but a week of doing nothing at the cabin sounds like so much more fun . . . .

Enter working trot, halt, and salute the healthy horse!

2008-10-11T21:06:00.000-07:00

Well, I got sick of writing a blog pretty fast, but I realized that I type a lot faster than I can write in my diary, so I figured that I'd just use this as a way to keep track of what I do day to day. When someone I haven't seen in awhile asks what I've been up to, it pretty much just boils down to a blur of work, horses, biking, running, hanging out with Brad, the cat and dog. The details just get lost in the blur of routine. There's so much good stuff in the details, though, so I feel like I should commit them in writing so that I can look back and smile at what really goes on in our lives. Anyway.... today was a great day. I signed up for the Gold Creek dressage show about 3 weeks ago. I was so looking forward to this. Ever since we attended the Buck Brannaman clinic this summer, General (and I) have improved so much. I finally understand the concept of contact and release, which has completely eluded me over the years. General has just been so much softer and so much more willing. We've been practicing all the things we learned at the clinic on a narrow, but long strip of grass in front of the soccer fields on the Sammamish River Trail. He's been so good, that he's actually been recently doing a good half-pass at the walk, which is something we really never did before. So, I concluded that he was ready to go back in an arena -- but nothing too hard -- just fun. I entered him in just one class -- Training 2. The Gold Creek schooling show was today, and the timing was perfect -- just this week, October 7, I celebrated a year since General was found down in his pasture and rushed into colic surgery to remove a terribly tight lipoma that had wrapped around his small colon. The folks at Pilchuck, specifically Dr. Bryant, performed nothing short of a miracle to save my pony. I will never forget that day. Dr. Bryant told me to be prepared to put him down during the surgery. Miraculously though, once they got in, they found that the colon was not yet quite dead, and that they could sew him up to see how he would do. It was a week of complete uncertainty, as General stayed in their "ICU." I kept waiting for the call with the bad news. The call never came, but it was so weird waiting around for something that you did not want to happen. After a week, he was considered to be out of the worst, but it was 30 days of pretty intensive care, followed by another 3 months of slow rehab, and putting back the 100 pounds that he had lost. So, to see my horse today, after all of that, was truly a blessing. He was so full of himself from the moment he got off the trailer -- just would not stay still moving around constantly, like a 3 yo TB waiting for a race. Hard to believe that he's 19. I planned to do a nice slow warm-up, using a lot of the things we worked on in clinic. We warmed up for an hour then went in for our test. It was great to ride on such good footing. Shannon showed up for moral support, and did awesome reading her first test - the was a total pro at it. General was surprisingly energetic still, even after the long warm-up, and really moved around the arena. With Shannon reading, I finally succeeded in not forgetting where I was supposed to go, and let him do his thing. Everything was great, except for not moving out completely at the free walk, and some lack of balance at the right canter -- we ended up with a 68%, and a red ribbon. Next time, we gotta go for the blue.

General vs. Cow

2008-05-11T09:03:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Shannon and I trailered up to Hidden River Ranch in Sultan, to take a cow sorting clinic. There were about six people or so in the class. General was the only thoroughbred. The instructor, also a dressage rider, had us use a lot of dressage exercises (leg yielding, backing up, shoulder and haunches in, long and low stretches, etc.) to warm up our horses in the big outdoor arena. We did that for about an hour or so, then headed into a smaller arena to wait for the cows. The ranch had about 12 big horn cows. The cows were herded into the arena by a few very loud and authoritative sheep dogs who told the cows exactly what they need to do and where they needed to go. It was hysterical. General, however, thought that the whole thing was quite strange, and wasn't quite sure what to make of it. Once the horses got used to the cows being in the arena, the instructor had us pass our horses in front of the cows, and then ultimately to try to herd them from behind. General seemed okay with that, but then one curious cow decided to stop and turn to look at him, and General decided that the cow was weird, and ran away. We tried to use other horses to get General used to the cows, with some limited success. He would get among them a little bit, but wasn't entirely comfortable trying to single out a cow and separate it from the herd. He just wasn't getting the program. Brad suggested that perhaps General wanted to just be herded along with the cows, and I think that is probably not off the mark. Inca, despite being part-Percheron, took to the whole cow cutting thing really easily. She was definitely in charge of the cows, and was not about to take them disobeying her. Some of the horses were really amazing -- cantering after the cows and getting them to go one way or another, and paying a sort of cat and mouse game to keep them from going back to the herd (which is called "cutting"). If General were to try that, there is no doubt in my mind that the cow would win every time. So alas, we watched from the sidelines; me contemplating buying a cow-seasoned quarter horse, and General contemplating his days of mane-braids, monogramed sheets, and pretty little jumps framed by flowers, and thinking, "this whole cow thing is sooo beneath me."

Next Stop: Rolex

2008-05-08T20:00:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile since my last post, but unfortunately I was in Blaine for a trial this week. It's good to be back home after a non-stop busy three days, in 1980's era sweatpants and a warm sweatshirt. The dog and cat are sleeping at my feet. Life is good. Unfortunately I didn't make it out to the barn this week, but General probably enjoyed the time off. He had quite a little workout this past Sunday. We had plans to meet Sally at her place, to try out a cross-country course that she had set up in her pasture adjacent to the Redmond watershed. Shannon and I touched base that morning, and she ended up coming along with Inca. Shannon had initially said that she fully intended to stick by her no-jump, four on the floor policy, but that quickly went out the window as we all took a stab at Sally's course. I've always wanted to try eventing, but never had access to natural jumps before. Sally did an awesome job scrounging all kinds of logs and branches together to make for some great jumps. Maybe 10-12 in total? General wasn't sure what to make of it all at first, and refused a number of times, but he soon got the hang of it, and away we went, with big-girl Inca following right behind, with her white feathers flowing. General hadn't jumped in over a year, so it was great to see that the old guy still had a little pizazz. Durrell gave me and Sally a few big, almost lose your seat jumps, but he relaxed before too long, into his pretty, flashy self. Many thanks to Sally for being our host for such a great day.

Spring in Seattle

2008-05-01T21:49:00.000-07:00

May was off to a good start today, with clear skies, and great views of the mountains all around the city, still capped with snow. Today also kicked off "Bike to Work" month. I started to commute last month, but the weather just wouldn't cooperate on a steady basis. I guess I'll never be a true Pacific Northwester, since I cannot get used to riding in the rain and cold. So, I started again this week, commuting both ways Tuesday, and again today. The new road bike, "Jaden" (being a girl, I of course have to name my bike), felt great. The biking commute has improved a lot since I started three years ago when we first moved to Kirkland. First, I was riding my old mountain bike, one way, one or two days a week. The following season I purchased a Novarra Strada; good bike, but more of a commuter bike, and started biking both ways a few times a week. This season I have my race bike, a Raleigh Prestige, and am biking both ways 2-3 times a week. It turns out to be about 16-17 miles each way, taking me about an hour and 15 minutes or so, depending on the route I take. Usually I go down through Kirkland, up through Bellevue, Enatai, across the I-90 bridge, and into downtown on the way in. It's really hard in the mornings, being half asleep and stiff; after about 1/2 hour though, things feel better, and it's really enjoyable. The rides at the end of the day are always awesome. So many people are commuting by bike now, it's quite social along the route home. The best is that when I get to the house, I'm done working out, and can just relax. Tonight though was so beautiful, that I headed out to the barn around 7pm, to jump on General. All of the grass in the pastures seemed to come out over night, and everything smelled so good. The leaves on the trees were all budding, and the setting sun was casting a beautiful glow over the whole valley. The great blue herons were fishing in the Sammamish River, and there were a few otters swimming around. Everyone was out walking or biking on the jogging path-glad that spring has finally arrived. Let's hope it lasts for more than a few days.... :)

Equine & (No) Wine

2008-04-28T21:20:00.000-07:00

I just returned from our semi-regular get-together with my horsey friends, Michelle and Erin, at the Manzana Grill in Bellevue. Our little group, dubbed "Equine & Wine," has been getting together at different restaurants probably for at least 3 years now, ever since we all left the Union Hill Ranch, and scattered to different barns, or different pursuits, around the area. Unfortunately no one had wine tonight -- just diet cokes and coffee. We're getting old or boring, or both. Our E&W group got quite large for awhile, but scheduling problems made it easier to just revert back to the original E&W "members." It was great to see Michelle and Erin. Erin is pregnant with her second child, due in August; Michelle's kids are now 3 years, and 11 months. Time really flies by. I'm trying to convince Michelle to come along for a horseback trip that Shannon and I just planned with Icicle Outfitters. We went last year at the end of September, and had a blast. That was General's first experience trail-riding in the backcountry and camping out. He did so well, that I couldn't wait to do it again (albeit in warmer weather). Our trip is planned for August 22-24. This time we'll stay at one base camp, and ride out from there each day. Weather should be perfect then. The last time it rained, snowed, hailed, and blowed like crazy. So far we have a group of about 6 going; hopefully we can recruit more folks, to make for some good campfire talks at night. Between horseback riding trips, mountain biking, and getting together with friends and family, it's going to be a great summer.

Sunday, Glorious Sunday

2008-04-27T20:33:00.000-07:00

The stuff that weekends are made of. Got to sleep in to a whopping 7 am, had coffee, read the paper, played on the computer, went for a walk to downtown Kirkland with B and Clio; stopped at uBrdo to have my MTB tuned-up, bought a baby gift for our neighbor's brand new baby boy, then stopped at 'Shnoo' for some yogurt and fruit. Clio gets her own sample, which she drools non-stop over. Back at the house, I took a nap with the cat, then forced myself to go for a 50 minute run. The training plan called for 4-5 3-minute intervals, at a 5k pace. I felt like I was going to throw up after 3 intervals, so I cut the run a bit short. Got home, took a quick shower, then was out at the barn at 3:45, to trailer General for a ride in the Watershed with Sally and Durrel, a beautiful black Danish Warmblood that I leased from Sally over the winter. Thankfully General loaded like a dream, and we were saddled up and ready to go around 4:30. For a good part of the next 2 hours, the four of us just ripped it up on the trails, cantering everywhere. General kept trying to channel his inner-Thoroughbred, wanting to dig in to give Durrel a good race. We had a blast. It felt so good to be flying through the woods on super trails, with beautiful scenery all around. Definitely a great day to be on a horse. Made me feel like a 12-year old horse crazy kid all over again! So, it's 8:45, and I'm back home, winding down, wishing I didn't have to work tomorrow. If only weekends could last forever....

Teaching an Old Dog a New Trick

2008-04-27T08:32:00.000-07:00

So, this is my first attempt at "blogging." Until recently, I didn't even know what a blog was. Of course I've heard of the term, but like most things technologically related, I consciously disregarded it. My husband, Brad, however, recently started a blog (prompting me to make immediate fun of him), but then I got to reading it, and his friends' blogs, and thought I'd try it. I've been keeping a rough diary for a number of years, so I'm justifying the blog on the basis that it will be my on-line diary so to speak. It will be particularly useful since I can type a lot faster than I can write; plus, so long as I keep the blog relatively clean, I can have my friends and family from back east take a look at it to see what we're up to in the Pacific NW.

It's been a good weekend so far. Yesterday I took the Kingston ferry and drove up to Port Gamble, WA for a mountain bike race sponsored by ridgeracing.org. I took Clio with me for company. The weather was cool, but completely clear. Port Gamble is an adorable town -- perfectly preserved homes from the 1800's, manicured lawns, picket fences. The race started downtown. There were not many beginner racers, so my teammate Cameron and I rode with the "sport" category participants. The sport route was a mile or so longer than the beginner route, and included a steep sandy downhill. The course was hilly, and had some tricky uphill single track. It was incredibly diverse though, going through old growth forest, gooey mud puddles, and high elevation flat but winding single track. There were a number of downhill parts, and at one part I hit a log and flew off my bike (I fly off my bike at least once a race). The best part about mountain bike racing is that even though you're racing and your maxing out your body, it's so incredibly peaceful going through the woods. It's just a wonderful sport. There were about 6 or so women who came out for the race; hopefully more will join in as the season progresses. Today my legs and shoulder are sore, but I feel good. I need to take my bike into the shop though for a tune-up. I keep having trouble getting into my granny gear on the hills. I need to have it fixed for the upcoming indie races.