Looking Back - 2011

Back in January I posted some Resolutions for the New Year.  Now is as good a time as any to take a look back on how the year turned out:

1. Finish a 50 mile AERC ride on Diego. This can be considered a success, we not only finished a 50 at Rides of March but also a second one at Cooley Ranch in July.  Honestly, I was hoping for a bit more this season, but factor in the pull at NASTR in June and our successful second-day LD at Cooley, things didn't turn out too bad.  Mainly it was time and money that prevented me from attending more rides this season.


2. Eat "better", make smarter food choices. Buy and consume more fresh produce, especially veggies, and watch my portions better.  I'd probably rate this a success as well.  I was thinner this year than I have been in a while, mainly due to watching what and how much I was eating.  We still eat a lot of pasta, and occassionally rice, as the basis for our dinners, but I have cut down on the amount of potatoes and other simple carbs I was consuming.  Fast food pretty much makes me sick now so I consume very, very little of that.


3. Track my training miles better. I started an Excel worksheet with the date, distance, and duration of nearly all of my rides.  While I've been trying to update it after every ride, or at least weekly/monthly, I know that I've forgotten a few in there somewhere.  Overall though, it's a big improvement over not having anything formally recorded.  Diego is finishing 2011 with a little over 500 total miles for the year, not bad, but I hope to at least double that number, if not more, in 2012.


4. Blog more. Um.... okay, maybe not such a success here.  My issue is I only want to post interesting articles and/or stories, and not just document what I've been doing.  But then I realize that some of my favorite posts to read from my Blog Buddies are just that, small quick updates on what they've been doing.  I have some wonderfully humerous stories about my horse-shopping for a friend adventures from this summer that I need to write down and get posted.

Other big accomplishments this year include:

• Overcoming my fear of riding Diego, and finally learning to LOVE riding again
• First successful solo trail ride
• Getting Diego out on my one-and-only training trail from home, including finding a way to skirt the dicer first section by going down the quiet residential street
• Riding on the Tahoe Rim Trail with my mom
• Managing Diego's hooves and trimming on my own, and being mostly successful in that venture (NASTR was certainly a case of learning what not to do)

Fitness Testing - Kind of the same but different

At some point after the horse has developed good strong connective tissue and bone, the quality of the exercise is more important than the quantity. A young horse starting out need lots of long slow miles on a regular basis - preferably every other day. Working up to slowly adding more distance and more speed ( more trotting and less walking). This is a slow process and should not be rushed. The time required will depend on a lot of factors, the age of the horse, experience of the horse, conformation of the horse, etc.


Conduct a Standard Exercise Test

Put the horse at as close to a fixed rate as possible on the heart rate monitor, such as 140 beats per minute (BPM) for a fixed distance, say 5 miles and see how fast they do it. Record the time to complete the circuit at that set heart rate.  This is always done on the same stretch of trail. As your horse gets into better condition, they will be able to complete the circuit faster, in a lesser amount of time, still at that same heart rate. Conversely, if they start to take longer to complete the circuit, then you are probably over training or have some other issue brewing, so more rest is indicated.


Adapted from a post by:
Truman Prevatt

http://www.endurance.net/RideCamp/archives/past/04/35/msg00098.html

New Book about Tevis

I haven't had a chance to read it yet, my copy arrived in the mail yesterday, but who DOESN'T love a book about everyone's *my* favorite endurance ride?

Tevis, From the Back of My Horse
by Sharma Lynn Gaponoff

An action-packed true story about riding the most difficult 100-mile endurance ride in the world.  It is a story about triumph over adversity, about courage, teamwork and knowledge.  Join Sharma and her horse Tahoe on their journey through the rugged and scenic Sierra Nevada Mountains of California during their 24 hours of the 55th running of the "Tevis Cup 100-Miles-One-Day Trail Ride."  You will read about the "spills, thrills, and bumps along the way" in this compelling, entertaining and instructive chronicle.  Mount up and enjoy the ride!

http://www.sharmagaponoff.com/

Fitness Testing from Recovery Heart Rate by Gayle Ecker

Gayle Ecker, one of the foremost researchers on equine exercise physiology, strongly advocates periodic "fitness testing" to see how your horse is doing--getting stronger or weaker, etc. The way she did it was on a treadmill; which is impractical for most riders, however, she sent an EXCELLENT program that can be done on the trail. Do this fitness testing before the scheduled Endurance ride, give the horse a couple of weeks off, and do it again. That will give you a more quantitative measure of how far the horse has recovered.


Fitness Testing, from Gayle Ecker

Recovery heart rate test

Need a stethoscope and stopwatch or heart rate monitor.  Measure off a known distance that will remain fairly constant in footing from one repetition to another. A 5 mile section of trail, a one mile gravel road up a gradual slope, a 5 mile distance around a series of fields. Use a ATV, dirt bike, or vehicle to measure off the mileage (or kilometers).

After a warm-up of 15-20 minutes that includes walking, trotting, a bit of cantering, until the body temp of the horse is warm, then start the fitness test. Trot your horse over the distance and using the stopwatch time your duration over the chosen trail. You can trot some, canter some, even walk some, according to the fitness level of the horse. The overall intensity/duration should not be harder than your general training miles.

At the end of the distance, record the time to complete the circuit in a little notebook that you carry in a pocket. Start the watch again at the stop of exercise. At 2 minutes, take the heart rate using the stethoscope for 15 seconds, record this number. While dismounted, walk the horse along and re-take the heart rate for 15 seconds at 5 minutes, 10 minutes, and 15 minutes. Record these numbers. Cool out your horse (or continue with training miles, depending on the fitness level and your targets for training).

Once back in the barn, construct a graph (purchase graph paper from a stationery store to make this easier, or use a program like Excel if your good with computers):
On the bottom of the graph (the x-axis), put the time (0 to 15 minutes).
On the upright axis (the y-axis), place Heart Rate.
Record the heart rates above the appropriate time (HR at 2 minutes, 5, etc.). Connect the dots. Note the slope of the line.

Repeat the same test periodically, keeping the distance and duration as much the same as before. In other words, you are testing recovery heart rate, not the speed at which you can complete your circuit, try to aim for the same time as prior tests.  If you start this now, and repeat it periodically, you will have an objective measurement of how much conditioning has been gained or lost based on how quickly your horse recovers from a set level of exercise.  Keep in mind factors such as temperature and humidity will also affect results.  Best to record the date, temperature, and humidity as a footnote for each session if possible.

Modified from:

http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/new100milers/message/303

Tahoe Rim Ride - Kingsbury North to Spooner Summit

On Sunday, my mom Lynda and her Tennessee Walking Horse Joe joined Diego and I for a ride on the Tahoe Rim Trail.  My friend Sanne and I are going to be managing an AERC endurance ride over parts of this same trail, next August, 8/25/12.  You can go here:  http://www.endurancetrax.com/ for more information on the Tahoe Rim Ride.

So Sunday morning, both my mom and I hooked up our rigs and loaded our horses up.  Since we were going to be riding point to point, the plan was to leave my trailer at Spooner Summit, off Highway 50, and to take my mom's to the start off Kingsbury Grade.  We each trailered one horse up the first haul to the top of Spooner.  I parked in the main trailer parking area, which is on the south side of Hwy 50.  Next time, I would pull through the USFS picnic and parking area on the north side of the highway, where the trail actually comes out, as there are a couple of pull through spots you could just fit a trailer in.  Use the main trailer parking as a back-up if those spots (there are only about 4) are full.  I already had my tack in my mom's trailer from riding the day before, so only had to put Diego in and we set off to the start of the trail.

Going up Kingsbury Grade (Hwy 207) is a steep haul.  Definitely need to use a low gear and make judicious use of the sporadic turn-outs.  You turn onto Benjamin Road North off the 207, and follow the road 2 more miles through a neighborhood to the actual trail head.  These last 2 miles are quite steep and slow going.  At least, for the most part, the vehicles had to do all the hard climbing work on this ride, getting us to the top of the world, leaving less climbing for the horses.  There is a large dirt area to park a trailer in before the smaller paved lot.  Since we were the first trailer in, we were able to get turned around and parked facing out, which was a good thing as upon our return, there were two other trailers (vehicle, not horse) there and it made getting my rig turned around a bit interesting, but still very doable. 

We got saddled up and ready to go.  We were careful to pack extra drinking water for ourselves, and carrots for the horses.  This 12.2 mile stretch of the Tahoe Rim Trail (TRT) has NO natural water.  Ensure you have lots of extra water for yourselves, and for your horses at the end of the trail.  Both of our horses drank around 5 gallons each at the end.  The first part of the trail is fairly technical, climbing a series of granite steps, along a narrow single-track, right within the first half-mile.  My mom rode up this section, but I stayed on foot and lead Diego up.  In less than a mile, the trail was less rocky and I mounted up.  There were still a few sections I would dismount for, mainly because Diego is still learning where best to place his feet, sometimes making not very wise decisions, and I would rather NOT be on him at the time.  By the end of the day however, he was able to confidently follow behind Joe, watching where he went, or pick the better path himself.

I truly cannot write words to describe the beauty of the trail.  The pictures do not even begin to do it justice.  I had to keep my camera on-hand, ready to whip out at any time to snap the next awe-inspiring view.  I found the best place to do this, was to tuck it in my bra.  =)  It worked great, the only problem being I kept forgetting it was in there and then "finding" it unexpectedly, like when we stopped for lunch, and while driving back home.  We took pictures of the three main areas where the road(s?) would cross the trail.  These were all nice big open areas that would easily accommodate a vet check.  We stopped often just to enjoy the scenery and appreciate being lucky enough to ride this trail.  There is a wooden bench nestled in a rock outcropping along the peak of the trail, with incredible views of Lake Tahoe.  This made an excellent spot for lunch, with grazing for the horses tied to nearby trees and endless views for us.  This spot is approximately 7 miles from the Kingsbury Trailhead, and 5 from the Spooner Summit side.

Since this is the shortest segment of the TRT, it does receive a fair amount of traffic.  We saw about 10 mountain bikers and probably an equal number of people hiking.  Everyone was very polite and courteous, correctly yielding the trail to the horses.  The trail was very clearly marked and easy to follow, either with the blue arrows or badges of the TRT nailed to trees.  Most of the trail was single-track, where there was simply no question as to if you were on the correct route, there was no where else to be.  We walked about 70% and did a slow easy trot/gait the other 30%.  We were cognizant of not wanting the horses to get to overheated and any more thirsty than they already were.  It took us a total of about 4.5 hours to get from one trailer to the other, with about 30 minutes being stopped for lunch.  You could ride it faster, especially during the ride where water will be provided along several points. 

There were some portions that were quite rocky and required walking, others were you could trot for a bit, walk a short stretch, then trot again, and yet others were there was just a long stretch of glorious perfect footing.  The elevation change was mild, being a total of about 1,600 feet over the entire distance.  If riding from the Spooner side, you would have more climbing from that direction, and it would be more difficult to navigate some of the rockier portions into Kingsbury, having to go down the granite rock steps, rather than up them.  If riding point to point, the Kingsbury to Spooner direction would definitely be the preferred choice, however, if you wanted just a beautiful out and back, I would recommend the Spooner side.  The access to the trail is much easier (hauling a trailer up the grades) and the trail itself is better footing and less rocky coming from that direction.  It would make an excellent 10 mile ride to ride up to the lake viewing area, and then back to your trailer at Spooner Summit.

Enjoy the pictures below.

Heraldic

One of the greatest endurance horses ever.  I can't wait to see what more he is capable of.  This is a most excellent article worth reading:

http://heraldic.yolasite.com/about-heraldic.php

Low Mileage Training

I'll admit it.  I don't ride nearly as often as I should.  In the three month's before the 50 at Rides of March, Diego had 74 training miles.  In the three month's before the 50/30 at Cooley, we had 138.  There was also the 50 at Rides of March, and a 25 ride as well that I didn't count in the interim.  But still, very low mileage.  I'd like to say this hasn't always been the case, but in reality it often has.  My life was very full when I was competing my first horse several years ago.  My saving grace, and the ability to move up to and successfully complete 100-mile rides, was based on the simple fact that I used the rides themselves for training and conditioning. 

I also know I'm not alone in this, shameful as it may be.  :)  So how do we do it?  How are we able to successfully COMPLETE rides (note: I would NOT recommend COMPETING on this type of a schedule) with low-mileage training?  Here are some tips:

1. Specificity of training. Pick an event that you intend to ride, and tailor your training as much as possible to simulate the ride conditions (surface type, elevation, elevation change, temperature, etc.). If you're not sure what the ride conditions are like, ask the ride manager, or someone who has attended in the past.  If you're still not sure, it's best to "plan for the worst" and try to pick a more difficult training environment (hills, sand, etc).  Be aware, however, that if you train in the mountains, and the ride is flat footing, that it may actually be more difficult for your horse.  The same is true if you train in the sand, and then encounter hard-packed footing, or visa versa. 

2. Long training ride. Do at least half, and honestly - I've done ALL, of your weekly mileage in one long training ride. If you know that you only have time to ride once a week, work up to doing 1/3 to 1/2 of your goal distance on your one long ride.  This means if you want to ride 50's, then work up to doing a 25-mile ride once a week or so. 

3. Cross-training. Difficult if you're limited in your saddle time, but squeezing in an hour of arena work, or even putting your horse on a lunge (or free lunging) occasionally can help to increase and/or maintain fitness.  Taking a lesson will benefit both the horse and the rider.  Chances are, you'll both work muscles you don't use on a daily basis.  Horses kept in a large enclosure are better off than those kept in a small one.  Horses kept in an enclosure with hills, rocks, and other natural obstacles are better off than those kept without.  That being said, my horse lives at home in a flat 24x36 ft corral.  Just make the best of what you can.

4. Vary weekly mileage. Start at least 12 weeks before the intended ride and gradually increase mileage to a level that is about 20%-50% higher than your average miles per week (mpw). For example, if your annual average is 20 mpw, try to build up to at least 25 mpw during your training before the ride.  Ideally, my mpw would be at or near my goal distance, but since I know that's not feasible for me, I like to aim for 50-60% of my goal distance, or 25-30 mpw to complete a 50 mile ride.  To increase this before an event, I can add one or two shorter rides during the week to ramp up to around 40 miles before I taper.  A "high mileage" week, 2-3 weeks before a 50, might look like this:  Thurs: 8-10  Sat: 20-25.  If I can, I'll do one other shorter ride of around 5 miles mid-week sometime.

5. Peak and taper. Peak your weekly mileage two or three weeks before the ride, if possible, aim for around your goal distance as your mpw. Then taper your mileage down for the last 2-3 weeks. Your horse will feel rested and ready for action on ride morning.  If your goal distance is 100 miles, I like to start my taper earlier and will generally ride a 50 mile ride, or even two back-to-back, about 4-6 weeks before a 100.

6. Rest. The rule of thumb I've heard and like to follow is to give one day of rest for every 10 miles you cover in training.  This means that if I do a 50, I will not ride at all that following week.  I do try to get my horse out and take him for long walks and lots of grazing by hand.  I may go on an easy ride that weekend, but nothing fast or strenuous.  There are a lot of horses going, that are ridden only at actual rides.  If you live in a region where you can manage a ride every 2-3 weeks, or a multiday once a month or so, then this is possible.  However, if you only plan on doing one or two events a year, this obviously is not the schedule to use.

7. Pace. Ride at as close to a constant pace as you can during the event. This means going out at the start much slower than your horse will want to. It also means keeping your moving speed fairly low.  Remember, this is not the type of training you want to do if you intend to finish above mid-pack.  Keep your trotting speed around 7-9 mph and walking around 3-5 mph.  Your overall moving mph will be somewhere around 6 mph or so depending upon footing and terrain.

8. Ride your own ride.  Is your horse an uphill horse or a downhill horse?  Can she keep up a steady pace on a winding trail, or are long straight stretches her forte?  Is he happiest with a buddy along or does he work best alone?  Take advantage of their strengths and do your best to mitigate their weaknesses. 

9. Stopping and vet checks.  Since you will not be going very fast, make sure you do your best to use your allotted trail time, actually going down the trail.  Do not dilly-dally around too much at water stops. Have your horse drink, cool them if needed, and then get going.  Watch your time at the vet checks and try to leave on time.  If you're travelling at a 6 mph average, you cost yourself a 1/2 mile for every 5 minutes you are late leaving a vet check.

10. Navigation. Attend the ride meeting and bring the ride map and/or course description provided. Make note of mileages between main landmarks, such as the vet checks and water stops. Listen carefully for if there are any technical sections that are going to slow you down more than normal (overly rocky, steep, lots of roots, etc). You will need to take advantage of the other sections to compensate for this. Pay attention to the trail markings, you do not want to go off course. If you get lost, the best general rule is to go back the way you came until you know where you are on the course.

11. Post-race. After the ride, ensure your horse has plenty to eat and drink at the trailer. Walk around smiling, socializing with the other riders, and savoring your accomplishment. Go back and take your horse for a short walk every hour or so before you leave. Do not immediately pack up to go home, as problems are just as likely to occur in the few hours following an event as they are during. Keep an eye on your horse's appetite and comfort level. Best to stay and enjoy the meal and relax for a bit before trailering home. If you traveled more than a few hours to the ride, it is even better to stay overnight before going home.  Walk your horse again before trailering home.

12. Post your experiences. As soon as possible after the ride, be sure to write an e-mail story about your experiences. Share it on public endurance forums, your blog, etc. We all need to learn from each other as much as possible. It's also valuable to look back at later and recall some of the details of what did or did not work for you that particular day.

13. Ask veterans for advice. My favorite place to do this is to ride with them at the actual rides.  There is often a huge wealth of knowledge, happily trolling along at the back of the pack. Some of the highest mileage riders and horses are back there, quite successfully doing their thing. Subscribe to E-mail lists, read blogs, surf the web, train with them, subscribe to Endurance News magazine.

Finally

14. The "experts" say that you should be able to complete a distance 3 times that of your *normal* long ride (single ride, not mpw). For an LD (25-30 miles), that means an 8-10 mile training ride.  For 50's, that's about a 17 mile ride.  I personally like to round up and do at least 20.  For 100-milers, that means a 33 mi.+ training ride (approximately). I prefer to use 50 mile events to achieve this goal.