But its coooooold!

Feeling very not Canadian at the moment, because I get to work tomorrow and with the wind it's going to be -34! Yay Alberta! Plus the roads will be icy and the van hasn't got snow tires, so that's sure to be a treat. And its going to be dark and cold and I don't own any snow/windproof pants and rubber boots are terrible at keeping feet warm!
Ah I'm sorry, I'm such a whiner. Especially since this is only the beginning...just wait til its -45! and school isn't ever cancelled, uni or otherwise..no snow days up here =(

But look what finally got here! Hopefully I can find to read and you know actually DO the workouts. For the most part they seem like strength training, which is good and then I can do my own cardio. I haven't worked out in ages so I bet I'm back at the stage where a good workout leaves your crippled the next day because of all the lactic acid in the muscle. I hope so, after a while that stopped happening and even though I give nothing more to a lot of my workouts with out dying in the gym I wasn't ever sore the next day, and that just seems to me like I didn't work hard enough, even though there was no way to have done more.

And this is the lovely collage you can see in the back of the first picture. I spent ages making it last weekend after finally deciding it was okay to cut up my Spruce Meadows year book things and the very few English photos from Horse Canada, which is regrettably mostly western oriented.

It Was A Good Lesson....

Until the very very end.

But to start with:
We did ride outside, it wasn't overly hot, the jumps were about 2'6" (possibly a 2'9" oxer but it wasn't marked so I'm not sure).
The course was fairly difficult and K said it was designed to be exhausting, and it was.

For the most part the crazy was kept to a minimum, she started out really well but was really into looking at what was going on around her and then spooking at a few things..like jump poles on the ground. Her trot was much like last day but she was really good when it came to the canter, she wasn't fighting picking up the lead and she didn't get rushy like she sometimes does when we jump outside.
However she did have a few small moments where it felt like she would bolt, she did start a few times but came back really well when I asked. After one jump she did try to buck a bit, I'm not really sure what the problem was. She dropped her head and got in a couple small ones while I was trying to pull her head up, we missed the turn to the jump.
So K said if she ever tries that again (hopefully not) to turn her head to the side and keep looking at where I wanted Pony to go and turning her head, she won't be able to buck and it may remind her what we are supposed to be doing. Luckily she didn't try bucking again.
There was one jump that she really hated while going away from home. It was a brown plank ground line with white writing and a plain brown pole, but the paint kind of reflected the sun which I don't think she liked, so we had problems with that.
There was another jump that was so weird, it was only 2'6" but coming up to it, it looked much bigger. And it's not even a jump meant for illusion, the standards are quite tall so it should look smaller, even with the arenas slight grade it shouldn't have looked like that. Maybe it was the heat.
She jumped beautifully though, so I'm really happy with her and now I know what may be coming on Thursday, unless it rains, then we'll be back inside.

So, the horrible part: I've mentioned this chick before, she's a huuuuuuuge bitch and god awful rider, but her lease horse is lame, which is of coarse horrible, the mare is (usually) a very sweet horse, at least when you're on the ground. She was riding one of my friends horses, but my friend also can't stand her and is really pissed this girl is riding him even though she understands why.
There are no other horses for this girl right now except possibly Pony. It was hard to over hear exactly what they were saying because my friend was trying to wipe some weird medicated horse cream on my arm and we were being a bit loud, but it did sound something like "you may not like her but..." and "the only other option may be Pony." Fuuuuuck. I'll be so pissed if that chick starts riding her, she'll probably ruin her, I still blame her for Tommy becoming so girthy (it started after she started riding him so it's not a big leap to blame her). Did I mention she sucks at riding? I hope Pony doesn't like her, she likes to test her new riders and provided the girl isn't hurt, I kind of hope she fails the test. Or that T (her horse) gets better ASAP. I know I sound like a bitch, but I don't like sharing horses, a pit fall of leasing. And I'll be pissed as hell if this effects my riding schedule. I ride three times a week on set days, and this girl needs to work around it. I don't care she rides on Tuesdays as well, it's my lesson day and she can go away.

Went to gym, 2km run in 13min
                     5 min rowing (859meters)
                     30 sec plank
                     20 sit ups (2 reps)
                     no stretching
                  =lazy workout

Tomorrow is another run and weights and plank.

Workout

Cardio: 30min bike ride @ level 8, 90+RPM 13.2km
               5min Jacobs Ladder 0.08km (5min doesn't sound like a lot but Jacobs Ladder is crazy intense and if you haven't been using it regularly, even 5min can be hard!)

Core: 10 sit ups x5
           10 Russian twists x3
           45sec Plank x2
           30sec V sit x3
           20 lunges (each leg)
           10 squats x4

Stretch

Thursday & Workouts

I worked Thursday morning  at the barn and then had a riding lesson.
Pony was good, we had one random refusal, which was actually random because we had a good distance, good pase etc. but she stopped anyway. Other than that she was okay.
She got really backed of the blue and yellow truck jump but K was thinking the blue might be hard for them to see and then she was backed of the lattice jump in that line, but she still went over when I yelled/clucked at her.
We also did a lot of work on bridling up, my arms were sore after from trying to get her to keep her head up, so I'll have to do more weights I think!

Thrusday Workout
Cardio: 30 min bike ride @ level 8
              distance: 13km
                             = 939.1 km left
Core: 45 sec plank x2
           10 sit ups x4
           10 Russian twists x3
           30 sec V sit
           10 squates x2
           10 lunges x2

no weights and no stretching, not good.

Todays workout:

Cardio: 15min run @ 5

Core: 45sec plank

This ^^^ is why I shouldn't work out at home. The run was surprisingly not bad because my home treadmill suuuuucks but that's more for sprint training because by the time it gets to the fast sprint, it's time to go back to a jog and on and on. I try to go the gym and not workout at home because I just don't work as hard at home as I do at the gym.

I was reading a thing about ab training myths/truths and one was something about not doing ab training more than four times a week and not on consecutive days. So I guess I'll have to do a bit more planning for my working out, except plank, that is everyday. So I'll alternate weights and core I guess.

Workout

I forgot to take off a few km yesterday! The total running distance was 2.56km and today was 2.02km and a 3.32 bike ride.

So there's *only* 952.1km left.

Workout
Cardio: 14 min run @ 5.2
                1 min sprint @ 6
       Bike: 10 min level 8 on "hill mode" which doesn't feel very hilly so added a few hill climbs at 18-20

Core: 10 burpees
           10 sit ups x4
           10 Russian twists x3
           30 sec V sit (just one today)
           45sec plank
           30sec plank
           10 squats x3
           10 lunges (each leg)

Weights: 10 bicep curls x3
                10 tricep dips x3

Yoga is tonight before bed, then I work and ride tomorrow morning and I'm supposed to work out with a friend but she sucks to workout with, she doesn't know what she's doing and is really bossy so you just want to see fuck off I'm doing this if you don't want to go do your own thing. But she will NEVER work out on her own and then gets mad when I say I can't go with her, but she needs to do things on her own.

        

Lattice Jumps & Kieser bikes

So today we were working on using the corners more effectively during the coarse. Pony was soo good, I thought she might have a problem with the lattice jump even though she's done them a million times before, but she was great, didn't look at it all. She did look at the truck jump and it was really awkward and I ended up catching her mouth but she didn't back off at the next jump like she sometimes does.
Then she ran out at the fan but that wasn't to big of a deal, we just didn't have a distance she wasn't being naughty or anything. When we came back to it she was good.
We did some more work on leg yielding and she was great! So hopefully that means they're improving.

K was talking about rider fitness today and how important core strength is when riding, not only to support your back but when your jumping and your horse pulls forward that you can have the strength to try and pull yourself back up.

Today's workout and yoga routine 1:
Cardio: 2min walk @ 2.5
             18min run @ 5
     Keiser Bike: 12minutes on gear 8 (80+ RPM) with random "hills" on gear 18 for 30 sec
So for the biking, there's a thing on the console that says "trip" I assumed that would mean miles or km, turns out it means revs so 4.0 is actually 4000 revs. Which doesn't convert to km and so doesn't count towards the Pacific Highway.
Oh well, it was still a good workout, just means I have to use a different bike but that sucks because I really love the Keiser bike.

Core: 10 sit ups x4
           10 Russian twists x3 with 6lb ball
           30 sec V sit x3  with 6lb ball
             5 leg lifts x2
           45 sec plank
           30 sec plank
           10 burpees x2
Weights: 12.5lb barbells
                10 bicep curls x3
                10 triceps curls x3

Stretch

I should do different things with weights like dead lifts and chest flies. Forgot to do squats, lunges and calf raises, but there's always tomorrow.

Yoga
This is a really beginner/simple one I have in a yoga book but this sites diagram is way better.
Sun Salutation yoga routine

Ewwww!

People are soooo gross!  I hate being around other people when they're eating, it's so nasty, the sound literally drives me crazy! And today, I'm a bit jealous because I can't eat anything that requires chewing. Hooray for the soup, pudding, and ice cream diet. Damn wisdom teeth.

But I'm hoping to maybe run on the treadmill at home and do some ab stuff. I wish I could go see Tommy tomorrow too instead of having to wait til Thursday. I'm also so horribly unexcited for Tuesday...and Wednesday. Tuesday is the first day of second semester, Psychology, Math, Lunch, English and then I can go home. But still...I don't know, I'm so not looking forward to it. I wish I'd had math first semester, just in case something went wrong, I could have retaken it. Having said that, I really have to work my ass off, which is easier said then done because I'm horrible at studying and love to procrastinate. Plus math is hard to study, ahh so many excuses.
Then Wednesday, we get our report cards for first semester. Again, not pleased, I'm so nervous for social. I don't think I didn't pass, but I'm just worried if it's dropped or something. I'm sure I at least scored the average 60 on the written, but hoping to hit my typical 75, also hoping to have got at least my typical 96% on the multiple choice part. There's probably nothing to worry about, but we'll see. As much as I love social and wouldn't mind taking another social I don't want to repeat it. I just think there should be a Social 31 for nerds like me that would love to keep studying it.

Thank god we have a family trip to a resort in the Rockies in a couple weeks.

....I miss my horse.