The zero week challenge

Everyone seems to love a challenge, whether it is "daily core" "30 days of yoga" or reading 100 books in a year.

So, I decided to jump on the bandwagon and challenge myself to a zero mile week!
Man, the struggle was real (it was not.)

I saw no need to run after randomly hopping around a 50k.

Skills

I had a ton going on as well, the first big horse show of the year!

Actual skills

And on top of that, a horse who needed extra extra care, and vetting, and round the clock temp checks after coming down with anaplasmosis (fast and furious and no fun!)

This coming week should be a bit more manageable, and I hope to get in some low key mileage. I'm aiming for between 20-25 miles.
I could also benefit from some strength work (which I hate) so maybe I really do need a "20 minute ab challenge" or something!

Stats:
Miles run: ZERO
Vet bill: $600
Miles traveled to horse show: Only 300 this time
Number or 2nd place ribbons won: 4

Running, Horse showing, making ugly looking food, and more!

Somehow I managed to fit in 40 miles last week, even though I had a ton of work stuff going on.

On Monday I took my first run in a long while over the infamous Bitch Hill. It was a glorious Spring day, and even though it was hilly (some things never change) I had a really nice outing.

Always pretty

I also found a tiny Robin's egg that had blown out of its nest. It was been SUCH a windy Spring around here. We always have a windy April, but May has continued to be so blustery. 

Sorry little egg

Once I got home, Eric and I made 5 batches of pesto from the kale and basil that my Dad grows in his indoor garden. I can't imagine how much that much basil would have cost me in real life, so this is one of my favorite activities (is making pesto an activity? I guess it is.)

Batch 1 of 5, and about $100 worth of basil

On Wednesday I ran across town to meet Eric in Norway after he finished up the Green Machine group ride. It was a really, REALLY, fantastic weather day (temps the low 60's, sun, and breeze. perfect.) I should have stayed home and worked on household projects, but it was far too pleasant of a night to pass up running.

Super athletic power couple

While I fully intended to run on Thursday, life seemed to have other plans for me and I decided to peace out on the whole plan. Honestly, even when I am marathon training there are some days when staying home payoff more than a run!

On Friday, I ran some quality junk miles in a new pair of shoes. I am trying to wait for the Hoka Clifton 4's (not sure when they are coming...) And the Brooks Ghost 10's seem to be ok. Not Hoka level good, but I got a good deal on themes that makes me feel positive!

New. 

Eric and I have been trying to expand out breakfast food horizons lately. We need something quick and easy in the mornings, and toast with PB&Honey almost always does the trick. We recently tried the Muesli (basically, overnight oats) from the Run Fast, Eat Slow cookbook. The final step to these oats, is to add a grated apple. This step made them almost inedible to me, as they looked like cat puke (Eric said they looked like tuna... still not good.) and the texture was exactly what you would expect from cold oats with a grated apple added. *barf* However, they tasted great.
I made them again, without the weirdly offensive apple, with excellent results. They still look gross, but it is a gross level that I can handle!

Slightly gross looking breakfast

On Saturday, we had some pretty ideal marathon weather. It was in the upper 50's, drizzley, and quite windy.
I DID NOT run a marathon, but I did run abut 13 miles to the pub. I met Lee and Eric there, and we had pizza and talked about the Royal Wedding (I secretly love Royal Weddings!)

Sharing tiny beers!

On Sunday, I had a horse show outing with my little one which took up the whole day. I wasn't planning to run at all, but decided to head out for a couple very easy miles when I got home. The weather all day had been muggy and damp, but as things dried out I definitely felt like getting (back) outdoors! I really mean it when I say "short" run. It was just over 2 miles, so nothing tricky!

Baby horse at the show!

Next week (well, this week at this point) is probably going to be a little lower in mileage. I am considering possible "race" options for Sunday (since I actually have most of the day off) but this plan is still completely up in the air. So we shall see!

Stats:
Miles run: 40.2
Elevation: 2,178
My placement in my Strava running club: I had to go check, because I am no used to this being something I care about. But 14th. That seems good!
Hottest day: Gross humid upper 70's on Sunday

Early winter recap

It was a Fall of highs and lows. 

Per the norm, I have had a lengthy blog absence but I hope to be able to regain some level of consistency from here on out. 

Quick recap, mostly in pictures. 

Reunited!

In early October my cousin Evan came back for a weekend of constant athletics.
We biked in the rain, climbed mountains, ran the Bethel trail race and spent an afternoon trail running at Bradbury. It was certainly one of the most fantastic weekends of the fall and one that ended too soon!!

Sunset on Hawk Mountain, early October

New babayyyy!

The same weekend that Evan visited, my new pony arrived! I bought him in July and he finally arrived (from Germany!) in October. He is better than anything I ever could have hoped for, and I am so incredibly excited to see what we can do together.
(and no, this is not a horse blog. but believe it or not, a horse blog is coming soon. Details TBA)

Last Bradbury outing 

Amazing weather

Eric and I enjoyed one final Bradbury day late in the season. Both of us enjoyed our dirtbag status so much this year, and I haven't enjoyed running so much in a while! Apparently, the fear of tripping and falling down a mountain is fun to me....??

Lester.....

In early November, our youngest dog became severely and suddenly ill (complete renal failure). We chose to hospitalize him for the best treatment, but it quickly became apparent that he could not be saved. Heartbroken, we brought him home for hospice care.
We had him with us for several days before we knew it was his time.
This was a really hard time for us. I have struggled to find peace with his sudden passing and have only recently been able to become more at ease with what happened.

Running away from the feelings....

Eric and I both needed time to clear our heads after his passing, and found that hitting the road for some quiet runs helped. It was tough.

Birthday hike!

A couple weeks later my birthday weekend arrived, as it seems to every year. It's nice that despite this, I never ever age.

Eric, Kate and I went off of a wintery hike, fueled by peppermint mochas and coconut lattes.  (#fueledbynomad) (and beer by Norway Brewing!)

It was a chilly day, but we went 6 miles waterfall hunting, (gnome hunting too, but you had to be there!)

Birthday beer!!

Legit

 And then winter came, or at least the daylight hours became much fewer.

SAFETY

After our trail running days came to a close, we weren't really sure what we would do for fun.
It's hard to beat running up and down mountains and drinking beers in the back of the truck afterwards....

Being the geniuses that we are in the Bradlowski household, we decided that all Saturday runs would end at the pub.

YOU GUYS. What a stroke of pure brilliance! Nothing makes a double digit run more fun than knowing that beer is waiting at the end! (and so is Lee, to pick us up!)

So that's pretty much it, in the fewest words possible.
Cheers.

Bear Bones Brewing, our current favorite.

A series of setbacks!

Typical beginning of the month behavior for me, as well as most runners is to mull over the previous month and contemplate what went well and what could have been better.

When I think back on August it was pretty much what I expected in the running department. However, September seems to be off to a very strange start!

I ran almost 100 in August miles which is fine. The weather was hot, and I was busy. My training (although I hesitate to call it that as, per my admitted norm, it wasn't too structured) was a kind of all over the place! Towards the months end I found myself in a pleasant routine, and was looking forward to more consistency and cooler temps in September.

Well. WELL. It has been hot as balls. SO HOT. Like, 90 for days and days on end and just as humid as can be. So strike one for September.

TOP: when it was cold. Bottom: when it is HOT.

STRIKE TWO. 10 days ago I was out bopping along in the last mile of an easy run when I fucked up my hamstring. BOOM. I had been suffering from some back issues during the previous week and think I may have set my personal path of destruction at that time.
I cautiously finished that particular run, iced and left things alone for a couple of days- other than some gentle rolling and stretching.
Not much improvement had been made by weeks end so I decided to stay away from running until this brutal weather breaks. At this point, if I run on a funky leg I will totally screw my fall marathon season. Nobody dies from taking 4 or 5 or 3985769 days off and that is what I'm doing!
(I'm a bit bummed that I have continued to feel some serious twinges from the pesky leg- my job has had me on my feet for 12 hour stretches for quite a few days so "rest" is relative. It's ok though, it will heal!)

In all honesty I am not too bothered by this minor setback. I'm being smart about it and doing the things (ice, gentle yoga, NOT running) that will have me back out there soon. And honestly, it is too damn hot!

And speaking of setbacks and trying to overcome them (this is horse stuff, feel free to exit now!)
I have my final long weekend of equine showing next week and that's another interesting situation!
We had finished up an incredible early summer show season when the little beast hurt his dainty little back (he most likely hurt it while being naughty and sassy... as horses often do!) He is not one to suck it up and bravely march forward while uncomfortable so we had a stretch of (what can best be described as) shit training while I figured out what was bothering him. Then he got to go see the fancy Vet who gave him the kind of care that he also dishes out to the top horses in the sport. Lucky pony! (I have wrapped this up in a couple tidy sentences. Describing the whole situation would take too long. So in short: horse hurt, acts bad, sees vet, is better :-))

Yeah, Serious Vet Stuff

I'm happy to say that he is back on his feet so to speak. We lost quite a bit of time during this debacle and I got to spend 7 weeks doing the kind of slightly depressed contemplation that only dressage riders with one horse can understand. When your partner is down and out you get a bit stuck, and spend too much time pondering the endless possibilities (most of which end up as you playing the horseless rider forever and literally drowning in your own tears. JESUS what the hell!!!!?? Dramatic!) I was plenty busy teaching a boat load of wonderful students and I got in plenty of riding time on a parade of 11 hand ponies that needed fixing but it wasn't the sameeeeeeee and I was so saddddddd. FIRST WORLD PROBLEMS I know.

Anyway. All of my riding friends know what I'm saying.

The thing about competitive sports is that you are constantly being humbled by either your own fragility or (in this case) your horses. I have been in this place before- plenty of times but never before as a one horse rider. I have made the choice to limit the number of horses that I own for "personal use" at this point in my career while I am building up a profitable client base. This is all going well and according to plan but man, does it ever stink when your only little mount has a bunch of issues to get through!
I am very, very happy that he is coming to the other side of this and is back to being comfortable again. There is nothing like 7 weeks of bad issues to make you appreciate the times of good training.
(sorry for the horse stuff, but it is actually what I care about in life haha!)

Hill running, horse shows, summer!

Last week was very busy, lessons, camp prep, a horse show and all the extra things that summer brings made for a lot of long days.

Knowing that this would be the case I had decided to plan for a light week of running. I knew that if I did not have a plan locked down that I would perhaps not run at all. I decided to shoot for 20 miles- feeling that I could probably pull that off. I did, in two days. Maybe not the easiest way to get it done but it worked! And it was hilly.

Hills

I spent the weekend at a horse show that was first sunny and beautiful and wonderful.

And we won things! Like wineglasses, seriously!

 And then was a complete downpour. Gross.

But we still won in the rain. Even though Chaunce is NOT a bad weather horse.

I spent a lot of time volunteering and since they had me doing a very active job I rode my bike rather extensively for the first time in a year. It was a much quicker way to get around than running (and less tiring since I was moving literally all day!) However, I don't really have the urge to get back out there and ride all the miles. I like my bike for short rides though and was happy to have her there.

This week is going to be a study in long busy days which is great because it means that business is good! I am trying to manage my scheduling a little better this year so that I am not working ridiculously long hours every day. While I certainly don't mind and I am happy to have extra hours of work I also feel that I can be smarter about when that work happens. Running a business is always a balancing act and even though this is my 15th year here I'm still trying to get it right!

So this week has a light running schedule but I'm hoping to have some adventures similar to last week. I really like to see my town on foot at this time of year so when I head out I try to see a new road (I'll run out eventually I imagine...)
I'm also contemplating my fall race schedule and gearing up (sort of?) for the 4 on the 4th- which seems to be coming right up. Oh dear. Setting a PR certainly isn't in the plans this year but I like getting out to the local races and seeing friends so it will still be fun!

In which I document my equestrian adventures!

It's always fun to get out and horse show for the first time of the season. Even after a long, rather dreadful winter and therefore having the possibility of slight unpreparedness, it is nice to get out and about.

Since this isn't an equestrian blog I'll keep it short and sweet! (For horse people reading my blog there are many details I am omitting like the details of my warm up, my prep, a blow by blow of each test....)

Dressage training and marathon training are very similar- I have said it before and I'll say it again. If you put the work in you will get results. You certainly might have an off day, or an off season but as long as you look where you want to go (literally and figuratively) you will get there!

I hauled to NY to take advantage of a great show grounds, excellent footing and to get the chance to see some pretty big classes of competition. (I'd rather see what I'm up against- and at this point in the season many people are still laying low. Still, this show was very well contested.)

Chauncy moved up a level this year and the demands of his new level are quite high. I felt that training at home had been going well and I felt confident that unless he decided not to play that we could put together a very professional test.

Professional Riding Attire

Day one, nice cool weather and a very respectable performance. A couple of minor early season bobbles and a few things that I knew could be improved on. Finishing on a 65% and 3rd in a decent sized class (12 people in 4th level is solid for early season) made me very happy.

Teeny baby ribbons.... Chauncy wanted NO part of this photo. Little stinker!

Day 2, hot as balls, like REALLY hot, we cleaned up a few of the bobbles and put forth a totally solid effort. BIG win in this class- 7 percentage points ahead of the 2nd place horse. A 69.5 had the little beast leaving the show as the high score 4th level horse. GOOD BOY!!! So much love.
He was a great little guy, he definitely thinks it's time to play with the big kids. I love it! There is nothing more fun than knowing that your horse is ready to rock it.

He did not want this photo shoot either but I bribed him with snacks.

I have about a month to get ready to show again, and if he feels ready we will have another advancement in the level that we are doing. I'm excited for the season and really pleased with the way the winter training is coming together.

Riding horses is fun, and I'm a big fan of getting a happy horse into the show ring and having things come together. Basically, no matter how many times I finish a great marathon nothing can beat the feeling of nailing a dressage test! (there are about zero people in the world who can directly relate to what I just said hahaha!)

Luckily for my running blog there are more on foot (human foot) adventures coming soon. More on that later this week!

My Family, My Bestfriends, My Hay Guy and Me...

Catchy Title today. Rather poetic?
It has been a fairly uninspired week of running. Non running is the most accurate term since I have been avoiding it like the plague. Back to it today, perhaps, and hopefully my legs will decide to behave.

In honor of my 4 days of non running fun this post is dedicated to the interesting people who keep my world going round. And round.... Making me dizzy.
But really! In the horse world one needs a plethora of people to keep things operating well. These are "people" that most "normal people" might not have around (well. with the exception of BEST friends!) I have ommited my possee of Vets, Farriers and all the others who take large clumps of cash from me and do not amuse me in the least. I'm picky- in order for me to give a shout out to somebody (especially if I have to pay them) I must be entertained by them in some fashion. So here we go!

My Mom (on the left!) My friend JWH (on the HUGE horse) and ME! (looking a touch mystified.) I love these guys. We have tons of fun at shows together and have been toughing it out since 1995. We are the coolest ever.

Looking dead sexy with JWH again. See why we are so awesome? It's tha boots!

The Excavation guy. Gotta have one with all this bullshit snow. My Excavation guy might not be the very most entertaining person but he always shows up with huge machines which I like. And big dumptrucks which I like too. I am a hick?

After the Hay Guy brings hay, blinds me with his sarcasm and vanishes, My BFF's and I drink a beer in the hay cart. Snap. There's my Dad creepin in the background. It should be noted that I give my Hay Guy more money per year than anybody else. HMPH. Good thing we are friends. Do I have to pay people to be my friends? No. Clearly not.. Right??

My Dad! I didn't want all of you to think he was a creeper in the back of a hay cart. (well, about that...) No really! My Dad is the bombdiggity and fixes a lot of the things that I break. And I break a lot of things so he's always busy... Lucky!

I promise that I'll try to get back on topic in the next few days, being that this is a RUNNING blog and all. But HEY, every now and then it's amusing to go off on a tangent (is it Tuesday? No...) find a bunch of old pics and throw caution to the wind.