It is too hot to ride with
90 degrees and high humidity, yet I have to keep training so rode three this
morning. Sometimes I enjoy it and sometimes I am starting to feel like, “enough
, I’m done, no more…”. I know that I have gotten stronger and fitter because
when I have had enough it is actually more mental than physical. My legs and
thighs keep gripping and my upper body stays straight, so this is good. I do
worry about concentrating for 75 miles a day though. When you’re tired, even
bored, and don’t pay attention to every flick of the ear or toss of the head,
or tensing of body before a spook, that is when you get into trouble. Most
horses and ponies will let you know when something has frightened them and you
can prepare but for 12 hours a day, in the saddle??? I don’t know. These are
the little unknowns that you cannot really anticipate.
I have packed and
repacked. All my energy snacks are putting me over my weight limit of eleven
pounds. In fact, every chocolate granola bar and gummi chew that seemed
appetizing in the outdoor store seems destined to not make it into my saddle
bag but I am taking them with me anyway. I’ll eat them on the three days we
have to prep I guess. There is a Facebook page called The Mongol Derby 2014
where lots of competitors are asking questions, and past participants are
telling tales and offering advice.
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t
do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the
safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” –
Mark Twain
This quote was on
Amy Wallace Whelan’s website, a fellow Derbyist and close to my age. She is an endurance “pro”, from
Kentucky who has logged more than 10,000 miles in endurance competition! I
think us “older” gals are full of the adventuring spirit and I am looking
forward to meeting some of my fellow riders. I am going to start to post some
of their pictures and short bios.
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