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Monthly Archives: January 2013

Emotional Fitness Challenge – Whoa is Stronger than Go

Remember the meltdown last fall with Lucky?  We were in day 2 of the cow clinic Because of his refusal to move out when asked, I was nearing my breaking point.  This is the 2nd afternoon.  Lucky and I can’t  be counted on herding the cow, stopping the cow, or anything for that matter.  I tell him to move to block the cow and we don’t even twitch.  Plus, I haven’t been able to go fast much of two days.  When I don’t get to move beyond a slow walk for two days, I sort of go insane inside.  This is also why I can’t stand to go on pretty trail rides on narrow twisty forest trails with many stream crossings etc…because I never get to go fast.  I have a breaking point.

So, on the meltdown on that day two of the cow clinic, Tony described me as becoming emotionally violent and physically effective.  I made Lucky move.  We even cantered around the arena.  Then we went into the herd and pushed out a cow.  I learned a lot that day.

I took my learning with me to the group lesson last Saturday.  I’ve not rode Lucky since late December.  He’s had a lot of time to resume his poor work ethic and dominance attitude.  We were in an arena.  Lucky doesn’t see the point of moving.  On this day, our job was to do the barrel pattern in the far end of the arena, go to the rail and zip around the arena back to the barrel pattern again.  The first step we took toward the first barrel was “argue”.  Lucky told me he didn’t want to be in the far end of the arena and he certainly didn’t want to circle around the barrel…until we headed the direction of the exit gate.

People at the lesson (who have never seen me ride him in an arena) told me Lucky is so cute and sweet.  They ask me what the trouble is I’m having with such a cute friendly horse.  I tried to explain about his arguing.

Lucky and I had made it around the barrel pattern and we whizzed to the gate end of the arena (Lucky’s new favorite place).  Lucky tells me he doesn’t want to go past the gate.  I’m squeezing him on with my legs and life up body.   One of the people who thought Lucky was cute and sweet said, “he looks like he’s doing great,  what’s the problem with him?  I don’t see any problem.”  I asked  “Do you see his ears flat against his neck?  Do you see his tail twitching?”  “Oh, yes, the person said.  My focus and body language had been diverted when explaining what Lucky was doing.  At that moment, Lucky tried to get closer to the gate and succeeded in ramming my leg into the fence.  (Later, I found that skin had been scraped off my knee.)  “Oh my, he is stubborn said the person.  Lucky’s “cuteness” disguise had disappeared and the real Lucky had been revealed.

My desire is to have Lucky canter when I ask (in an arena).  Lucky doesn’t have that same desire at all unless it’s out in a wide open field or going up a steep rocky trail of a trail ride…or going through a muddy gulch.  Occasionally, I can get him into the canter when I go around the short end of the arena.  The lesson was coming to an ending point when I asked him to canter once too many times.  My frustration was evident.  Jenny had “the talk” with me about pushing Lucky when he is tired.  Jenny then “helped me” get Lucky to canter around the corner and I leaped off and rubbed him when his legs fell out of the canter
I don’t know that I will ever ride in a versatility class or reining class with Lucky Star. He has to canter when I ask and keep cantering until I say slow.  That’s what makes him so fun to ride.  He is a puzzle challenge. Lucky is an emotional fitness challenge.

Scaring Myself

Tonight was scary.  I started to put my old fat clothes in garbage bags and I’m hauling them to the used clothes bins tomorrow.  These are fat clothes that I’m still wearing.  They are soft and baggy.  I love my fat clothes.   Instead of watching TV all night, I got up and engaged in scary behavior…folding fat clothes into garbage bags!

One of my retirement dreams is that I will go into my closet and get rid of the thousands of clothes that I don’t like and don’t wear.  However, getting rid of my lovable fat clothes wasn’t in the retirement bargain plan.  My son should breathe a sigh of relief.  Perhaps he will not have to do this when my health goes and I have to exit the home.

sigh

Well, back to this obsessive drive toward health.  Health includes getting rid of stacks of used clothing. There will be more air in the house to breathe.  Less hiding places for obnoxious creepy crawly things too.  Perhaps someone else will love their soft full figured comfy feeling.  I’m keeping some of my huge T-Shirts as nightgowns.

I haven’t complained yet in this blog and that has to be rectified.  Whining is an enjoyable exercise for me.

I’d like to complain about sweating.  I go to Anytime Fitness to work out and I sweat.  I have to carry around a small towel or I will go blind.  I need a sweat band.  I guess I could find sweatbands somewhere in the winter time.  You think the Dollar Store stocks sweatbands?

Sweating and winter is really uncomfortable.  You sweat and then go outside into the 20 degree weather.  What happens?  Your sweat freezes.  This is sweat that is resting on your skin.  After being outside for about five minutes, you have flexible frost coating your skin.  Flexible frost does not dry.  Flexible frost on your skin makes you cold, unable to ever get warm again.

You have to take all your clothes off and put new warm dry clothes on.  Every time I sweat, I get a load full of dirty clothing that needs to be washed, folded or smashed and put away.  I’m going through more clothes than I ever did in the sweaty summer.

I participated in a Yoga Class last Thursday.  I sweat in that class just as much as I do on the stationary bike or elliptical machine.  I took part in a senior stretchy class.  I was the only one wiping my face.

This winter sweat stuff is tough on me!

Thank you for letting me get that off my whine list.  I feel much better know that everyone knows how I’m suffering.

Frozen Foot Day

When you start out the day by pouring water in your shoe in frozen 28 degree weather, you really should stop the world and change your sock.  But did I do that?  Of course not.  Socks should dry.  Surely there is a physics rule somewhere in the wet sock world.  A wet sock is to change into a dry sock while still on a foot.  Is that too much to ask of physics?  Obviously it was.

I fed the horses this morning wearing my tennis shoes.  It was 61 degrees here yesterday.  I woke up this morning to discover the outdoor world was a frosty 28 degrees.  I sulked.  I sulk in my recliner.  I worked  on updating my PR world.  I had the TV running and the web site a whizzing.  Words were flowing.  I was warm and happy.  I even forgot to eat.  That doesn’t often happen.

Ten o’clock happened.  Chair guilt accelerated.  I thought it too cold to consider going on the dog and human walk around the turf farm ponds.  Instead, I put on my AnyTime Fitness clothes:  T-shirt, stretch thin Capri pants and tennis shoes.  My tennis shoes are so old the outer color is starting to come off. They are pinkish with mesh toes.  These tennis shoes allow your feet to breathe!

I put on my heaviest and warmest fleece pull-over shirt, topped that with a zippered fleece jacket and then put my medium weight sexy jacket on over that.  I”m ready for 20 below above the waist and about 60 degrees (above) below the waist.  Off the dogs and I went into the cold world.  There was a slight wind which made me realize that a walk would freeze my  body parts.  My body parts hate that.

We walked out to the barn and found the horses hanging around the round bale crunching hay.  I counted six healthy horses and fed them their horse feed.  I knew it was supposed to snow today, so I decided to catch the crippled Goldie and put her in the yard where she could have access to the warm barn, grassy yard and the good life.  Goldie saw me coming and limped away, trying to tell me of her disdain for being shut away from the other horses.  She loves being with the herd. Goldie is tough.  I gave her the choice and gave up the chase.

As I was filling up a water bucket, the hose slipped and I watered my shoe instead of the bucket.  ARGH!  Immediately, I could feel my sock wanting to freeze.  If I had the slightest desire to go on a walk, the freezing sock dashed that idea!  I let the dogs into the house and took off for Anytime Fitness.

Anytime Fitness was glad to see me.  I’m not in the category of what the Biggest Losers look like, but am still physically pathetic unfit looking.  Off I hop onto my private elliptical trainer, I get myself plugged into the TV, my Quickstart started, my weight and age programmed in.  The machine should be able to blow the siren if my heart beat goes into stroke condition.  In my 30 minute moving parts plus weight machine workout, my sock did not bother my foot at all.  We all forgot about the sock.

Earlier, Terry and I had talked about going to the movie today.  I discovered the movie was about half hour from starting.  I called Terry.  I had him get his coat on and get into the car.  I slid into the home base garage, and changed cars.  Off we went to the movie in Harrisonville, a mere 15 mile journey

On the journey to the movie theatre, my left foot reminded me that the silly sock had not yet dried and my left foot was feeling a cold numbness coming on.  We made it into the movie theatre with the other 4 people in the theater.  There was no one that could see me take my shoe off and then my sock.  I warmed up my numb left foot with my hands. It’s a good thing movie theaters are dark places.

We came out of the theatre shocked to see snow on the ground.  Good Gad!  It turned into winter outside while we were inside warming up my sock-less foot.  Remember, I am now wearing a mesh tennis shoe missing a protective layer of sock.  The wet sock is nestled snuggly in my fleece pull-over.  It did fall out of my coat as I exited the movie.  Thank goodness all 4 people had already left the movie and didn’t get to see it lying wetly on the movie carpet.  My left foot froze again as it slowly made the way to the car.  The spouse was feeling shaky and we had a slow and snowy wet walk to the car.

I drove home in nearly a blinding blizzard.  Oh wait, it wasn’t exactly a blinding blizzard, it was ice covered frozen wiper blade that restricted my vision to about 2 square inches.  The spouse discovered that the heat was on luke warm, rather than ice melting hot.  With the help of constant wiper fluid and amazing driving skill and finally enough heat to melt the windshield ice, we made it home sweet home.  It became so hot in the car with the heat on full bore heat, that my frozen foot got warm.  I was able to walk into the house on two unfrozen feet.

I got dry socks on and put on my Muck Boots.  I went out to deal with the snow covered horses lounging around the barn yard.  None of them were standing inside the shed or barn stalls.  I put the feed out and decided it was safe for me to go out and rescue Goldie.  I led her into the hay part of the barn.  I was throwing more hay to the horses.  I left the stall door open.  I looked up and here was Goldie escaped from the nice warm barn, full of unlimited hay for her to eat.  Out in the snow she was.  I threw her some hay flakes and left the herd to deal with the weather.

I took myself into the house and gradually collapsed into my recliner.  I watched the Colts play the Ravens football game in Denver.  Those fans were outside watching a football game in 10 degree weather. The coaches faces were frozen red. The game went into two overtimes…the 2nd longest game in post season. Even with battery powered heated socks, I bet those fans’ feet were glazed in ice.  Good Gad, what a day!

Tomorrow is Always Another Day

I’m on it! Got up today and the dogs and I did our morning walk. Sounds great until you know the only reason I left my morning TV shows was to feed the horses. Once we all get outside, our thought is that we need to impress Fitbit and Map My Fitness with our glorious walk.
One mile with two great pictures of Justine and Heidi.

Then it was adventure time. Today, going to Lee’s Summit to run a few errands. Oh wait, I better stop at Anytime Fitness to accomplish my 30 minutes of exercise. I recently discovered that I can read Facebook, email and post short texts while riding an exercise bike. The exercise bike has its own TV. I watched The View, exercised, read facebook posts and communicated with people all at the same time. This is hero status multi-tasking because I was suffering at the same time.
I also like to watch my heart beat to make certain it doesn’t get high enough to cause me to to heart attack out. The splat would be messy.  These machines are sophisticated.  I can watch TV and monitor my heart beat on this machine.

After that, I did have to stop and get a V-8, roasted almonds and string cheese, merely to save my life. My muscles needed protein. They told me so…really!  That’s what I learned at Nourish where I’m entered into the Fitness Challenge!

On my errands, I parked at the furthest parking spot and walked to the store…all except Starbucks. I used my gift certificate to try out the new Vanilla Blond Starbucks and was tempted into having a sliver of pumpkin bread. I pretended to be really cool with my laptop. I did post some important announcements on Facebook.
One of my errands in Lee’s Summit was to try to get my speaker broke iPhone fixed. I ended up getting an iPhone 5. I had an upgrade due and they bought my iPhone 4 for $150. Can you imagine!!
I got home and fed the horses. They are some lucky horses. Lucky and Muddy!
The dogs and I decided to go for another walk to show off MapMyFitness. We had not yet made it the 10,000 steps that Fitbit expects.
We ended up the day with 13,000 steps. Fitbit is very happy with me.

Now the tomorrow thing. Today doesn’t mean a thing to tomorrow. Tomorrow is start with zero exercise and sugar loving stomach again.  Sugar loving stomach got to have pumpkin bread today. What will it tempt me with tomorrow? Will I be able to do at least 8000 steps? Fitbit is lukewarm with 8000 steps.

The stress of tomorrow is already upon me. 10,000 steps is daunting.  This retirement life is tough!

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