Training

I hated every minute of training, but I said, 'Don't quit.  Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.'

 Muhammad Ali

Today was more of a lazy day than I am afraid to admit.  I made lunch this morning, went to the vet clinic job for a few minutes, listed things for sale on E-bay, and then wondered what to do next.

I realized that I want to be better.  I want to be more of the athlete that I once was.  OK, maybe not so much of an athlete, but I am tired and ashamed of when I go for a walk that I have to go for a walk and not a run because I am no longer physically fit.  And the only person I have to look at is myself.

And it's easy to say that I'm too tired.  And truthfully, I am tired.  Way tired.  I am wondering when the next day I am getting eight hours of sleep is.  But at the same time, if I am awake and sitting and being lazy, then why can't I slowly set goals for myself?

My husband and I moved an elliptical machine upstairs into the living room.  I am trying to go ahead and set small goals for myself.  Unfortunately, I like to think BIG sometimes and say OK I am going to go run a couple of miles or go swim a couple thousands of yards or whatever and push myself too hard.

A mistake.  I need to set reasonable goals.  I am thinking about fifteen minutes a day for this first week and upping that by five minutes each week until I reach an allotment of time that I no longer have.  Well, hopefully by that point, I am comfortable enough to go take the dog out and run instead of just cruising on the ellipical machine.  

I know to better myself as an equestrian I need to be in better physical condition.

And don't get me wrong.  I am not a heavy rider or a rider that most people would look at and say "Wow, this may be difficult."  But at the same time, we expect our horses to do physically taxing things.  Round their backs, drop their heads, soften at the poll, self carriage, control the speed of gaits, and so forth.  To do so, they need a large amount of mental and physical training.

The same should apply to us.  While I appreciate that riding, is of course, a physical activity, I know the benefits of cross-training.  When I was a swimmer in college, my coach was very adament on cross training and had all of us in the weight room several times a week.  And you know what: he was right. 

So I think the same should apply to riders as well.  They should have sufficient mental and physical training in order to accomplish their goals.

What do you think riders?  What do you do out of the saddle?