In the beginning of starting a young/or older but
new career horse, speed and distance should never be a factor. What is that
saying.."walking for muscle, trotting for endurance, galloping for wind"? You
don't, or shouldn't need a HR monitor for walking and shouldn't be doing so much
to worry about the legs, either.
There really isn't that much written about training
schedules for endurance like there is for marathons or triathlons. At least, not
that I know of. However, you can look at a schedule for a marathon and get a
pretty good idea and apply it to endurance riding. A typical 1st month for
starting a 6 month marathon schedule might not even have you at 10
miles for your long run.
Slow and steady will get
you ready.
I think heart rate monitors are a valuable tool for
advanced and serious training schedules for both runners and riders. But the
first month or two should be more about gaining flexibility, improving your
fitness level and just getting into the swing of things. Then you can start to
advance.
Dr. Dane Frazier said that once we have a really
good base on our horse (which can take 3-4 years) our training should be harder
than the actual race. That doesn't mean burn your horse out before the
competition, but make the race seem like a piece of cake compared to how you
been training. He described a typical ride week being 6 days with 2 days
of LSD, 1 day interval, 1 day speed play and 2 days of just riding a
couple of miles. (I think that is what my notes say and of course that is NOT
set in stone) Recovery is of utmost importance because we are stressing all
systems (cardio, bones, and muscles) and they must have recovery in order to be
fitter and stronger.
Makes sense to me. I can remember Tuesday nights at
the track for speed work and our weekly workout schedules. I dreaded Tuesday
nights and was always exhausted Wednesday mornings. I wanted to burn the
schedule by Thursday. But come race day, the race itself seemed a lot
easier than a month of track days! Of course, the beer truck helped,
too.
Man, those were the days when there was always a
big ol' beer truck after a race. You ran in the heat and humidity, slammed a few
(several) beers before 8:30 am and slept through the awards. Go out to
breakfast, stuff your face and go home to pass out for the rest of the day.
Ahhh, to be young and so stupid (but slim) again! :)
Lisa Salas, The Odd farm
PS. I really, really REALLY hate not being able to
respond to individuals on RC. I understand the blocking of e-mail addresses but
I still hate it.
