Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

This is a true statement and I found out in person this past
weekend! :-)   I have done over 5,000 miles of CTR and decided
to enter into the endurance ranks (after several failed attempts!) It's
Monday morning and I feel like I've been run over by a truck!
I entered the Carolina ride in SC this past weekend and after waffling
back and forth decided to ride the 30. My horse was recovering from our
last attempt a month ago where a stick impaled him in the inside of his
thigh at the Skymont ride (went in about 6"!). It happened only
about 7 miles into the 50 mile ride. My previous attempt was a 50 at
Biltmore 2 years ago when my horse tied up in the first few miles.
Anyway, I figured if I did the 30 I would have at least a 50% chance to
make it to the first vet check! 
We got started well and got into a good zone. We passed a few horses and
got a piece of trail by myself and was having a great time. Blue was
happy to go at a faster pace than he was allowed in his previous 2000
miles of CTR competition and discovered that he really liked to canter.
He was relaxed and easy so I let him and he just cruised. We ended up
coming in 10th place and having a blast! About the time I got off I
noticed that my little toe was aching. When I took my boot off it was all
black and blue and very painful. My fairly new boot that had never
bothered me at slower speeds was putting pressure in my baby toe and at
that point I was having trouble walking on it at all. The next day I felt
pretty good except for the toe. My legs felt a little stiff but not bad.
That was until I drove home. After about 2 hours of driving I stopped at
a rest area and discovered that I had seized up! I felt like I had tied
up! My quads and calves were so painful all of a sudden that I really
couldn't walk at that point! I hobbled to the rest room and by the time I
walked back to the truck I was a little more limber but when I got home a
few more hours later I was seized up again. Luckily our house sitter is
also a massage therapist and between her and our hot tub I think I'll
survive!
Blue, on the other hand, looks great! So my decision to do the 30 instead
of the 50 was a good one even though I had a very experienced distance
horse and I had lots of miles and experience in CTR. The game is
different and uses different muscles. I realized that the hole in my
training program was ME! 
So.....Guess I'll spend the winter exercising  and getting ready for the
next season because I can't wait to do a 50!!
See you on the trail!  Nancy Sluys & Indigo Blue


<Re: [SPAM] [RC] First 25 mile ride - Lynne
Glazer wrote:

<I agree with your
assessment and conclusion--only other factor not mentioned is the human
factor. After fighting the lost-mind> <thing, does the HUMAN have
what it takes to make it 50 miles? So it might take more prep than
otherwise expected for #2>

"Happy trails to you, until we meet again!"
             (Roy Rogers & Dale Evans)
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        _ ___/ /\|      Nancy & Bill Sluys
    ,;`( )__, )  ~      Westfield, NC
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