Friday, July 25, 2014

Five Qs

Name: Fig
  • (I'm still in that phase of trying not to directly tie my full name to my blog.  I figure more job hunting is going to be in my eventual future, and I'm not quite ready to be 100% open with everyone about everything I write here.  It's not hard to connect the dots and figure out my name with the information here.  It's just not searchable at this point.)
Age: 24
Where do you live: Bay Area, CA
Family Status: single, with a very tolerant boyfriend.  One pony.  One cat, who lives with my parents but still claims me as his person.

1. How long have you been riding? Endurance?
I started riding lessons at age 12 - wow, half a lifetime ago.  I went to several week-long riding camps in the years before that, so probably age 8 or 9?  I rode hunters with an occasional dressage lesson until I started with Confetti.
I did my first trail ride in May 2011 and my first endurance ride in September 2012.  That sounds totally ridiculous.  I had a lot of support! 

2. What does a normal training week look like for you?
4 rides, 25 miles total.  Often one fast or long ride with 1-2 medium speed/length rides and one pleasant hack-type ride, slower and/or shorter.  In theory I'd like to be doing one fast and one long per week, but I don't think that happens more than a few times a year.
I'm trying to start running again (3 times a week) now that my foot seems mostly healed from my driveway-fall (back in February).  We'll see how that holds up.

3. Any advice for endurance riding spouses?
Patience is a virtue.  I tend towards moderately obsessive and can talk for hours about theoretical training plans and goals and how well she did, or didn't do, and what I could change, but maybe I shouldn't... show some interest, but it's okay to politely redirect the conversation sometimes.

4. Where will this sport be in 10 years?
I feel so very new to all this that it's hard for me to make any sort of statement, even wildly guessing.
I think vets will be looking at more/different parameters. 
I think technology will be more common, but certainly not commonplace - or maybe just starting to be commonplace in 10 years.

5. What was your best race and why (AERC endurance – or if you are primary in another discipline, than your best ride in that sport).
Fireworks this year.  No contest.  No horse-human fighting.  No (horse-related) stress.  Casually trotting down the trail, in sync, relaxed and willing.  We're finally starting to feel like actual endurance folk who might occasionally know what we're doing... at least in-between blips of lameness, scrapes, and random bouts of hives.  On second thought, maybe that makes us feel more like actual endurance folks?

Bonus question: What’s your favorite beer?
I've never actually had beer.  For a while the medications I was taking didn't mix well with alcohol; now it's just a lack of opportunities (plus: very twisty highway heading home).  I've also never acquired a liking for carbonated drinks of any kind.  Suggestions appreciated on where I should start - I am running totally blind here, y'all.

2 comments:

  1. Im with you on the carbonation thing which is why I tend to not like beer as well. Not being a beer lover im a bad person to give advice....but lately I fins that some of the less sweet ciders go down very nicely post hot ride. My advice is to taste lots of drinks that friends bring to rides and you will probably find one that clicks for you eventually. Not that you have to drink of course! I just find it a nice way to socialize sometimes. Been loving the blog hop since its getting me over to other peoples blogs more.

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  2. Do you have a sweet tooth? I do, which is how the first drink I really liked was white Zinfandel. It's called a blush wine and is usually not expensive. If you do end up liking white Zinfandel, you can branch out into chardonnay (white wine) and rosé wine (another type of blush wine). They are on the sweeter end of the flavor spectrum. Nowadays I find Zinfandels to be too sweet, but I still do like the others. When it comes to beers, you can usually find fairly accurate descriptions of their flavor online or on some restaurant menus. World of Beer was a great place for me to try different beers mainly because of their huge selection and the very detailed descriptions of the beers' flavors on their menu. Some beers are less carbonated than others also. And like Mel said: don't feel pressured to drink anything just because others do! :)

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