Getting fit sucks

Getting back in shape sucks. I have new respect for people who slog it out and gym, or like my mother who has started exercising for the first time in years after being a busy mother. 

I have always led an incredibly active lifestyle, and been pretty fit. Every day all day I'm riding horses, grooming horses, catching horses, picking up horse shit, lifting hay bales, fixing water pipes, fences and doing all manner of jobs around the farm. If I ever wanted to get extra fit I went for a run and this was always enough.

Now it's different and I don't like it. My body is weak and I lost a lot of my natural fitness reconvering from the Mongol Derby. It's not like I got fat, but I lost a lot of weight, got sick, weak and then spent three weeks traveling around China recovering eating dumplings and noodles. I got home and was exhausted after half day on the farm. I even found lifting hay I didn't have the same strength as before. Usually this time of year I'm upping my workload and getting extra fit for the eventing season, now I'm struggling to get fit for a normal days work.

What's even more frustrating is that a couple of weeks ago, I was sitting in Ger tent having just ridden 1000km revelling in how much more my body was capable of than I had thought. But that adrenalin soon wore off and my body has been in recovery ever since. My mind to, as after the excitement of navigating, being chased by dogs, galloping across the Mongolian steppes, mountains and desert going back to everyday routine  is taking some mental discipline.

If it was only fitness that I had to worry about I think I would be ok. I like the burn of tired muscles, I like pushing myself just that little bit more. But days of riding through hail, heat, wind and rain, on a series of galloping ponies has taken it toll. For the first time my body is not recovering and I can't just ignore and push through, like is my usual routine.

My ankles, which swelled so badly through the derby that even rolling over in my sleep made it feel like shards of glass were being driven through them, and stayed swollen for weeks afterword, now are still not healed. Constantly they give way on me as I walk across muddy rutted paddocks. Riding I have to jam my foot in the stirrup and instead of dropping my heel  I keep it raised to avoid any strain on the tendons and ligaments that feel so fragile and weak.

It's not a secret I was sick on the race. Delirious and vomiting I was definelty in the worst shape of my life when medics got to me, I never been so grateful to have a needle in my arm or to be pumped full of IV fluids. While I got over the bug, my stomach has never been the same since, for a week after the race I out ate my boyfriend at every meal. But nothing ever felt good, and stomach pains and vomiting usally followed. Even now my favourite foods make me feel like my stomachs on fire. Coffe and alcohol, spicy food, garlic and citrus all make me run for the bathroom. It's like my body is playing some cruel joke on me.

It's misery instead of a happy reunion with my favourites horse I'm sick all the time. What's happened to me. Exhaustion is definitely is taking its toll, but being weak is something I hate. I work my horses methodically, feed them, muck out stables but I'm not enjoying it I'm just tired. I feel guilty for not having the extra energy to give them all a scratch or play fetch with dog at night. The guilt makes me feel worse. I've always just pushed through and carried on working, I've never minded going to bed exhausted, I like hard work its satisfying in it own right. 

I just want to wake up and be able to do my usual days work, with no weak joints, no sore tummy and the enjoyment of working horses. I know in no time ill be back to healthy and ill forget it all but for now that can't come quickly enough.

I suspect some part of me just can't get over the yearning to be back in Mongolia. A place I loved more than anything.  That amazing place stirred something deep inside, and something just keeps pulling me back there. Something I can't get over no matter how sick, how hard that race was, how bad I was hurting, no matter how bad I still feel, all of it I would go through again to be in the land if horses once more 

So in the mean time I keep myself busy, and plan for the next adventures, and struggle to get fit again.

D-day

Okay here we go off to the steppes and hundreds of horses today. 1000km journey is about to begin.

Thanks for all the great messages and keep up with the race here!

http://www.theadventurists.com/the-adventures/mongol-derby/teams/wild-pony

Not so shy...

The first of July, I'm always amazed at that another month has rolled in by and we are now half way through the year. In less than a month I'll be on a plane to Mongolia, and in exactly a month I'll be doing my weigh in for the race, three days after that I'll be galloping across the start line of 1000km journey.

It seems like all I do is try organise things for the race and at the same time nothing is yet organised. But I'm sure it will all come together nicely by the time I'm ready to board that plane. I'm excited, nervous, I wish I could leave tomorrow , and yet there are so many things still to do. Fundraise for one, as part of the requirements for the race is to raise the equivalent of £1000 for charity, which I'm more than happy to do, but between teaching, riding, spending endless time organising visas and insurance, gear and sponsorship, as well as running the farm I'm quickly running out of time.

Amongst all this though I have been able to catch up with one of my favourite horses, Shy Boy, or Shy as he's known these days, is one of the stallions that arrived at my place from the 2012 muster. He was more memorable than most because he was this terrified, flighty, timid and shy stallion that peered out at you from underneath the most magnificent head of hair I've ever seen in such a young horse. 

He went to a wonderful women after I had done the initial handling, and has only continued to go from strength to strength. He's a very special boy and the type of horse that bonds extremely closely to his rider/trainer. It's wonderful to see how well loved he is, and how much time is being put him into making him a confident happy horse.

His owner thankfully is helping me get fit for the derby, and has brought Shy along on a couple of our training rides which he loves confidently trotting along beside her, through forests and farmland. It's makes me incredibly happy to see a horse from the wild go on to thrive in a new environment. It shows just how versatile these horses are. It's also another reason to remember that while most horses are very easygoing from muster, horses like Shy and Bear could so easily end up terrified or dead in the wrong hands and that it is so essential they get the right start to domestic life, and lots of time and care put into their training.

Shy trotting out on our training rides

And when he was fresh from muster

The Mongol Derby

The cats our of the bag, and it's time to announce that in six weeks I will be getting on a plane for Mongolia. 

I'm going to compete in the worlds toughest and longest horse race the legendary Mongol Derby. One thousand kilometres and twenty-six different horses in the words of the organisers

"This is no guided tour, or pony trek. There is no marked course, no packed lunches, no shower block, no stabling. That’s the whole point. It's just you, your team of horses and a thousand kilometres of Mongolian wilderness.  And possibly a GPS.  You must change horses at every station and deliver your mounts to their destination in mint condition. But how you navigate between them is where your adventure begins...."

Of course I'm doing this for a good cause to and will be raising money for two fantastic charities along the way. One is Kiwi Care Team and the other is Cool Earth. 

This is going to be the hardest, scariest and most challenging thing I've ever done. Not only coping with different horses, and the elements, but there is no one out there to help you, to guide or to come looking for you. But  as the birthplace of domestic horses and the last place on earth that still has wild horses, it's somewhere I've always longed to go. This blog is not called the Wild Horse Project for no reason.

Helping me get fit along the way will be my two ex-wild stallions Matariki and Bear who are both broken in and going beautifully under saddle. Hopefully photos to come soon. The goal is to be able to ride 100km a day for the entire race. So before I leave I will be spending as many hours a day in the saddle as possible,  not just on one horse but spreading it out between all of them. Bear and Matariki being the closest in size and stature to the horses I'll be riding  pin Mongolia are going to be the best at getting me fit, so in a few months there will be some very fit wild horses and hopefully a fit rider too.

But I'm going to need your help as well, I need to raise money for the two charities I support so I've set up a Give a Little page where you can donate as little as a dollar and the money goes towards helping me reach my fundraising goals. 

For me this isn't just a race. It's a chance to see the homeland of horses, learn more about wild horses and their heritage. See humans and animals interact in one of the most ancient cultures and challenge myself in the most wide open and remote places left on earth.

Please visit

http://www.givealittle.co.nz/cause/Mongolderby2013  

Bring on the challenge, help me and be part of the adventure!