'twas a rough night

How was your weekend?  

The short post

A weekend in which I thought about base training, ran around (and danced!) madly on Saturday and then failed to leave the house on Sunday.

The long post

My weekend started at 5am, when I got up to drive out of the city...worth it, though.

Katy, Sadhira, Maggie and Manita

If only because I realised what I wanted for Christmas...

Basil - just one, please.   No need to wrap him.  

Base training

I have no idea whether my riding is  improving, but I think hacking around Surrey must be good base training (for me and the horses).  

From my limited endurance training in the  past, I learnt that the earlier I started and the more time I had to do long, low intensity sessions, the easier racing was come the summer.  Rowers call these sessions "steady state" (o the joy of 90 minute ergos!) and they are the focus of pre-season and early season training.  This "base" training builds cardiovascular and muscular fitness, but also makes the body more efficient at using fuel, burning fat and avoiding muscle and liver stores of carbohydrate.

I'm steering away from heart rate zones and a strict training programme and not just because I'm not sure how appropriate that kind of an approach is for an unpredictable event like the Derby. Do you think this sounds sensible?!  Comments gratefully received...   

The likelihood of not managing to keep up with the schedule and then feeling disheartened would be high, because I work full time and am subject to lots of other people's demands and needs.  This means that I can't dictate what I do each week or when I do it (in or out of the saddle) and that's fine by me.  I just need to make sure that I do a few sessions a week of an hour or more, at least one of a few hours and that these sessions always feel wearing but not hard.  Harder than it sounds - it is difficult to hold back and go slowly...!

Our Christmas Party

On a separate and un-Derby-related note, thank you to everyone whobattled through party fatigue to come and say happy Christmas last night.  It's a great time of year to catch up with friends and realise how much has happened in the last year...  2013 was eventful, to say the least.

Me, Lindsey and David posing up a storm (I read the Mail! Don't judge me!)

Adam, Tom, David and Miranda

David - the greatest dancer

Bring on Christmas!