Running: Treadmill vs. Road vs. Trail

Running is running, right? WRONG.

I am not an expert on running beyond the basics: invest in quality footwear, listen to your body, beginners should log minutes instead of miles, do the "talk test," etc. But, sadly, I thought that all running was pretty much created equal. This weekend, that idea was shattered.

Treadmill vs. Oustide

I'm getting pretty good at the treadmill. I can jog along at a nice leisurely pace for an extended period of time while watching Dr. Phil on the gym TV's or listening to my iPod. I can log a few miles at a time on the treadmill now without taking any "walk breaks." I thought (okay, I still think) I was pretty cool stuff.

Then on a nice day last week I took it outside.

I almost died running a whole mile. (Side note: yes, yes, I know that I violated almost every beginning runner rule I listed above. I did not listen to my body. I did not try to count minutes instead of miles. I wanted a mile, dammit. And I was determined to get one. Do as I say and not as I do.) Mystified (and gasping for air), I pondered why it is so much easier to run on a treadmill than outside? My scientific brain logically decided that it clearly requires far more energy to actually propel my mass forward through space on non-moving footing than it does to bounce from one leg to another on a moving tread while staying in one spot.

Why this thought didn't occur to me before I set out to knock out a piddly, measly mile on the pavement in my neighborhood, I'll never know. But I sure know now. Running "out in the world" is much more difficult than hitting a treadmill. Is that to say that a treadmill isn't as good of exercise? No. Treadmills are still awesome. Especially in cold, rainy, gloomy Oregon. Plus, they are easier on the joints than the pavement, and you can adjust the incline to exactly what you want. But treadmills and the sidewalk are vastly different running experiences, and they each have something to offer.

Trail Running


Treadmills and sidewalks may be the staple for most of us who live in suburbia, but if you want to take your running experience from "bleh" to "Holy Crap!" in no time, hit the trail.

I LOVE trail running. It reminds me of trail riding with my horses, only I'm the one doing all the work. It is interesting. The varying terrain; the shift in inclines/declines; the scenery, smells, and solitude; and the occasional ditch/log/tree root/rock all (quite literally) keep me on my toes. Running uphill on a trail is hard. Running downhill on a trail is not as demanding, however it does require a high degree of fancy footwork and physical dexterity and agility to remain upright as your body flies downwards. Yes, physics do kick in and it is much more difficult to stop when going downhill, and much more difficult to go when going uphill. All in all, I think it makes it much more enjoyable than a constant incline of a treadmill, or the steady pounding on concrete.

I am fortunate enough to live at the foot of a nature park with miles of trails. I have very few excuses to NOT go trail running (or even just hiking would probably do me worlds of good) other than this Evil Oregon Rain.

I went up last Sunday. The next day I was sore. I was sore from mid-calf down to my ankles. In trail running, apparently you have to use ALL of those little tiny micro-muscles in your lower leg and ankles to stabilize yourself on the uneven terrain. I know this will help my riding SO much!!! I have weak ankles. I have always had weak ankles. Particularly my right ankle. It gets sore after too much posting/2-point or anything that requires me to be extra deep through the heel when I am on horseback. I am interested to see if trail running helps improve my ankle strength, since it's so difficult to find "traditional" exercises that do!

Meet My Herd: Drama

The Drama Pony is a spunky, vivacious, adorable pony that Katie and I picked up off of CL. When we went to go look at her, we found her in a chicken barn that is about 50 feet from a very busy highway. The girl who was selling her told us that she had been planning on using the pony for rodeos (wha....?) but didn't have enough money for all of her horses, so she was downsizing, and the pony kept getting out and wandering around said highway. The owner also disclosed that she had plucked the pony out of some old-timer's backyard, who apparently didn't know how to use a halter and thought that ear-twitching was a perfectly acceptable way to get anything done. She also had no name- he just called her "Horse."

So, the combination of "she's a pretty nice diamond in the rough" and "we can't leave her here to live in a chicken barn where she escapes and runs into the road and/or gets used for rodeo" (Okay, the rodeo thing still baffles me. What the hell would a grown woman do on a 13.2h pony in rodeo?) prompted us to plunk down the $500 and drag her home.

Our first clue that this pony would be a challenge was trying to load her into the trailer to take her home. She reared a couple times but we got her loaded. Then she started rearing IN the trailer. To the point where we deliberately drove like maniacs just so she HAD to keep all 4 feet on the floor.

We named her "Drama." It started out as a joke about how "every barn needs a little Drama" (get it?? A little Drama?? For a 13.2h pony? We thought we were clever) and we quickly realized that it suited her better than we thought. EVERYTHING is dramatic to this pony.

We spent the next few months just teaching to her NOT rear every time she hit the end of a leadrope or cross-tie. Not only would she rear, but occasionally she would rear and then strike at us with her front hooves. This is clearly a learned behavior from somewhere in her past. And honestly, it probably worked for her. Even though she's small, it's still frightening to see any equine on their rear legs trying to kill you with their front. When she tried to pull this stunt with us, however, we did not back down. If she struck, she promptly had a Come-To-Jesus meeting. With whatever Katie or I had in our hands. It was not pretty. I used anything I could think of her make her move her feet forward. Now. Granted I probably could have come up with a better tactic. But if one of us has to get hurt, I'll be damned if it is going to be me. When she would just rear, sans striking, we would not budge, wait for her tizzy to be over with, and continue with whatever it was that triggered her rear in the first place.

Slowly, the rearing became less and less, and we spent the summer getting her over her head-shyness. Fly masks on and off.  Halters on and off. Bitless bridles on and off. Until she learned to deal with it. With grooming, we'd brush just a little closer to her ears each time and back off when we sensed a rear coming on. It took FOREVER. But slowly the rearing became less and less frequent, and we moved on to other training issues, like riding her.

Fast forward to today. The project pony that we wanted to flip for hay money is still in our barn 2 years later, but she is going beautifully under saddle. I haven't seen her rear in almost a year now. The little kids at the barn can practice their Showmanship patterns with her, and she is a saint. Last week I was able to clip her face and bridlepath without her halter on. Which is HUGE. Under saddle, she is schooling Training Level Dressage and starting over fences, and is absolutely darling. She's actually surprisingly fun to ride and is going to be shown heavily this year to market her. Hopefully we can sell her into a show home, with her own little girl. Little Girl will have to be a good rider as the pony is very sensitive to aids and slightly on the "hot" side, but she is beyond sweet and will do ANYTHING for a "good girl" and a pat. Plus, she's so talented over fences that the only home I can even try to imagine her in is a hunter show barn with matching blankets and tack trunks.

The sad truth of the matter is that the pony is simply too fancy and talented for us to do her justice. She will never live up to her full potential sitting in our barn.

The "Energy Efficient" Diet

I have to admit that the last few weeks have been crazy and I have slacked on my exercising. However, I am happy to report that I am still noticing the scale creeping slowly downward, albeit more slowly than when I hit the gym regularly. How, you might ask? I've been wondering the same thing. After pondering this phenomenon, I have come to the conclusion that while I was working out, and strictly dieting, I did in fact manage to form a few healthier habits. I have dramatically reduced the amount of crap food in my house. Well, the crap food that I like, anyway. I do not have potato chips, I do not have frozen dinners. I have a large basket full of a variety of fruits (apples, oranges, pears, bananas, plums, grapes, and kiwi, currently) and it sits out on my kitchen counter for easy access. I stock the fridge with bottles of water instead of cans of pop (yes, I call it "pop." I'm an Oregonian. Deal with it). The candy is gone, so when I am running out the door instead of grabbing a candy bar and a soda for energy, I grab an apple and a bottle of water. In the middle of the night when I am craving something sweet, my options are pretty much a.) bake a cake, b.) get in the car, drive to the store, and buy ice cream, or c.) Just eat some fruit. Gee, which one do I pick Every. Single. Time? When I am craving something salty, my options are generally to prepare some cooked food, or eat a pickle. 9 times out of 10, the pickle wins.

And the cool thing is, I don't even realize I'm dieting. Or at least I didn't, until I stepped on the scale 5lbs lighter than I was LAST time, with not a single workout under my belt since. So I was thinking I would call this "The Lazy Person's Diet." As in, if I keep only healthy food around, and I am too lazy to cook or bake or get in the car and drive to the store for ice cream, I WILL make better food choices out of necessity. It just happens.

But, as my dressage trainer is fond of saying, "I don't like the word 'lazy.' I prefer the term, 'energy efficient.'"

So, it's the "Energy Efficient" Diet.

Happy Lazy Energy Efficient Dieting!

Yoga, Pilates, Aerobics, Oh My!

It's been roughly a week, give or take a few days, and I am down 4lbs and have been hitting as many group classes as I can fit into my schedule. I love them. I love them all. For different reasons.

I love Yoga and Pilates for the strength and toning workout they give. I need both. I have atrocious upper-body strength. It's really very very sad. Most people have issues with the "plank" pose, because it requires core strength to stay straight. *I* have a problem with the plank pose because my arms are not strong enough to hold me up. Period. It's pitiful, really. I may have to hit the weights in my non-class times to try to catch up with the learning curve...

Areobics are a whole different ball game. I hit the step class, and didn't feel a darn thing until the next day, my calves were mildly sore. I suspect that it was mostly because I spent most of my time trying to learn the choreography and wasn't focusing on the workout so much. I am guessing that it will get better. That, or I need to raise my step up a hair higher than "almost flat." 

Today I hit up kickboxing. It was a blast. I loved it. I find it interesting that I don't struggle with the choreography for kickboxing as much as other classes, so now I can focus on the workout, which was intense. And I love throwing punches. It makes me feel like a badass.

On days where there is just no way I can fit a class in, I try to at least hit the mundane cardio equipment at the gym, even though I feel like a hamster on a wheel. Yesterday I was just about to hop off when Dr. Phil came on the big gym TV, and the show was titled "The Fat War." So I plugged in my earphones and got even more motivated. LOL.

Tonight I will be heading out to the barn to ride the pony and see if my week of intense workouts has helped anything at all in my riding. It shoud be very interesting.

Hitting the Gym

As part of my resolution to become a better and more fit equestrienne, I decided to pry my old membership card out of my wallet, blow the dust off of it, and march my flabby butt down to the ultimate site of self-torture: the gym.

Now, I have always been a solo gym-goer. I go alone, park myself on the aerobic equipment for a half hour to an hour, and zone out. Either watch the TVs or plug in the ole' iPod. Occasionaly, if I was feeling particularly motivated, I would jump on a resistence/weight machine if they weren't too busy. I think waiting in line for gym equipment should be illegal.

Now, I'm not saying that there was anything wrong with me forcing myself to get at least 1/2 hour of cardio in. It's better than nothing, that's for sure. But the motivation was lacking.

So, while perusing the Wonderful World Wide Web one day, looking for healthy vegetarian recipes, I stumbed across a fitness magazine web site that I quite like, and within this magazine's HUGE array of articles on everything from yoga to running to healthy eating, I found an article that made so much sense to me. About the power of joining the group classes offered at the gym. About how motivating they are. About how women, in particular, need the social support to continue an exercise program.

So I looked up my gym's group classes, decided that joining yoga would be a good idea for my first group class ever, since it was the least-threatening-looking on one there (Boot camp? Turbo kickboxing? What the hell is Zumba?) and resoved to attend the very next day.

Yoga kicked my butt. It was great. I stayed for the whole hour instead of thinking "eh, a half hour is good enough, and I have things to do," and I gave way more effort than I normally would have on my own. Hmm. Maybe there is something to this group class idea after all.

Yesterday I attended my second ever group class: pilates. Pilates kicked my butt more so than yoga. I am sore EVERYWHERE today, but I am so excited for my next class. Addicted already, I think. Which, to me an my non-motivated self, is a miracle. I would love to be addicted to the gym. Then how easy would this weight loss/fitness thing be? And it didn't help that my pilates instructor promised me that by the end of 30 pilates classes that I would see a noticeable difference in how my body looks and moves. You're ON, sister! Prove it. :-)

Sadly, the only class that I can squeeze in today is the mysterious and elusive Zumba class. Everyone says they are a lot of fun, though. And from what I gather it's more of a dance/aerobics class instead of the strength/toning/flexibility that yoga and pilates provides. Which I should probably incorporate into my class rotation anyway, to keep everything nice and balaced. Will be sure to keep everyone posted on the outcome though. I have zero rhythm. None. So it should at least be entertaining if nothing else.