More success!

So, I had gained a few pounds during my two or three weeks of falling off the wagon. Thanks to my diligence leading up to the show and then all the hard work and not having time to eat during the show, I've lost it all again and I'm back at 195. Yay! Molly should be happy. Onward and downward!

Success!

1. This morning I showed a friend's two-year-old gelding in his sport horse in hand class, which involves quite a bit of running. I got through it great! I was a little winded at the end, but not totally embarrassingly, and I recovered! We came in second in a big class!

2. I showed Max in his futurity tonight and ran great, keeping up with him and getting a really nice trot out of him. We were reserve champion!

3. Usually by this point in working a show, my feet would be killing me. They're not! I even taught dance class last night after the show. I am sore from running and my arms and shoulders are sore from holding and dealing with fractious horses, but that's conditioning, not from being fat. Hurray!

It's here!

The show has arrived, about five times faster than it should have, but it's here. Just a quick update:

1. My trainer Ashley Robinson showed my horse Max (Challs Image) in the open three-year-old gelding class and won. yay!

2. He had to go in the championship, but Ashley had to show another horse, so I showed him. Not quite as much running as tomorrow night, but still plenty and it didn't kill me. It didn't even suck. He wouldn't stand still and THAT sucked, but the running was fine.

3. Tomorrow I'm showing a friend's horse in sport horse in hand...lots of running. Wish me luck! Then in the evening i show my horse in the futurity. more luck!

Five more days

OK, I still feel like I'm going to die every time I run, but I have four conditioning days left. I must be a little better by then, right?

Two cool things to remind me that I am getting smaller (besides a couple of people saying, "Wow! You look fantastic!"). The first one was, I pulled out the saddle seat suit I bought when I first purchased Molly, thinking I'd show her saddle seat (HA!). It was too small when I got it and has never fit, although I've tried it on a few times over the years and the closest I ever got was barely buttoning it up and not being able to move. Anyway, I put it on the other day and I could not only get it on, but I could actually move in it. I wouldn't go quite so far as to say it was comfortable, but definitely usable. I have no actual use for it, sadly, but it's nice to know it's there if I need it...lol

Second cool thing: today I realized I have NOTHING appropriate to wear Friday night in Halter, and I got a little extra money, so I went suit shopping at the outlet mall where they have really good deals.. Greg came along because he is a really good shopper's assistant and knows more about women's fashion than anyone I know. Don't tell him I told you that.

Anyway, we picked out a bunch of 18's, because while I can fit in some of my size 16 stuff, I can't fit in all of it. The 18Ws were ridiculously baggy! I had to try 16Ws instead, and even they were a little on the big side! Well, that was at Dress Barn, which I guess is notorious for undersizing their clothes.

So we went to the Kasper outlet, and my expectations were pretty low because they're a normal person store, not a fat girl store. However, they did have sizes up to 18, but the regular 18, not 18W. Despite my success at Dress Barn, I decided I should start with 18...given the lack of W and Dress Barn's propensity for undersizing. Well, the 18s were too big and I had to send Greg to get 16s!!!! And they fit fantastically! And I picked a beautiful, beautiful black suit with shadow tape stripes...that basically means it's striped with alternating satin and matte black. It's simply stunning...I love it. It's also very versatile--I can show any horse in it, wear it to Morton's (HAHAHAHAHAHA) or other dressy functions. And it was 60% off! A definite win.

Good day.

OMG, I'm going to die.

Seriously. I am going to die. Why didn't I start this whole running thing a month ago, when I knew I needed to? I have exactly five days left to try to build myself up before Friday night, and I'll be spending much of those days grooming horses! ACK! I did run quite a bit today (around the block, back and forth at the barn), but it is ridiculously difficult for me. I did run with Max out in the field and kept up with him, but that's a lot easier than the deep footing in an arena! Oh well...must press on! Must win! He looks soooooo good and I want him to do his best!

One week to go!

The show is a week from tonight. Today I am SORE from all the running I've been doing...which is pretty sad, because it really hasn't been that much! I'm pretty pathetic. I took Maggie to the dog park and ran around with her a little, but I haven't managed to get myself out to run around the block yet. I know I need to, but I'm really, really sore!

9 days

As of last night when I was too tired and busy to post, I had 9 days left until the show. Thanks to Patience's nudging, I took Maggie for a brisk walk/jog around the block, which I think is about a mile. I ran one 1/4 mile stretch all at once, then two more 1/8 mile or so stretches. When I went to the barn, I body clipped a horse, then worked three, running about halfway across the property twice. I'm tired and sore! Gotta do it all again today...8 days left and I can do this!