Speaking Of Carrots...

Sadly I did not save a piece of the purple carrot for myself to try. I know! I didn't even think about it until after Mario had rubbed his furry butt all over the thing. So we can only assume it tastes just like an orange one. I asked Mario about it and he wasn't talking.

Perhaps Mario is not chatting about carrots because he is a little miffed about a new development over here. Turns out he has to share his carrot stash with what I consider to be a giant bunny. And when I say "giant" I mean "GIANT!"

Introducing my new friend, Wings!

I believe I have mentioned it before, but I used to ride horses when I was younger. I took riding lessons from the age of 10-21. When I was a kid I lived for horses. My entire room was filled with horse posters, books, models, etc. Towards the end of undergrad and certainly in the years after I had less time and $ for horses and the whole things sort of teetered off.

Then when I got really serious about running I was afraid to return to the sport for fear of falling off and not being able to run. And if I am being truthful, this is really still a big concern for me. But I've gotten to the point where I realize this running thing is not a phase and if I keep that frame of thought I might never spend time with horses again.

I used to jump when I was younger. I thought about it and probably 80% of the times I have fallen off a horse were associated with jumping. So I'm sticking to flatwork now. Also, in 10+ years of riding I think I hurt myself once in such a way that I wouldn't have been able to run (thought I broke a toe once). Those are pretty good odds, I think.

I looked into taking lessons again but they are uber expensive. I have never been into horse showing so don't really care what I look like when I ride a horse. I really just wanted to do some pleasure riding. So I looked into leasing a horse. I pay a flat rate every month and get to ride Wings 2-3x/week. When I was younger I begged my parents for a horse of my own. This is the closest I've gotten to having my own horse (and honestly in a financial sense it is much better than having my own horse) and has been lots of fun.

I started this lease during my taper for Santa Rosa. From then until about the end of October I have not and will not be doing serious during-the-week mileage. I am not sure how riding will fit into the schedule once my training ramps up again in the late fall/winter. For example, one of the days I ride is also my long run day. The longest I've run before riding so far is 10-12 miles. I am not sure if I will be able to go riding after a 20 mile long run. So it is unclear whether this is going to be something I can enjoyably balance in my life, but we'll see.

But Mario lovers, do not fret. Mario gets two baby carrots a day and I typically take four out for Wings. So really, pound for pound Mario is still the Carrot King.