<< I was trying to point out that for SOME
people, a 25 will be the hardest ride of their lives. They may not be
physically able to do a higher distance, but that does not mean that they
did not ride, train, etc, just as hard as you did for that 100. In fact,
you probably put in less time than they did. >>
Samm, Thank you for your succinct replies here. Please let me share soemthing
that may put this in perspective -
at aged 17 I awoke one morning and as I climbed outof bed, my left hip
collapsed and down I went. After weeks of tests and missing school and a lot
of pain, I was diagnosed with progressive infammatory arthritis. i was told
that if I continued to ride, swim run, play baseball, etc., I would be in a
wheelchair before I was 30. Well, I am just s few "weeks" over that,a nd 2
children and quite a bit of therapy later, I STILL ride and swim and play
baseball and run. The arthritis has spread, and winters are just nasty for
me, and all of our horses have learned to let me mount form whichever side is
not hurting, since it has spread to both sides and most major joints.
The moral of the story? I thank the good Lord for every day I am able to get
out of bed without collapsing and for each time I mount and ride and dismount
without pain. So I guess that for individuals like mysekf, perhaps there is a
level of additional accomplishment in completing 25 or 35 or 50 miles - mush
sweeter than ANY 100 miler could ever know. Thankfully, I see a new horse in
the future, not a wheelchair. So please WATCH those remarks about
superiority. So so so...
s