to do the two day 100 or not to do the two day 100, that is the question...

["guest@endurance.net" <guest@endurance.net>]

patti ristree@aol.com
Hey folks!

Would love your opinion on whether hubby and horse are ready for a two day 100 miler (50 miles per day)....  We've only been doing CTR for a couple of years and hubby did his first 50 endurance ride (hot, hot, evil hot and humid day and they came in with all As and Bs on their vet card) last August.

We've worked through all of the LSD, leg hardening, saddle nightmares, mental fitness (no, breaking loose and running around the vet check does *not* improve your CTR scores on P&R)and eating/drinking lessons to have Shantih ready...  This year he's done the following ECTRA rides without a single hitch, excellent recoveries, and great metabolics.  A two day 50 in April, a one day 25 in May, a one day 25 in early June, and a one day 40 this past weekend.  The one day 40 was meant as a training ride and a "are we ready?" ride for the two day 100 at Elk Valley, which is supposed to be a relatively easy terrained ride.

By the way, let me say that the Snake Hill Ride was a TERRIFIC ride -- Kim and Denny Bookhamer were great hosts, and the whole ride was run like a well-oiled machine!  Kudos!

The only problem was Shantih's P&Rs.  This ride was a little faster paced (more cantering than the usual ECTRA pace, according to Rich), and while his midpoint P&Rs were 44/8, his final P&Rs were 52/20, perhaps due to some distractions, but still not his usual (44/12).  I chalked it up to a need for some faster "sprint" works for better recovery on a faster ride.  Soundness fine, metabolics all As, and just a little muscle soreness/tiredness. Mentally fine, eating and drinking like a trooper, and he seemed to bounce back without incident. This was Snake Hill, and its known as one of the tougher rides, I believe.  He finished 15th overall, with 31 starting and lots of experienced (i.e. miles in the thousands compared to Rich's 150!).

I'm of the mind that he should GO FOR the two day ride (7/10 and 7/11), and pull at any sign of pushing the horse too much.  His ultimate goal for the season is the 75 mile ride at FAHA in early August, and I think (from all I've read and learned from all of you) that this will help him "peak" at the right time...

He's got this weekend to train two days over some serious miles, and then can "scale back" for the ride.  Is this a plan?

Sorry to drone on and on, but we value your opinions and figure this will help start a good "how do we know we're ready?" discussion.  Or you can e-mail us privately, but I check the archives pretty regularly.

If you're wondering why I'm standing by on the sidelines offering the husband advice rather than riding alongside, I'm alternating between two good excuses -- one is that my youngster is a barely 5 year old, and I'm "taking it slow."  The other is that who else could we possibly convince to pit crew for us two cranky farts?  :-)

Again, thanks for your help!

--Patti, Rich (whose metabolics and soundness aren't as good as the horse's) and Shantih (the cheerful guinea pig!)


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