Time to Get Serious

Last week I wrote about my motivation returning ... but even though I mentioned 'outside of racing' goals, in the end it was only my career motivation that kept working.

The past few months I have spent a lot of time working on a "project" of sorts that's racing related so I've put everything else on the backburner. In addition to working on the project, the cold weather was a good excuse for not riding but I didn't really have an excuse for not exercising at all other than laziness.

But after spending a week unwinding from doing my part of the project, I've still been lazy. This irritates me because last year before my accident I was hitting the gym every night and was in good shape. I had even planned on jogging a 5k but since I came up with an injury before then, I was forced to walk it. Last fall I wasn't going to the gym often but I was riding at least three nights a week. Now it's the end of March and I'm doing nothing. That is about to change.

There are a few reasons for my "must start working out again" mindset.

First, I sit at a desk all day for work and rational or not, the fear of illness due to being totally inactive is in my head. Odds are I won't develop blood clots or any of the other health issues that come with desk jobs but I'll admit that I'm paranoid. We have it pounded into our heads (for good reason) that desk jobs with no activity can cause major issues so that is always in my mind. I also have back issues which have been bothering me lately. The last time I worked out and was in decent shape, they went away. If that's not motivation, I don't know what is.

Second, I have a tendency to over think everything (my friends are probably laughing at this). I am not an overly patient person and right now I am waiting to hear back about something that I really want. But I've done all I can do and just keep thinking about my final part of the thing over and over again. Since I won't know anything for at least three more weeks (more like five), this may drive me crazy. The good thing about hitting the gym and riding again is that the gym shuts my brain off and riding makes me focus on horse issues. Finding a way not to go crazy sounds like a good plan.

Third, I'd like to run another 5k sometime this year. I had a blast on the one I walked last year and would like to see what I could do if I was truly trying to be competitive. While jogging on a treadmill isn't the same as jogging outside, it gives me a good base of fitness to work off of. Plus, if I start now then I can start jogging outside when it finally gets warm enough (and stays light long enough) which will be nice.

As for riding, I'm hoping not to jinx it but the weather is supposed to be extremely nice for the next few days. I have no real goals set for the horses right now but at least I'll have Vegas ready if one pops up, plus it's good to get her out and about instead of letting her sit around.

I'm good at coming up with excuses while sitting at my work desk all day but my goal for the next three weeks is not to fall into these excuses and find ways out of working. It takes 21 days to create a habit so if I can just stay strong for those 21 days, I should be home free at creating a routine ... hopefully.

Until next time,
Mel

Motivation Returns

It's been a long time since I last blogged and since then we've survived what some of my Lexington friends call the worst winter we've had in years. 

Because of colder temperatures and snow halting my chances to ride, and some days even get up to the barn, instead I started working on another "project". The part of it that I could control ended last week but I can't share what it was with you yet. If it comes to fruition, I'll have news for you in May. It could potentially be a life changer so fingers crossed I get to share good news with all of you in a few weeks.

Besides that, I've taken time the last few weeks to come out of a racing "hibernation" of sorts. I've spent the whole winter watching racing on the internet and hadn't been to a track (outside of stopping at Keeneland for random "quiet moments") in months. So when a friend invited me to visit Charlie LoPresti's barn with her in early March, I jumped on the chance.

If you aren't a huge racing fan, you probably aren't familiar with Charlie but he trains the "Dans". The headliner of that family is definitely two-time Horse of the Year Wise Dan.

Dan is returning for another season so we got to go up to the grandstand with Charlie to watch him gallop and hear some of Charlie's commentary.

While watching Dan on the track was awesome, the best part was showing Charlie how to work his text messages and jokingly being offered a job as his press secretary. That'd be a sweet gig!

We spent an hour watching Dan go through his cool down routine, including a bath in the colder morning air. As you can see, he wasn't a huge fan.

While his older brother Successful Dan had gone out in the set before Dan so we'd missed him, we did get to visit him before we left. His nickname is Moose and it's easy to see why.

There were still hours of training left after leaving the barn so I headed back up to the track to watch the rest of the morning's works and unintentionally kept my "Dan family" morning alive with Enchanting Lisa, the boys' 4-year-old sister by War Chant, breezing past me.

I also got to see international superstar No Nay Never get ponied around the track. If you don't know him, he won at Royal Ascot as a 2-year-old last year then returned to Europe later that summer to win a Group 1 in France. With my love of European racing, it was awesome to see him win the races over there and then see him in person.

I also got to go out to Milestone Farm later that morning and see an old favorite of mine, EZ's Gentleman. He's truly in a great place and everyone there seems to love him so I was happy to see him so happy. I have a standing invitation to come back and visit him and his foals again so I'm planning on visiting him again next month after the craziness of the final round of Derby preps.

Here's just one of EZ's foals, they are good looking horses!

They also own the dam of Going Wild (a blast from the past for me as I was a fan of his way back when) and she had just foaled a colt a few days before so I got to meet that little guy as well.

This past weekend I headed up to Turfway for the first time ever to go see the Spiral Stakes. You can catch my full experience here but here are two memorable photos from the day (and the same race). 

First, Big Bazinga (yes that is really his name) decided to pull a prank on the paddock by getting loose when they called for riders up. A group of us were right in his way and had to scramble to avoid getting run over but his fun was over within about 30 seconds as he stopped at the paddock fence and was quickly caught.

We Miss Artie won the race and secured himself a spot in the Kentucky Derby. Since I've been to both of Artie's graded stakes victories, I really think Mr. Ramsey should invite me to the Derby. Artie definitely does better when I'm there, hahaha.

My track excursions mean that Spring is finally here and with it my motivation has reappeared. I spent some time yesterday writing down some of my spring and summer goals. I am currently down and out for a few days with a random foot injury, I have no idea how I did it and it doesn't hurt but I have some slight swelling, so I've decided to sit out a few days but I look forward to getting starting on those new goals later this week. The best part of the swelling meant that I could make a Triple Crown joke, which is always fun this time of year.

I've been put on stall rest indefinitely with a swollen foot. However, I have enough points for Derby so I am still on the TC trail.
— Melissa Bauer-Herzog (@mbauerherzog) March 24, 2014

I have a feeling the horses won't enjoy the goals as it means they have to work again but they are probably as tired of winter as I am so maybe they'll surprise me. I'd try to promise to write again next week but I don't have much to say from week to week right now so I'll settle for a "next time I have something to update on". Hopefully that's not too far in the future!

Until next time,
Mel