Almost Back

This weekend was a big weekend for me illness-wise. I did THINGS each day (one thing you saw yesterday!).

I rested all day Friday in preparation. Pretty much just sat on my couch all day working and then ended the day going to bed early and sleeping in on Saturday.

Me on Saturday morning

Around 10:00, I got in my car and drove the 50 minutes north (the longest I've driven since May 9th) to the Woodside Horse Park, there was an event going on and I wanted to see my event student do her show jumping round and then watch Kate's students too. In addition, Nicole was in town!

I wasn't sure how long I'd last and I wanted to longe TC afterward too. When I got out of the car, I felt pretty good, it's nice to know that driving isn't a whole ordeal. I found Nicole watching Advanced cross country and hung out with her for a while before Kate joined us.

I ended up lasting ALL DAY. I didn't leave until 5pm. I even went on Kate's BN course walk! The day's total was 12,000 steps, the most I've walked since early May. Mono can't keep me down. Well, I felt like crap on Tuesday soooo yeah.

The one picture I took at the event, look, a palomino running
around advanced!

I did get some shit from my clients who were shocked to see me after only three weeks of mono. Whatever. I felt fine, more tired than I'd normally be, but fine. I mostly felt like I'd never stepped foot inside a gym in my life, so I noticed the terrain in the course walk (hills are hard) and I did end up laying down on a jump a few times to rest while Kate was coaching.

After watching way more than I thought (everyone did amazing!) and chatting with my college student who is back for the summer (she's pulling me out of jumping-instruction retirement because she has no coach for an event in a few weeks and Nicole is putting that one on so I'd love an excuse to go visit her and Peony), I headed south.

To the softest gray nose

I had longed TC on Thursday, then gave him Friday off. On Saturday evening, he was happy to see me and glad to get out and move around.

He's looking really good even though he has also lost a lot of fitness. He was so good for me in the round pen. We worked on turns on the forehand, spiraling out to a shoulder-in type movement (he was just in the halter and longe line).

After that, I put a little pressure on him within it with the whip on top of his butt, an aid I want to use for his eventual piaffe training. I kept telling him to stay with me and when he slowed the trot but didn't break, I took the pressure off. I want him to think he can get that whip tapping to go away if he slows down so I can use it as a way to get him to tuck his little butt under him.

He's the cutest

It also has the perk of putting pressure on him and him getting that pressure to go away by slowing down versus by running out the front. I mostly care about that right now. Can I teach him that there's another way to get pressure to go away that doesn't involve him getting out over his front edge? Yes, hopefully.

He seemed to enjoy his work but I was dying by the end. Not of exhaustion, but of frustration that I can't ride him yet. I'm so excited to get back to it. I've got my trainer lined up for a lesson when I get better (she was like "listen to your doctors" and I am reluctantly doing that) and I've already planned out a last minute All Breeds push if we want to go for it. I'll see what she thinks. He's got all the movements from 2-3, it's just a matter of getting him back into fitness and polishing a few things.

Or we'll just quit dressage and trail ride for days, I don't care, I just want to ride!

This was four years ago! Look at how dark he was and how far
down my leg used to go... I thought he might end up being a
titch too small for me back then, 

It was a great day. I'm still obviously sick. Still contagious (I had to back away from everyone wanting to hug me and was really careful about staying away from people), still experiencing some symptoms, still have shit liver values (I get rechecked in another two weeks), but I'm doing way way better. This weekend was a breath of fresh air getting to spend time outside and with my friends and horse.

I still have a long way to go before I am 100% normal and able to go back to my busy life, but I'm so happy with this progress! Get in good shape, people, I shouldn't be able to do all this only half way through the shorter length of this illness, but I blame it on the insane cardiovascular fitness that my gym has dragged me kicking and screaming toward. Can't wait to get back to that, even though I hate cardio.

WW: I Lasted Eighteen Days

I finally got to see this view this weekend. I am so happy. Just six more days until I can ride TC!

I love this view!

Managed to beat the rain just barely

I asked my instagram feed whether I'd last the full six (then reduced to four by my doctor) weeks without even sitting on Rico. Most people voted no. They were right. I only lasted three weeks (well, two and a half), which honestly is pretty good! Not riding has SUCKED. I can't wait to get back on TC next week.

So, his mane has always been on the right side,
now in retirement, it's on the left... weird

I used to walk him down this road every day

Things Are Looking Up

I went to the doctor on Monday! I had previously only been to urgent care, so this was a regular  doctor visit. The purpose was primarily to get a note that said I could work from home while I recover, but also to check on the illness to see how it was progressing and ask a few more questions.

This was a new doctor and I got some questionable information... enough where I grabbed an appointment with someone else afterward. Essentially I was told I could go back to work now and could start riding and lifting whenever I felt like it, as mono is a self limiting virus and those aren't  contact sports. I mean, until I hit the ground from fatigue, right?

This is the only actual mono comic I've found

I mean, it's exactly what I wanted to hear, but after spending two full weeks feeling like crap and having to sit down half way through our brief conversation to rest... it didn't feel right to me. 

Doctor number two saw me after a poke lunch (yay, it was so good) and gave me much more normal information. I think I will keep this one. The good news is that I got the note, got HR's approval, and started working from home Tuesday, I plan on working as many 9-10 hour days as I can to make up hours from my two weeks off. 

The other good news is that I get to ride on June 4th! She said to wait a month after symptoms started (May 4th-ish, my first official sick day was May 6th but I felt like crap on the 4th and 5th) and then ease back into it. The biggest risk is my spleen rupturing if I were to fall. 

Not coming off if I'm sitting behind these perfect
brown ears!

I'm obviously being a little bit of an idiot about it, as I plan on sitting on Rico this weekend. That's just Rico though. Then the following weekend, I'll ride Sunny to see where my fitness is at before getting on TC. 

Speaking of TC, I went straight to the barn after the doctor's to see him! It was raining all weekend, so I stayed home and recovered from Friday's TC adventure. By Monday, I was feeling way better! Even after my doctor fiasco! I took TC out and we got to the turnout, I wasn't tired yet, but he was wild, so I put him in there and let him run around and buck a bit. I stood most of the time he was playing and then was still feeling good, so grabbed him and took him to the cross ties. I managed to curry him, brush  him, pick out his feet, and have a conversation with Kate before taking him home.

When I got home, I was feeling totally fine! I mean, walking up my stairs was still hard, I still felt nauseous, and I sat down all day Tuesday to recover, but it's really good progress toward being mostly human again. 

I'm hoping to be able to longe him this week when the round pen opens (we've gotten a crazy amount of rain for it being nearly June). Then the first week of June, I'll be back on him! That's like ten days away! 

The  most fun but also would rupture my spleen without really
understanding what he did

It's been nearly three weeks and I'm supposedly half way through being sick, but other than missing work, life is feeling more normal. It won't be totally normal until I can go back to work and crossfit, but riding is right around the corner and it's been nice to have something to do for 8 (err or 10) hours a day. I'm also pretty certain I could start doing easier body weight movements if I'm allowed to ride. 

This weekend should be fun even outside of sitting on Rico. I'm going to try to go to the little festival I always go to over memorial day weekend. I can normally do the whole thing in an hour, but I expect that I can't do an hour of walking straight with no breaks, so I expect to be sitting down a lot... I still want to go, as I think it will be a good test to see how much I can do in a day to see if I can start teaching again. 

Remote/Video Lessons

I've had some inquiries that since I'm sick, would I be willing to teach video lessons and/or remote lessons. Despite the impostor syndrome, I am very bored, so the answer is very much yes. Though I have never done anything of the sort.

Remote lessons would be at my normal non-travel rate, which I think is in the realm of a normal Gold-Medalist-but-not-CDI-competitor-or-judge instructor, at least in this area. I have high speed internet, a cell phone, and skype/the ability to download a skype-like video messenger.

Video lessons would be significantly less, as I can do those a little more randomly even though I anticipate both taking about the same amount of time. I anticipate needing a 3-8 minute video and then being able to write about a (long-ish) blog post's length response.

It was a beautiful day

I also have to say as a disclaimer that I am way more eloquent as a writer vs as an instructor so reading my blog and then expecting my lessons to come out in a similar manner will be disappointing to you. I can delete and rearrange things in the blog in a way I can't do in lessons.

Please email me (regentanzer at gmail) or find me on social media to talk about it. It might take me a second to get back to you, please forgive me. I'm introverted, exhausted by laundry, and until I get squared away with work and my current clients, I need to put those things first.

Finally Visiting TC

I went to the barn on Friday! Then needed to sit at home both Saturday and Sunday to recover... But let's focus on the barn.

TC was stoked to see me and I felt the same way! I was able to brush him and pick out all his feet before needing to sit down in the car, which I thought was pretty good. It gave him time to finish his grain.

So cute, very dirty though

I wanted to get him out, so I took him on a walk and made it just past the turnouts before I had to sit down again. I was sitting there with him grazing next to me when I realized that the turnouts were open and I could just put him in one and then sit and watch him. So I did! And it was way better for both of us.

He wandered over to the horses who live next to the turnout and played with them a bit, then wandered all over the turnout. A horse got put next to him and TC quickly trotted over to say hi and was probably over enthusiastic. He galloped around a couple of times and trotted up and down next to the new horse, who wanted nothing to do with him. All while the other three just watched and begged him to come back. Just ridiculous.

Wanting to hang with this friend

It was so fun to see him play and so fun to be out at the barn, even if I spent most of the time sitting in the dirt watching him in turnout. We've had some rain, but I think when the turnout dries out again, I'll make this a regular occurrence until I can start long lining him. My plan is that as I get better, he will get in better shape with long lining and ground work. When I'm clear to ride, we'll both be hopefully equally as out of shape.

It seems silly, but again that day knocked me out for the rest of the weekend. My fever is gone, but my temperature is actually now abnormally low, which is not unusual for an infection. I'm still finding a way to worry about it though, don't worry. And I've been nauseous nonstop since Friday, so that's been fun. Yay the next month is going to be an absolute blast.

These friends aren't interesting

I go into the doctor today (and then I'm hoping the nausea goes away so I can grab poke from my favorite place on the way back) for a check up. I was diagnosed at urgent care and they can only give you a three day note for work. I need something longer. The other good news is that HR has not totally rejected my desire to work from home. So I am going to have the doctor write a note that details what I am allowed to do, which is probably just everything but go into the office.

Fingers crossed HR okays this and I don't have to deal with the loss of income from going on critical leave. My awesome boss found me a contract job through our professional organization though, so that's helpful regardless! I'm excited to have some work to do and hopefully it will feel like I just decided that I was going to work from home for a month... and not ride... hrm.