Tuesday, June 8, 2010

A different kind of endurance event

So I'm back from Vegas, and I feel almost entirely human again!

Ok. I can't hack the humidity anymore. I just can't. It was blisteringly meltingly hot in Vegas and disgustingly humid and the air was so thick and smelled so gross. There was nothing more wonderful than getting out of the Reno airport and smelling the cool, clean, thin mountain air! Of course my friends are from the rainy lowlands so they thought Vegas was just hot and I looked like a total wuss... but ~C and Zach would understand, it was nasty and humid and hot!!! down there!

(It was in the low 100s, so I haven't gone totally soft on heat. Just humidity.)

Anyway. We drank a lot of beer - nobody ever got stupid-drunk, but we drank pretty much nonstop. Saw the Mandalay Bay aquarium, the Bodies exhibit, rode the roller coaster at NYNY, ate at some Thai place in the Aria and Bouchon at the Venetian, watched the NHL game, played poker one night, and walked til I thought I'd die. The heat was awful, plus I got an enormous blister. I'm sure I looked pretty wussy, but oh well.

Sunday, after I got back, I napped all day. Yesterday I got a quick ride in with my brand new Toklat Woolback pad. I got the contoured barrel pad with 1/2" wool, so it's a total of 1" thick - about as thick as my old pad. I ordered it (from Sierra Feed) the week before last, and it came in on Friday while I was out of town. Dixie is somewhat suspicious of it - it doesn't smell right, and it's not purple - but it doesn't seem to bother her. More miles will tell, but for now I really like it. I ordered it with velcro openings to hold foam pads if I need more padding, but for now I'm not padding it up.

Our mid-80s heat wave should break tomorrow and it's only predicted to be 71. God, I love this town. I know I should be hoping for hot weather so I can get my horse properly conditioned for it... but just for tomorrow, I'll be glad to ride in the cool.

3 comments:

  1. Nasty humidity is right! Your weather sounds similar to my weather here in California and everytime I go to AL I turn into a major wimp that stays indoors
    and runs the air.

    I hear you on the heat training, but I LIKE 80degrees and 100 degrees is ho. So I can I stay at 75 or 80? ok, now I'm totally whining and need to stop.

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  2. Welcome back!

    I was in Vegas in August, and all I could think of was how dry it was! So little humidity!

    Did you like the NY rollercoaster? I hated it. I went from a coaster fiend to never riding one again with that one over 7 years ago. Bleh.

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  3. Mel - there are people who jog, every day, in Alabama. Think about that. Gives me a heat headache just thinking it!

    Sara - Dude, Reno is dry. Vegas has all those stupid little sprinklers making localized humidity. It was like a stinky sauna.

    I rode a rollercoaster once, when I was a kid, and I haaaated it. Terrified of it. Swore I'd never ride one again. The NYNY coaster was the second time in my life I'd ever ridden one. I just figured I've done so much scary stuff I might as well face my fear and get on the damn thing. Now I feel like I need to ride one with my eyes open and get a real opinion of them!

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