Running Recap 2017

I don't know how it got to February and I still haven't done a running recap for last year.  It was a good year, in spite of an injury in October that almost shut down my running.  I ran more than ever before, for a total of 1850 miles.

I also did a running streak.  This is where you don't take any days off.  So you must run every single day, for at least one mile.  I had two days that I found this exceptionally challenging.  The first was in January, when I was sick with a fever and sore throat, and had to run on the treadmill at 5:30 am.  That was rough.  The second was in November, on the day following the CR24 (in which I covered 33 miles) when my IT band was really hurting from injury and the rest of my body was very sore.  That was a rough mile too.  But I stuck with it.  This was the first time I ever attempted a running streak.

So it was a good year.  My favorite run was the 9 miler I did in the desert in Arizona, around 4:30 am last summer.  It was amazing!

I don't have any recent pictures of me running.  So here's a picture of Pierce hanging from the ceiling.  Because that totally makes sense, right?

Wishing you all a Happy Valentines Day! 

Francie's DNA Results

I have often mused over Francie's background over the past four and a half years.  Recently I discovered that I could send off her DNA to Texas A+M, where they have a horse breed registry.  So I shipped off some hair samples and waited with great curiosity.  Here's a recent picture if you want a reminder.

When the results came back I was surprised!  The primary breed that came back was Holsteiner, which is a type of warmblood (a draft breed mixed with a more athletic breed, often thoroughbred). Holsteiners are known to be good jumpers.  I could really see the Holsteiner in her head, and they are often bay in color with minimal white markings, so this isn't what surprised me.

The secondary breed that came back was Caspian.  This is a breed native to Iran, and I wasn't familiar with them, so this was very surprising.  Indeed, they are rare in the United States.  They are small horses, but known to be good jumpers.

The third breed that came back was Arabian.  Francie doesn't look Arabian to me at all.  But sometimes she gets a wild hair and does stick her tail straight in the air like an Arab while running in the pasture.

It was exciting to find out a little more about Francie's background.  I'm still as baffled as ever about where her origin may be, but I'm happy to know a little more about her breeding.  DNA is so interesting, don't you think?