Quality Couple Time

My hubby and I have similar sport interests - he is a trail runner and aspiring ultramarathoner, and I do endurance.  Our sports are parallel in so many ways.  A few times in the past, we have trained together.  Today was one of those days.  He needed a 10 mile run today and I'd previously scoped out a quiet road nearby (unfortunately it's paved) - so Rhio and I joined him for a ride/run training session.  And it was great!

Rhio loves to have a buddy, and it turns out a human will do just fine.  We kept a nice, steady, slow trot for much of the ride, and hubby kept up his nice, steady jog pace.  We got some funny looks, especially when we decided to take the last few miles home along the shoulder of a county highway.  But, it was fun!  We got to spend time together, and we all got our miles done.

My hubby has recently acquired a spiffy new GPS watch with a heart rate monitor and a whole slew of fancy functions.  I use a tracking app on my iPhone to track all my rides.  We were within 0.01 miles of each other's elapsed mileage for the entire workout - which I find pretty impressive for my free app on my phone! And it was a nice way to validate my app's functionality - at least along a road with no tree cover.   Rhio and I did 9.4 miles in 2 hours exactly, with an average speed of 4.7 mph and a maximum speed of 8.1 mph (ok, so lots of steady slow trotting, a tiny bit of medium trot, and a sprinkling of walking - this is great early spring conditioning ride!)  So far for 2017, we have 33 miles of conditioning - not bad, considering the weather.  In comparison, my husband has 30 miles for this week alone!  But he does have the advantage of doing many of those miles on the treadmill, so he can work out no matter what Mother Nature throws our way.

Rhio's and my first competition will be May 6 and 7; we are planning back-to-back 25 mile rides.  My husband's first race is a 50K (32 miles) along the Superior Hiking Trail on May 20.  We all need more miles under our hooves/feet before May, so let's get cracking!

Even on a Sunday afternoon, there was little traffic here.

About a mile from home.  Rhio wore his hoof boots on all four feet because the majority of our route was asphalt.  I won't train much on asphalt, due to the concussion, but occasionally it will be fine. 

Almost home!  It was a "balmy" 18 degrees, but with little wind.  More sun would have been nice.  But, we did manage not to totally freeze.  Such is life trying to put on miles in northern Wisconsin in March.

Coming down the driveway - Red and Daria (can you spot her?) are waiting for us.  Red had a little extra calming help from a bit of tranquilizer, but he is doing great with Rhio leaving!  This was the second time in three days that I've ridden.

Post-ride, looking fine!