Sore, sore, sore

I DID IT!  I finally got back on the exercise train....whew, that was hard.  So, I got peer pressured into going out for soccer practice last Wednesday.  Thank goodness it was on astroturf, because I do not have cleats (excuse me, boots) yet.  The field is over 2 miles away.....so, I jogged/walked there to make it on time.  We are the Dick Vet Vixens, which are made up of all vet students from all years.  The experience levels range from never having played to those that have played in high school.  There were 4 other Americans at practice and about 4 or 5 UKers.  After warming up and doing some drills, it was time to scrimmage!  Some girls left early, so we were left with 4 vs 5.  I was on the 4 person team and 3 pretty good Americans were on the other.  They all have good skills.  I must say I am ecstatic with my performance.  It all seemed to come back and for a moment I felt like Pele!  I was able to trap the ball, dribble and even juke out some defenders to score some goals! I actually had some explosiveness in my step.  I think this ole lady even impressed some of the young'uns.  They asked after practice how long I'd been playing. I figured it was longer than some of them have been alive...YIKES. So, all in all, a fabulous decision.  The walk home was brutal and by the time I got back to my flat, my one foot felt like it was going to simply fall off. 

The next morning, my left heel hurt so bad I could barely walk, but after getting the moving parts lubricated a bit, it was ok.  There was practice again that evening, but I did not go.  For one, I was out at the farm all afternoon and had to run home to let the bugaboos out, but also my foot was still pretty sore, as were my legs now.  On Thursdays we practice in the Meadows which is SO convenient for me and on grass.  I still need to get cleats though.

And yesterday, I took this out:

It was my first time on the mountain bike since last May basically.  I went out with the EUCC  - Edinburgh University Cycling Club.  The men and women break up and go their separate ways.  There were 4 of us.  There is some pretty good mountain biking around here, but you have to get there first.  If you don't drive to the site, you bike.  It's about a 10-12 mile ride (depending on where you enter the Pentland Park), which I didn't know.  It took forever......and ever....  We did not ride very fast and stopped a bit, so it was fairly brutal.  When we got there, we only rode on basically flat trails and maybe 6 miles and then went home.  It was a 28 mile trek.  I was a bit disappointed in that I'm used to riding a lot harder and better trails.  I'm told there are many very good options at the Pentlands, so I'll have to give it some time.  It was so good to get some exercise on such a beautiful day and the scenery was breathtaking - fields of cows, horses, sheep, rivers, etc....  I should have brought my camera, but wasn't sure that was a good idea given I had not been on a bike in a while and uncertain as to what to expect as far as difficulty on the trails.  I will take it next time.  We got so muddy, we had to spray our bikes off at a gas station.  I got home, took a shower and laid down with the pooches for a bit. Then, I got up and ate everything in sight..nom nom nom.

Today it's overcast and drizzling a little.  It's a perfect day to stay in and revise my notes and read, which is what I'm going to do right now!

OH, and a friend convinced me to sign up for this:  http://www.mhsurvival.co.uk/page34.asp.  It's the Men's Health Survival of the Fittest 10K.  I am NOT a runner, but it has all kinds of obstacles on the course and is done right downtown. It looks like an absolute blast. I think we start at the castle esplanade!  It's a few short weeks away...Oct 17th....and I can't wait!

Ok, off to study and I will be back to post the cow naming contest results later today, so stay tuned!

Over-N-Out

Week 2 is overrrrrr and Cows...mooooo

Can you believe it?  Wow, time is already flying. 

This week was fun.  My dreaded lab was actually really neat and a learning experience....imagine that!  It was a good ole chemistry lab on separating proteins using electrophoresis and then measuring some stuff.  Without question, it helped me get into my tiny pea brain the differences with some methods of separating proteins.  The lab was explained very well and there were several professors wandering around to answer any questions on the procedure and/or explain results.  It was my most dreaded block of time this week and ended up being a delightful surprise.

Thursday afternoon was my favorite, however.  I got to go back out to Langhill farm to get a tour of the dairy cow operation and then over to Easter Bush to do the same with the sheep.  I looked for my beloved cow (I can call her by name on Sunday), but did not see her.  I brought a picture of her, but really needed her ear tag number since that is how they keep track of the herd. 

My group stopped at the dairy farm first.  It was basically an investigative trip. We had to gather a bit of information regarding the farm, herd, feeding, breeding, selling and management of the dairy cows. 

This is before we left, waiting on our bus outside of Summerhall.  It was a gorgeous day!

The farm is 240 ha, which includes the sheep farm.  It's not an easy farm to manage because it's very spread out. Dairy cows do not like to walk and they must walk a lot to get to/from their fields and the milking parlour.  They are milked at 5am and then again at 3pm. The highest yielding cows are milked around 430-5pm.  This gives them more time to produce.  The herd is comprised of 80% Holstein Friesan cows, which look like this:

These ladies are in the calving barn and are within 1 week of giving birth.  Holstein Friesan's are an extreme dairy breed. They have the highest average milk production over all breeds and are very good tempered.  They try and keep them 'in calf', as they produce more milk that way. 

The herd replacement rate is 30%.  We have about 220 cows in the milking herd, and about 160 'followers', which are the younger generations. There are about 80 calves (0-1yr old) and 80 Heiffers (1-2yr old).  Once they are milking, they are called a 'cow'.  They do not sell the dairy calves even though that is a goal. They all end up being used as herd replacement due to unforseen deaths in the herd, lameness, mastititis, etc.

The lactation period of the dairy cow is 305 days, and their 'down time' is dedicated to doing AI (artificial insemination) in order to try and get the cow pregnant.  It normally takes 2-3 times per animal for it to take and each insemination cycle is 21 days.  Average milk production is 30L/cow per 305 day lactation.  After a calf is born, it only stays with mom for a short while and then it's moved to a calf barn.

Because the fields are so spread out at Langhill, they use an ATV to round up the cows for milking.  This is a picture of the cows doing the Milk March to the parlour in the afternoon.

I tried to take a picture of the beautiful scenery in the background, but my buddy decided I needed a picture of his mug and my camera focused on him rather than the really pretty landscape behind the barns....

It is past my bedtime and I will have to cover the sheep tomorrow. I need my beauty rest, for I am FINALLY headed out to do some mountain biking tomorrow morning with the University's women's mtb team.  See, I am prepared:

Good Night All