Dog Lover!

Running the Mid Distance Bear Grease Sled Dog Marathon
Day 29 September 29, 2010
Team Buzzsaw / Stewart Taylor Printing

I love these dogs. They are nothing like I had expected. I am reading Gary Paulsons "Winter Dance" and I am amazed at the difference from the wild dogs he ran in the Iditarod compared to the veteran team that is training me. Almost every dog in my team has over 20,000 miles and some have over 35,000. When I say "my team" I am talking about the 10 dogs that I train with. Stetson has 3-10 dog teams and I am working with the veterans for now. I don't know which dogs I will run with in the Beargrease, but I am learning all of the basics with the "easiest" team. The pups are tougher to control compared to the veterans. The experienced dogs put their nose up and let you slide the harness on, then they lift their right paw to slip the saddlebag harness over their right leg....it is becoming easy. Some pups are like putting a saddle on a wild horse, they are very playful and full of energy. It has become easy to have favorite dogs and dogs you want to run with compared to dogs that are still learning. In the end, they all pull hard and want to run, it comes down to finding the right mix of dogs that will compete but still give me a chance to have an error free race (which doesn't happen often). My favorite saying is "When you race, there are 100 things that can happen... and 99 of them are bad". The veteran team is loaded with experienced dogs and I have learned to appreciate the good ones.

Whisper

......is a female that has been a lead dog for me. She straightens out the gangline when I say "Tighten up". She is quiet and never causes a problem. She is a joy to run and a very good dog. I wish they all behaved as sweet as her. But, the one thing she lacks is aggressive speed, which may keep her off the race team. Either way, I have had the priveledge to run with a great sled dog.

Disaster in Slow Motion

Running the Mid Distance Bear Grease Sled Dog Marathon
Day 25 September 25, 2010
Team Buzzsaw / Stewart Taylor Printing

Disaster struck on Saturday as I was running the dogs on the first loop. As we came around a corner I see my lead dog jumping over a giant tree that had fallen. I could not stop or the dogs would get hung up in the tree so I had to wait for the last set of dogs to be jumping over the tree when I hollered Whoa! Nobody got hurt, the wheeler did not hit the tree but now I have the dogs on one side and me and the wheeler on the other....stuck. For 10 minutes I fiddled with the idea of tying off the dogs and unhooking the wheeler but the drag rope was too tight and couldn't untie and for the first time I did not have my knife.....first lesson of the day! Stetson showed up and in 10 minutes I was on my way after he used a chain saw to free the wheeler. The second lesson of the day was to unhook the tug lines on the dogs to calm them down. If they are off tug lines, it defusus them and takes away 90% of their power to pull. Later in the run I tried to have the dogs go "haw" (left) where they usually don't and it was trouble! I learned my 3rd lesson of the day: Stay the course, keep it simple, boring is good! For some reason I thought we could go left and it would be this smooth, all in a line left easy turn.......NOT. Every dog turned hard left and we got wrapped up in some trees, breaking necklines and potentially harming the dogs. Only because I was going slow did I avert disaster. If I had been in a sled, I would have been in big trouble. Again, lessons for the rookie sometime come in bunches and today was a bitter sweet day. In a controlled enviornment, we were able to correct it easily. But, on the trail at 3am in the dead of darkness going full speed and it is -30 below.....Disaster!

Learn to learn.

Running the Mis Distance Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon
Day 23, September 23, 2010
Team Buzzsaw / Sponsored by Stewart Taylor Printing

I have learned to learn. Stetson has taught me a great lesson in that I need to have focus each training / conditioning day. I need to be doing something specific and have a focused goal each run. I have talked about this earlier but it is evident that this will be the most important part of my training. What exactly am I doing today? What is my purpose with these dogs today? Voice commands, voice recognition in their circle, what speed and why, health of the dogs, wide turns etc.. My confidence is growing each day with the dogs and I am convinced that I will finish the race with all 8 dogs intact. My mind often drifts to winter and for the first time in my life, I can't wait for cold and snow! I am jogging 3 miles for my conditioning without stopping and I feel better each time out. Anytime Fitness is on the way home and I will get some weight work for the legs tonight. For dinner : Alaskan Salmon on a cedar plank and acorn squash. I am down to 187lbs. I believe I will get to 175lbs by the Beargrease. I am truly blessed to have this in my life right now.

Drinking and Training

Day 18 September 18, 2010
Running the Mid Distance Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon
Team Buzzsaw / Stewart Taylor Printing

OK. Let's get it out on the table right now. Who has more fun than humans? Especially when there is drinking and a wrestling ring involved. Moira's Birthday last night and we ended up at a bon fire with good friends who have a full size ring in the garage.....you can't make this stuff up (thanks Keith). I ended up in the ring wit a cape and a mask on! Even then, I thought about not getting hurt so that I could still run the race. This has taken over most of my daily thoughts as I find myself thinking what it is going to be like in the middle of the night running the dogs up past my shack in Finland..... I ran 2 miles before going out and then began to pollute my body with beer and whiskey......I believe that that will have to slow way down as we get closer to January. I felt good running yesterday, like I am over the hump and back in some kind of "shape". I ran the dogs 5 loops today. One with John and 4 by myself. I learned a huge lesson today. Never let the dogs stop on their own. John is a great trainer, he understand these animals as good as anyone. Lance Mackay, winner of the past 4 Iditarods, is using Stetson's dogs this year and loves their speed and attitude. Again, I am lucky to be with Stetson. Today's run will be the routine until we start doing road work....... once our trail is so bad we just can't use it anymore. Sponsorships are starting to take place. Out There Advertising is creating a brochure that will entice pledges from bigger corporations down to the neighbor who wants to help. I believe this activity is going to ignite interest in the community and get more people to participate one way or the other in the Beargrease.

Every Day there is something going on!

Running the Mid Distance Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon
Day 13: Monday September 13, 2010
Team Buzzsaw

Day off. Took Moira up to Stetson’s to drop a log splitter and pet the dogs. I figure the more I am around them, the better chance I have to deal with them in rough situations. Had a “normal” conversation with John, he is easy and fun to talk to when you don’t see the whites of his eyes and the dogs are going crazy. His son Nelson is a smart, talented kid. John seems to be a great dad with a lot of kid in him when he is with his son.


Running the Mid Distance Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon
Day 14: Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Team Buzzsaw

Rode 3.5 miles on a “video bike” at Phy Ed today, then lifted for 20 minutes. The video bike is cool because it gives you choices of what view you want to see while you are riding. Today we had the West Coast Highway in California. My good friend Wayne and I have a race on the bikes, loser buys a shake. He has never beaten me and I have been beating him like a drum ….so I bought today….pitty purchase. He beats me 60% of the time in squash or racquetball and I went broke last winter buying him shakes. I will join Anytime Fitness in October and have the ability to workout ....well....anytime. It is on the way to work and the owner, Jinell has agreed to be a sponsor of team Buzzsaw!

Genetic Mutts

Running the Mid Distance Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon
Day 15: Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Team Buzzsaw

Showed up early at Stetson’s and started picking up poop. The dogs know me now and I have fun watching how excited they get to have someone pet them. There are a couple that are shy and want nothing to do with you but for the most part they go nuts. Tabio is my favorite pup. He is as playful as any of the others but just looks like a purebred. A lot of these dogs are mutts. They are genetic mutts, bred down from different strains of mushing dogs. HoBo was one of Lance Mackey dogs that is used for breeding….lucky dog! I put on most of the harnesses today and drove 1 loop with Stetson and 2 alone. It was flawless and this team is easy to handle. They know what to do! I try to imitate Stetson’s voice when giving commands, not quite there ….yet. I got a tour of the mushing truck today. If you need something, it’s somewhere in that truck. Food, harnesses, gang lines, neck lines…it’s all in there.

Bonus Day

Running the Mid Distance Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon
Day 12: Sunday, September 12, 2010 Team Buzzsaw

Today was a bonus day. I was able to get Brody to drive Ben to baseball and that cleared my morning to run the dogs. We went earlier this morning than yesterday….still too hot later in the day. Today’s dog team was a perfect team. We had every dog in the right spot. Yesterday, we had tried a different lead dog and it was apparent she was not ready…..yet. John is very good at training dogs in different spots and picking up tendencies. He reads something in the dogs and learns something specific about a dog each day……..always learning. I learn a lot each day by making rookie mistakes and paying the price. There’s no room for major mistakes on the trail, so I am making them now in a controlled situation with lots of help.

1) Harness all dogs first …then put them on the gang line.
2) Lead dog goes on the gang line first to keep it tight and last to come off
3) Attach holding rope closer to the wheeler so you can reach it sitting down….No slack!
4) Lead dog hooks up in only 1 spot……..and not on the collar….duh

So many things are common sense after they happen wrong once. I am learning at a quick pace and enjoying it. I didn’t think I would become attached to the dogs but after only 2 days I have my favorites….Cirrus is a great lead dog, Russell is as solid as they come, Rocket just wants to pull and Tabatha is a great pup. I am making wood signs down at Stewart Taylor so I know who is who. There are 30 dogs in the kennel and I need to know each one’s name. The handlers are Jonathon and Juliet; they are very good and have been patient with the rookie. I appreciate them letting me come into their world. I will try not to overstep my bounds but I have to be able to do everything by myself pretty soon. We talked about some runs up to “Wolf Piss Lodge” this winter where we would stay for a couple days and make 30 mile loops from there…..same trails as the marathon.
The weight is falling off right now. I am already down to 188lbs. Moira found a website called myfitnesspal.com. It lets you plug in your goal and it will help you with caloric control. You also put in your exercises and it will apply that to your calorie intake. Yesterday it told me I was 600 calories short because of the bike ride…..so I got to eat another banana with peanut butter on it and had a meal shake with protein. Water is still my biggest concern. I have to force myself to drink more. It’s 70 degrees out today, I think I will run on the trails, hopefully only 40 minutes!

2nd week

Running the Mid Distance Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon
Day 8: Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Team Buzzsaw

Today, I attended Kyle’s wake and went to dinner with good friends that were there.

Stetson is an interesting person. What I know of him is that he is considered to be the best musher around. He has run the Ididarod, been to the North Pole and on a support team to the South Pole. I know he does a lot of good work with all walks of life with Outward Bound up in the BWCA. It is his dogs that I will use in January. I am very lucky to have this opportunity, those dogs, that trainer and all 15 minutes from my house! His dogs have been bred from some great dogs, including Ididarod champions. My biggest fear is that I will get thrown. It happens to the best of them..........I met a guy that runs up Spirit Mountain 3 days a week. He is going to take me next week and show me his trails. This is going to hurt.


Running the Mid Distance Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon
Day 9: Thursday, September 9, 2010
Team Buzzsaw

Funeral today. Very sad for Kyle’s family. A good run helped me clear my head. I ran the ski trails at Seven Bridges road, about 6 blocks from my house. I planned on running 40 minutes but it ended up being 1.5 hours. I ended up get turned around on a bike trail that looked interesting. I will use it for cross training with the bike soon. Moira makes an awesome goulash dot dish. I had some of that with fried zucchini, and then had some more. Evenings are the hardest part of my day as far as food goes. Shake for breakfast, salad for lunch the BOOM…… Fill er up! I was hungry after the run but I need to drink water first before I eat. I am learning how to get in shape again as an older person with slower metabolism……


Running the Mid Distance Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon
Day 10: Friday, September 10, 2010
Team Buzzsaw

Yoga Friday! Bike 20 minutes, lift 20 minutes then go through a 45 minute yoga class. Tonight I will walk with my oldest son Parker to hang deer stands for archery deer season. Brkfst Shake, lunch Shake then chicken chili and zucchini for dinner. WATER!!!!!!


Running the Mid distance Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon
Day 11: Saturday, September 11, 2010 9/11 Never Forget”
Team Buzzsaw

Today is the first day conditioning the dogs. Wow! These are crazy animals…….no really, they are truly crazy. All they want to do is run and pull. It was too warm to do more than 2 loops, a mile each. John showed me some simple things like taking wide turns, voice commands, watch for signs from each dog etc.. I didn’t think I was a “dog lover” but I can see that some of these are very special. I have to learn all their names. I am a sponge when it comes to wanting to learn, the last thing I want is to harm one of these dogs. I was going to run them just today and let the handlers, Jonathon and Juliet take them the rest of the week, but I believe I will go back tomorrow. Poop Scooping, harnessing, gang line attachment, conditioning, harnesses off, back on the chains, water and food…..what could go wrong?

Day ONE!