Running the Mid Distance Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon
Day 131, December 31, 2010
Team Buzzsaw / Stewart Taylor Printing
2 feet of snow in Arizona, 4 inches of rain in Minnesota, giant floods in Australia, tornado in Arkansas, 100 car pileup in Fargo.........a friend has a flesh eating disease, mom got a concussion and now a very close and dear relative has cancer. That was the news I got today...... before noon.
Some have wondered why I am doing this Beargrease race. As I have said before, there are numerous reasons. But if you were to add up all of the reasons and put them in a bag, it would be a bag full of..... life. Life is the reason. ....Living, experiencing, exploring the unknown, challenging myself, meeting people, loving animals, learning, ....Living. There is so much crap happening in and to our world right now that it seems out of control. Blame the weather on global warming, blame the kids attention span on video games, blame the cancer on food and water..... our lives are speeding by like a vicious storm only for us to get older and wonder, "where did the time go?"
HOW DO WE SLOW DOWN AND ENJOY IT? For me, mushing dogs slows life down to its simplest form. A physical task of hooking up dogs to a sled and then having them pull you through the snow is an easy way to hold onto a "natural" thing life has to offer. No TV, computer, cell phone, facebook, ipod, itouch, 3G, 4G, on demand movies, DVR, DVD, CD, GPS, text, twitter, blogs or emails. Stetson once told me about a "vision of clarity" he gets when he is behind a dog team for hours on end, helping your mind go free and remebering things like who you sat next to in 3rd grade or remebering playing with army men with your brothers in the back yard sand box.
"Today, burn your special candles, use your best sheets and wear your best shirt because TODAY is special". In other words, don't wait for tomorrow to do something special, do it today; tomorrow is not guaranteed. For me right now it's Get out and Mush......and live life.
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Friday, December 31, 2010
Friday, December 24, 2010
It's Go Time!!!
Running the Mid Distance Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon
Day 124, December 24, 2010
Team Buzzsaw / Stewart Taylor Printing
Life seems to keep getting in the way of training. We need to be hard at it right now but life is very busy. The hard part about dog mushing is that it is such a short racing season, then it's over. Dec to March and it's done. If you are on the circuit you are spending every waking minute training the team. I have run into many reasons to NOT train: hunting season, no wheeler, work, injury to myself, warm weather, now .....Christmas. I'm calling bullshit from here on out! No more excuses. I am looking forward to 40 days of hell in which I will lose 12 more lbs and get my body back (hamstring and shoulder issues). Most important though is to make sure the dogs are in marathon shape. These dogs are priority #1 and to get their speed and confidence up with good runs. It's about split times and speed. I recieved a Garmin watch from my wife to tell the split times and mph with ease. It's go time!
Day 124, December 24, 2010
Team Buzzsaw / Stewart Taylor Printing
Life seems to keep getting in the way of training. We need to be hard at it right now but life is very busy. The hard part about dog mushing is that it is such a short racing season, then it's over. Dec to March and it's done. If you are on the circuit you are spending every waking minute training the team. I have run into many reasons to NOT train: hunting season, no wheeler, work, injury to myself, warm weather, now .....Christmas. I'm calling bullshit from here on out! No more excuses. I am looking forward to 40 days of hell in which I will lose 12 more lbs and get my body back (hamstring and shoulder issues). Most important though is to make sure the dogs are in marathon shape. These dogs are priority #1 and to get their speed and confidence up with good runs. It's about split times and speed. I recieved a Garmin watch from my wife to tell the split times and mph with ease. It's go time!
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
The People That Support
Running the Mid Distance Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon
Day 105, December 15, 2010
Team Buzzsaw / Stewart Taylor Printing
My Sponsors: Stewart Taylor Printing, Jack Links Beef Jerky, Polaris, The Edge Pilates Studio, Anytime Fitness, Premier Companies, North Shore Oil, Black Woods Grill and Bar, Out There Advertising, A&L Properties and Ledingham Promotional.
I have been lucky to have these companies support my desire to run these dogs. These great sponsors have enthustically helped out. There is one person in my life that you would think would be concerned or not too happy about the time spent training.....my wife Moira. She has been extremely supportive to the point that I thinks she wants me out of the house! She is a great mother to our 3 sons (Shown here with my youngest, Ben) and has been a blessing to me. Her support for this mid-life event has actually brought us closer together. How did I ever end up with someone that is so kind and supportive? I am having a great experience, but a lot of that has to do with her encouraging me to go run the dogs. She never makes me feel like I am putting extra stress on the household when I am gone for 4-5 hours 3 days a week, usually every weekend. The time committment for this sport is through the roof. To do it right, you need to be out there 6 days out of 7. This sport is as demanding as any sport I have been involved in. These dogs need attention, food, water and medical care every day, 365 days a year. It seems to be a lifestyle you have a hard time letting go.......but you enjoy your animals, your dogs, your kids. They truly become like family to you after a very short period of time. Living with a dog yard full of dogs is rewarding when you are running them through a snow covered trail at 13 mph.... other than that, it is all work. That is why you need support from either your spouse or handlers that you can count on. For my little experience, I am able to enjoy it because of the encouragement and support I get from my partner at home. Thanks Moi!
Friday, December 10, 2010
Rugged North Shore Trail
Running the Mid Distance Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon
Day 100, December 10, 2010
Team Buzzsaw / Stewart Taylor Printing
I've heard stories of how rugged the North Shore Trail is, but until you have been on it, you don't understand how intense it can be. We took the dogs on a 30 miler through the hills of the Normana trail and turned around where we have been training off the Fox Farm road. The 8 miles of the Normana trail that we added are unbelieveable! The hills are intense and much tougher than I would have imagined. I have been running some hills for training and needed every bit of that training to get through this short run. I got off the sled a few times, not for any other reason than sparing the dogs. I couldn't believe some of the hills that they climb....over and over. I looked at a couple of the hills and they reminded me of looking at a tidal wave. I wondered "How the hell are these dogs going to get up there?" But they pulled, without hesitation and attacked the hills, knowing their job...... never quitting. At one point we got to the top of a monster hill and when we turned a corner I saw that the hill continued up, Damn. Up we went again. But, what goes up, must come down. I got introduced to the speed that you don't want on a downhill. I couldn't brake as hard as I wanted but learned to pull up on the handelbar to create more pressure on the brake. That finally worked to slow them down to a controlled downhill speed. As soon as we were down on the bottom........ back up we went. It seemed like 20 times and this is just on a little 8 mile section! The rugged North Shore trail is exactly that..... parts of it are like a big roller coaster. It sure makes you appreciate the flats and the gradual downward slopes!
Day 100, December 10, 2010
Team Buzzsaw / Stewart Taylor Printing
I've heard stories of how rugged the North Shore Trail is, but until you have been on it, you don't understand how intense it can be. We took the dogs on a 30 miler through the hills of the Normana trail and turned around where we have been training off the Fox Farm road. The 8 miles of the Normana trail that we added are unbelieveable! The hills are intense and much tougher than I would have imagined. I have been running some hills for training and needed every bit of that training to get through this short run. I got off the sled a few times, not for any other reason than sparing the dogs. I couldn't believe some of the hills that they climb....over and over. I looked at a couple of the hills and they reminded me of looking at a tidal wave. I wondered "How the hell are these dogs going to get up there?" But they pulled, without hesitation and attacked the hills, knowing their job...... never quitting. At one point we got to the top of a monster hill and when we turned a corner I saw that the hill continued up, Damn. Up we went again. But, what goes up, must come down. I got introduced to the speed that you don't want on a downhill. I couldn't brake as hard as I wanted but learned to pull up on the handelbar to create more pressure on the brake. That finally worked to slow them down to a controlled downhill speed. As soon as we were down on the bottom........ back up we went. It seemed like 20 times and this is just on a little 8 mile section! The rugged North Shore trail is exactly that..... parts of it are like a big roller coaster. It sure makes you appreciate the flats and the gradual downward slopes!
Saturday, December 4, 2010
It's All About the Dogs
Running the Mid Distance Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon
Day 95, December 5, 2010
Team Buzzsaw / Stewart Taylor Printing
Today was the best day of the 95 I have spent working, thinking and living this sport. It was good because I finally understand what this sport is; It's about the dogs. It's about connecting and understanding with each dog in your team and what that dog is doing and how that will affect him later in the run. Timing, holding them back, slowing them down, letting them run....there's a feel and a science to running dogs. I don't have that feel yet, but I do understand that it is there. I understand now that it is truly about the dogs. It is about becoming one with your team and working together to accomplish the perfect run, with the perfect speed, with a true feel of what that speed is suppose to be. Conditions of the trail, the weather, the hills....both up and down. You have to feel the run as your dogs would feel it and run them accordingly. It's about the dogs. It's not about winning or even running in a race. Take care of your dogs and you will enjoy your run.
Day 95, December 5, 2010
Team Buzzsaw / Stewart Taylor Printing
Today was the best day of the 95 I have spent working, thinking and living this sport. It was good because I finally understand what this sport is; It's about the dogs. It's about connecting and understanding with each dog in your team and what that dog is doing and how that will affect him later in the run. Timing, holding them back, slowing them down, letting them run....there's a feel and a science to running dogs. I don't have that feel yet, but I do understand that it is there. I understand now that it is truly about the dogs. It is about becoming one with your team and working together to accomplish the perfect run, with the perfect speed, with a true feel of what that speed is suppose to be. Conditions of the trail, the weather, the hills....both up and down. You have to feel the run as your dogs would feel it and run them accordingly. It's about the dogs. It's not about winning or even running in a race. Take care of your dogs and you will enjoy your run.
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