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!