It's 15 degrees in Dillingham at 9:10 PM and getting colder. We've got a little snow on the ground. The 10 foot birch basket sled is all fixed up (thanks Roger) and we're taking it out tomorrow. Lucky, Luke, Bing, Bernard, Charlie, Felix, Olaf, Chester, and I are heading out to the flats to put in a trail. This will be their first time pulling a sled since last winter. Also my first time standing on the runner since last winter and I can't wait!
If the weather turns bad we may wind up back on Waskey Road, but hopefully we're done until next fall. As the road work comes to an end we've got Luke with the most miles at 219 and Lucy who just hit 100. Most of the rest are in the 170/190 range. This was my first experience with semi-aggressive fall training and I thought I'd share the major lessons learned.
It's all about the feet - My dogs have genetically good feet, but a gravel road isn't easy to run on bare footed. We had a number of blisters, sore, cuts, broken nails, etc. Some times it was pretty frustrating. But I've got to say, their feet look great right now. Every one of them has a nice solid firm foot. Their feet have never looked so good. It appears the road work was good for their feet generally speaking. But when we went more then 10 miles, or the gravel on the road was wet, we had trouble. In the future I would boot anything over 10 miles or on a wet gravel road. Also, once a dog hit 100 miles, they seemed to start getting blisters and such and should be watched carefully and booted as needed.
They need recovery time - This being my first attempt at road work, I wasn't too sure on a schedule. We ran Saturday, Sunday and then Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday in the beginning. We soon dropped the Tuesday and ran four days per week. After we were almost done with the road work I learned from a few experienced distance mushers that they ran every other day in the fall. Thinking back to some of the foot issues and such, every other day would have been best.
Learn to work through the injuries - We had some of the silliest injuries this fall, dogs biting each others legs, foot problems, even one serious sprained ankle. Hagar sprained his ankle last week and won't be running the Kusko in January. Dr. Hagee (the vet who comes to Dillingham every other month) examined him and said he would recover, but suggested not running an old dog in a 300 mile race after that injury. He's moving around better on it now and I'm looking forward to getting him back in harness in December. When it comes to any injury, you've got to have a veterinarian willing to work with you. That vet had better understand mushing or you're just wasting your time. Also, you've got to be ready with the creams, lotions, and potions. There's a balm or cream for just about anything. Find out about these products. Figure out how and when to use them. The right stuff really can help.
It's much easier (and more fun) with help - Eric or Ryan ran all but two of the runs with me this fall. They were great. Both of them said they would help me out and they weren't just blowing smoke. Having two guys on the 4-wheeler made running along side a public road a very safe endeavor. It was also nice driving to the dog yard at 7:45 on a Saturday morning knowing someone else would be there. And if that someone was Eric he'd probably have a thermos of coffee (thanks Tall Eric!).
We went on 26 runs this fall. Now we find out what it did for us. I'm hoping to be able to take off on 20 to 30 mile runs and work up to 40 miles by the end of the month. That's pretty quick, but the dogs look great. Their muscles are tight and firm, weight is just right, and they've got that confident edge about them. That sense of knowing what it's all about. Plus, pulling one guy on a 100 pound sled over the snow has got to be easier then pulling 2 or 3 full grown men on a 300 pound 4-wheeler. I'm guessing the sled will be more fun too. I can't wait to see their reactions when I hitch them up in front of a sled tomorrow. I'll let you know how it goes.
These are the dogs still available to run the Kusko 300. We're down to 12. Hope we don't get hit with injuries. Keep your fingers crossed. (dog's name and mileage below)
Luke-219 Lucky-175 Bing-209 Bernard-173 Charlie-182 Felix-183
Olaf-196 Lucy-100 Phoebe-175 Ginger-191 Arctic-112 Chester-198
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