Hi all!
I've been slow in posting this blog... after taking time off for the race I then spent this past week playing catch up with everything else in my life. And training dogs of course. The closest trail with snow is an hour's drive away, so training eats up most of a day when I go.
So we did it - we finished our first 100 mile race! And now I look back and think, "Gee, what was I so nervous about?" LOL!
For a full accounting of the race and pictures, visit my website: http://www.sibersong.com/adventures/eaglelake07.php
Now it's on to the next one! Next weekend is hopefully the Stratford Nighthawks race which is 2 back to back 30's (one on Saturday, one on Sunday). The following weekend is the Greenville 100 race. This week I'm heading up to Pittsburg NH to do some long runs with the dogs and try to get them a little more prepared for the Greenville race which has a much shorter layover than the Eagle Lake race did.
I've got some injuries in a few dogs that need healing...most depressing is Kadee has a rear leg she's favoring, which I'm praying heals by Greenville. I know she won't be racing Stratford with me next weekend and she'll be sorely missed. :(
That's all for this post - I'm tired and ready to crawl into my cozy bed!
PS... I found a way to change the blog settings so you don't need to have a google account to post comments... supposedly! Feel free to test that out. :-)
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Monday, January 15, 2007
5 Days To Go!
Well the race is on! Got the official word last night via email. I've had a plastic bin in the kitchen for the past week where I've been throwing things I don't want to forget to pack or bring. Finished making dog booties (for the moment anyway - will need more before the 250) a few days ago, and last night I sewed up another doggie blanket/coat since Kadee suddenly decided to go bald last week, which makes 2 dogs lacking fur coats for what promises to be a frigid race. Installed a new sled brake yesterday. Still have some doggie trail snacks to make the next few days and assorted other small tasks including picking up some gear I'm borrowing from other folks....I'm sure I'll be spending a lot of nights this week doing last minute things, and Thursday is a day of just prepping (hopefully - if no emergency work comes in). My nerves have settled slightly but I'm sure they'll be back in full force by Wednesday!
The weather report for this coming weekend in Eagle Lake calls for below zero temps at night. After a fairly warm winter so far, I'm a little concerned that my body just isn't used to the cold yet. But we're also supposed to get a cold front moving in here this week so perhaps that will start to get me adjusted.
Still haven't been out on a sled. The dogs and I headed up to a friend's camp in Stratford this weekend to do some back to back runs with the ATV. I altered my original plan to do back to back 30's with a 6 hour break, due to a combination of icy trails which were likely to get worse that evening and minor foot problems on the dogs during the first run which I didn't want to aggravate too badly a week before a race, so instead we wound up doing closer to 50 miles altogether with a short break in the middle. I hope to god the dogs are ready for this weekend. A week ago I would have said, "Oh yeah, they're ready!" but now I have those last minute doubts going on, which I pretty much have had before every single 60 mile race and the dogs have been fine on those so hopefully it's just typical last minute doubts. We're getting snow today, and although we probably won't get enough locally for sleds I'm hoping that one of the trails about an hour away will get enough and will allow me to get out and do a longer run with the sled either tomorrow or wednesday.
Diesel lost his "slot" on the race team - he's just not working 100% of the time and I can't see taking him when I have other dogs who do work 100%. Made my final decisions on who is racing, and here is the chosen 10 dog team for Eagle Lake:
Kadee & Magik (main leaders)
Anthem
McKinley
Snowy
Snickers
Weyekin
Tristan
Piper
Dawson
So there you have it! This will obviously be my last post before the race...so tune in next week sometime for a recap of what happened!
The weather report for this coming weekend in Eagle Lake calls for below zero temps at night. After a fairly warm winter so far, I'm a little concerned that my body just isn't used to the cold yet. But we're also supposed to get a cold front moving in here this week so perhaps that will start to get me adjusted.
Still haven't been out on a sled. The dogs and I headed up to a friend's camp in Stratford this weekend to do some back to back runs with the ATV. I altered my original plan to do back to back 30's with a 6 hour break, due to a combination of icy trails which were likely to get worse that evening and minor foot problems on the dogs during the first run which I didn't want to aggravate too badly a week before a race, so instead we wound up doing closer to 50 miles altogether with a short break in the middle. I hope to god the dogs are ready for this weekend. A week ago I would have said, "Oh yeah, they're ready!" but now I have those last minute doubts going on, which I pretty much have had before every single 60 mile race and the dogs have been fine on those so hopefully it's just typical last minute doubts. We're getting snow today, and although we probably won't get enough locally for sleds I'm hoping that one of the trails about an hour away will get enough and will allow me to get out and do a longer run with the sled either tomorrow or wednesday.
Diesel lost his "slot" on the race team - he's just not working 100% of the time and I can't see taking him when I have other dogs who do work 100%. Made my final decisions on who is racing, and here is the chosen 10 dog team for Eagle Lake:
Kadee & Magik (main leaders)
Anthem
McKinley
Snowy
Snickers
Weyekin
Tristan
Piper
Dawson
So there you have it! This will obviously be my last post before the race...so tune in next week sometime for a recap of what happened!
Wednesday, January 3, 2007
Crunch Time
Happy New Year everyone! Short blog today, since I'm short on time.
Once Christmas was past it suddenly seemed to sink in that my first 100 mile race was only a few weeks away. It's been so warm and snowless that it almost felt like we were still fall training, so getting an email a few days ago stating that the Eagle Lake Race was looking like a go and only 2.5 weeks away caused me to suddenly think, "Oh shit!"
The dogs will be ready, that's not a problem. They've got lots of miles on them, they're in great physical shape, and though the current icy conditions around here may mean travelling south to find trails for awhile in a strange twist of fate (usually I'm heading north), it'll work out somehow I'm sure.
But now I'm scrambling to make booties, make a packing list, gather up the remaining supplies I need, make doggie trail snacks, and figure out who the 10-dog race team will be.
The team has some definates on it already: Magik, Anthem, McKinley, Kadee, Snowy, Diesel. No questions there. I want to run the two more "advanced" yearlings on this race and see how they do and get them the experience, so Tristan and Weyekin will be on the team. Then the final question becomes this: do the two remaining spots go to Maja and Snickers, two seasoned, experienced, fast, EXCELLENT sleddogs that I absolutely know can handle a long race? Or do I use this race to test out Piper and Dawson, who I'm not so sure of? Problem is, with the way this winter is going this may be the one and only race before the 250 for me to get some experience on the dogs. If I were trying to choose the most competitive team, it'd be Maja and Snickers. If I want to test dogs, it should be Piper and Dawson.
Guess I have another 2 weeks to figure it out....
Once Christmas was past it suddenly seemed to sink in that my first 100 mile race was only a few weeks away. It's been so warm and snowless that it almost felt like we were still fall training, so getting an email a few days ago stating that the Eagle Lake Race was looking like a go and only 2.5 weeks away caused me to suddenly think, "Oh shit!"
The dogs will be ready, that's not a problem. They've got lots of miles on them, they're in great physical shape, and though the current icy conditions around here may mean travelling south to find trails for awhile in a strange twist of fate (usually I'm heading north), it'll work out somehow I'm sure.
But now I'm scrambling to make booties, make a packing list, gather up the remaining supplies I need, make doggie trail snacks, and figure out who the 10-dog race team will be.
The team has some definates on it already: Magik, Anthem, McKinley, Kadee, Snowy, Diesel. No questions there. I want to run the two more "advanced" yearlings on this race and see how they do and get them the experience, so Tristan and Weyekin will be on the team. Then the final question becomes this: do the two remaining spots go to Maja and Snickers, two seasoned, experienced, fast, EXCELLENT sleddogs that I absolutely know can handle a long race? Or do I use this race to test out Piper and Dawson, who I'm not so sure of? Problem is, with the way this winter is going this may be the one and only race before the 250 for me to get some experience on the dogs. If I were trying to choose the most competitive team, it'd be Maja and Snickers. If I want to test dogs, it should be Piper and Dawson.
Guess I have another 2 weeks to figure it out....
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