Forum Moderators: open
So far this season, I have 50 runs on the dogs and about 480 miles under their collective belt.... and they look good. More mature (mentally and physically) ....very capable dogs. The race is 22 miles, 2 days in a row...and at around 7000', plus mountains, they will be hard fought.
...now for the downside. I'm only running 9 in a 12 dog race. Plus it will be the most competitive race I'll be in this season.... lots of serious pros in this one including Iditarod champs... 30 teams total in this class. But the distance is right for my dogs to hit other 8 dog races this winter on schedule.... so basically I just want to see what the competition is like and see how I do. Right now I think top 10 would be *very* good... top 5 possibly out of reach of any 9 dog team.... except mine, of course;)
... Don't get me wrong, though, I'm going there for blood. No doubt about it. We may not win, but I assure you, we will no go quietly. It almost wouldn't surprise me to see fire coming from their fingernails as I light them up at the starting line;) I'll let you know how it turns out... but for now... cross your fingers, have a shot for the dogs, and pray for a light dusting on top of a hard fast trail, and a clean run for the dogs.
So look out Montana... we're back on the war path and I have a little something for ya
BTW, what's up with that race in Siberia? Are you going to go?
Wishing you the best,
Mac
Day 1 I felt we had ‘good’ run... not ‘great’...but given the tough snow and trail conditions, and all the teams we passed, I knew the team did pretty well, performing about where I would expect them to in a race situation but a touch flat. We ended up doing the 20 miles in1 hour and 31 minutes... 4th place (less than 10 seconds behind 3rd.) There were 28 teams in the 12 dog class, and I was only running 9, so finishing in the top 5 on the first day was deemed by everyone there to be quite an accomplishment, given the teams I beat. The dogs came home hard, looked fine at the truck, drank, ate, and showed no sign of injury or fatigue... by and large they looked fairly unremarkable ...another ‘day in the life’.
However, on Sunday morning, the only 2 stools I found the morning before the race, were very gooey and nasty. The dogs didn’t drink either, which was weird.... but by the looks of them, you would have never guessed that they would collapse like they did. They looked fine, ready to go, no stiffness, no indicators whatsoever, but as soon as we went a mile or so, I could feel their energy wane, even though trail conditions were faster and had improved overnight. It was like taking a step only to find out your shoelaces are tied to the chair.... and we went down hard. I don't even know how far, but *far*... and ended up 16th overall ... our worst run ever.... agonizing. And, at the time, shocking.... It was only after our first drop on the way home that I realized my main wheel dog had thrown up all over the place and that the rest of the team was in for a rough time that night as well. I wasn't even completely sure (until I saw them unhappy today and cleaned the kennel this morning) exactly what happened for sure. I’m not sure exactly what it is, when or where I got it, how long it will last, etc. but the vet told me to administer the metronitenzol and then hit them with Panacure... The vet says 7-8 days off (starting today/when I start dosing) or else they might weaken themselves and the drug might not be totally effective.
...So that’s what happened. Unfortunately no one but you and a few others really know that. So additionally, it was pretty humiliating to crash so hard the second day and have those drivers think you ran your dogs too hard when in reality they got sick. Anyway, top 3 was within my reach and we blew it. The dogs had 50 runs/480+ miles on them before the start of the race (the last 10 were between 17-24 mountainous miles at high elevations in the 7-10,000’+ range with bad trail conditions. They were banging out 17 hilly fast miles at about 1:15 with a break that same week (and these last two runs were meant to be ‘easy runs on them’.) In fact, if I had maybe a 100+ more miles (six, 25 mile runs) on them, I’d be right on schedule to run Iditarod... so a simple 20 mile race was well within our reach and our first day proved that. If we would have gone out too fast my dogs would have looked exhausted, and somewhere along the line, on the sled or at the truck, I would have been worried that I might have a problem with them going out the next day.
Anyway, I just wanted to let you all know that my first race, bombed. It would have been huge to walk up there and take third with only 9 dogs. huge.
Didn't know you were eyeing the Iditarod! I'd have to take you out for a drink if you made it up there. :)
