Soggy Week

I don’t have much to blog about lately. I haven’t been on a run since Sunday, when we still had snow on the ground. Monday, temperatures were in the 50s, so everything melted. Combine all that snow melt with the rain we’ve been getting, and you’ll get some pretty soggy woods. All that standing water has been freezing overnight, making for some pretty treacherous biking conditions.

Since the trails around my house are such a mess, I have been canicrossing with all three dogs to keep them active. I also sprinkled in a little regular leash walking, since they’re all pretty atrocious at that. If anyone wants to lend a hand and walk some dogs with me, just give a holler. I can’t regular leash walk them by myself, since they’re all over the place without their ganglines. And sure, I can (and do) walk them one at a time – but I like getting them all out at the same time, too.

This weekend is somewhat up in the air. I have the opportunity to bring the dogs to Delaware State Forest in Northeast PA for something – either a hike or bikejoring, depending on the trail conditions. However, a few things are deterring me. I’ve been warned about bears, large coyotes, and hunter’s traps along trails. All things I wouldn’t want to run into alone in the middle of unfamiliar woods. I’ve also been looking forward to trying out my rig in the Pine Barrens, so I may just go down there instead.

I wish there was snow somewhere within two hours of me, because that’s definitely where I’d be. I’m not sure what to do about Tug Hill. I want to enter the limbo class. At the very least, I want to go up and watch the races and practice on an unused trail. But it’s so hard to tell if there will be suitable snow. I’d hate to enter and have the race get canceled. Not to mention booking a motel room and getting stuck with a cancellation fee. I’ll have to make some phone calls and see how much notice I can give.

It doesn’t look like we’ll be making it to the Massena Dash. My handler (haha) will be busy with the Super Bowl, and I’m not sure it’s in my budget to make the trip. Maybe next year!

Anyway, that’s enough disappointing news for now. Hopefully next season will be snowier, and we’ll have a bit more in the budget in terms of traveling.

In the mean time, I set up a Facebook page for Blue Eyes & Spitfire. Go ahead and give us a “Like” – I’ll be on there quite a bit, instead of flooding my personal Facebook with dog sledding stuff.

70 Miles

Distance	Moving Time	Average Speed	Maximum Speed
1.83 miles	0:13.20	8.22 mph	12.75 mph

Our run today broke the 70 mile mark for training this season! Well, technically we were already over 70 – there’s been a run or two I forgot to record mileage for. But we’ll pretend my numbers are totally accurate. Either way, pretty damn awesome! It should be fairly easy to make it to 100 miles before it gets too warm. Not bad for my team of newbies.

The weather has been pretty decent the past few days. Nice and cold without the biting winds. The muddy spots in the woods have been frozen for a few days now, which is nice. Parts of the Northeast will be seeing some snow tonight, but I’m pretty sure New Jersey will only get a few flurries. There’s some hope for this weekend, although it could change over to mostly rain. Either way, I hope I can make it down to the Pine Barrens for a run.

Back to today’s run: it when pretty well! I found that if I become Dexter’s personal cheerleader, he runs a bit better. I yelled, “Dexter! Hike! Hike!” and waited for him to show any increase in speed/motivation. And I mean ANY. When he lifted his head and focused forward, instead of sniffing, praise. When he moved with Denali, instead of pulling away from her, praise. When his trot became a full run, praise. Repeated this non-stop for the entire run, and he seems to be doing a bit better. Or it might just be the colder temperatures that motivate him. Well, whatever it is, I’m not complaining.

2011-2012 Mileage to Date: 70.43