A for effort

Busy, busy weekend. Saturday I took eight dogs into the White Mountains by myself to do a 32-mile training run. All went well. The dogs were pretty tired at the end but they all worked hard the entire time. Bull and Hazel were in lead. We stopped at the halfway point (Moose Creek Cabin)for about half an hour and I gave the dogs some broth and meat snacks before heading back. On the way back we were slogging up another endless climb when the dogs lunged forward...at a freakin' moose! A big cow was standing on the trail about 20 feet ahead (I didn't see her earlier because it was around a corner) Just as I was about to drop dead of a heart attack, the big beast sauntered off the trail into the woods. Of course I didn't have a gun (I still don't feel comfortable with them) but I had a hatchet, which probably would have just annoyed her, but it was something sharp in my hand and that made me feel better. For the rest of the trip back to the trailhead, I looked behind me every five seconds and sang songs really loud to warn other moose that, not only am I there, I'm also a really bad singer.
Ok. So yesterday I did that 19-mile race. I came in second. I was really, really nervous in the morning and with the temperature hovering around 25 below F (minus 32 Celsius) I thought the race would be cancelled, but it wasn't. So I froze my ass off for 20 miles but we made it and it was actually really fun. The dogs did amazingly well. I had Sister and Puck in lead and despite a few pile-ups, there were no major catastrophes. So, the dogs will get a couple days off and then it's back to training. My goal now is a 200-mile race in March called the Chatanika Challenge but we'll see. It's a qualifier for the Quest but I've resolved that even if I don't do any major races this season, I'm ok with that. This weekend I'm handling for Ken at the Copper Basin 300 in Glennallen. I'll be gone for five days so that will put a glitch in my training. Anyway, gotta run. Here are some pics from the White Mountains on Saturday and the ADAM race on Sunday. Check out my hottie handler.
Peace.
My computer's gone wonky so I can't tell which photos are which. There's one of Sam holding out my leaders, one of me kickin' it to the finish line, another of me coming into the finish, one of my frosty self shortly after parking my team. One of my dogs just before we left the start (that's Wie and Gretzky with Strider yelling 'Let's go!' behind them. Then there's two that I took in the Whites before my camera froze. Enjoy. It's 30 below right now! (35 below for you Canucks).