Saturday, November 22, 2008

Time to train four teams 6 miles each.

Rachel had a sleep over and volleyball this morning. I asked Rachel how late her and her friend Sam stayed up before they went to sleep ? I asked a few times my quess is midnight or later. Her answer is half past ten. I will go with an average. It shows on her she doesn't feel too motivated. Ben was out last night to a movie. He was late home and in bed. His motivational level is equal to Rachels. What is a coach to do. It isn't easy as they grow. Physically yes but mentally no.
They are outside as I write. I quess I did something right. Or said something right. Today is the the teams first six mile runs. We are rest assured after some six miles that they can race any distance that Ben and Rachel choose to take them in their age classes. The kids are looking forward to the races they have planned. It will be a fantastic year to ready young dogs for next years Arctic Winter Games. It will be held in Grande Prairie. It's hard to believe that Grande Prairie will have enough snow to run sled dog races. Only the residents know best.
The trail is in need of some more snow so speed will have to be held back today. Rachel, Ben and the dogs will have to be patient. It pays off in the end. It is a beautiful clear day today with zero wind factor. I look forward to seeing their teams in action. Happy Sat. to everyone. 
  Rachel and Ben ran two teams at once. Rachel took her team in the lead. Ben's team followed. It makes for a much shorter day this way. We can train the teams in half the time. It went really good for the dog's first six mile run. The dogs had some stops at places they are used to turning at or stopping at. Other than that the dogs moved pretty good. We are very happy at this point to have the miles on the dogs that we have on them. It is nice to have some six mile runs on the dogs before Dec. It can get very cold during Dec. If it gets too cold the dogs do not train. Our cut-off for training is -25 Celsius. It seems to be counter productive to be training at temp colder. 
   The dogs nails will all be clipped this weed-end. Once the diet starts to get really good to compensate for weather and hard training the nails grow in thick, long and quick. Another reason is the dogs are standing on snow. Snow is not good at wearing nails down like dirt Is. During the summer season the nails rarely if ever need to be clipped. It is however very important to keep the nails on the dogs clipped and in good condition.Over and out.

1 comment:

Joroha said...

Hi there!

What a nice surprise!

Talk to me about sponsorship...

See you soon!

"Auntie" Madeleine