Let it snow!

Well, due to the cold temps and dismal trails, the dogs have been off for a while. I'd rather skip a few days of training, than try to run dogs and risk wrist and shoulder injuries. The -30F to -40F temps are real harsh on dog feet, which means they need to be bootied. Yet, booty them, and they have no purchase on the icy trails. So, it's a no-win situation. Still, hope is on the horizon as it's been spitting snow today and the weatherman has predicted a Low pressure system coming in and bringing some of that white 'gold' we so desperately need. With the Quest and Quest 300 coming up in just 3 weeks, I'll take whatever we can get! Right now, if the trails remain the way they've been, I'll only be taking 10 dogs on the race. It's better to take fewer dogs to keep speed down and keep things safer, than to take 12 dogs and end up with all kinds of injuries by Angel Creek.

Tomorrow, we'll be heading over to the ADMA track to run in the Open Class. I have no delusions of being competitive...I'm doing it to simply get the team exposed to other teams and a race environment. They've been to only 1 race this season, and that was the Two Rivers Tune up. Therefore, it's very important that we expose the dogs to everything we can before we head out on the Quest trail. Good news is that we were able to get a couple of longer runs in and the dogs did great. Now, I need to get some more long runs and do some checkpoint practice/camping with the dogs. If the season had been going as planned, the dogs would have already had 2 100 mile races on them. Unfortunately, the lack of snow has caused several races to be canceled and botched us on training miles early on. Still, we've managed to salvage the season and look forward to competing in the upcoming Quest 300 and the Two Rivers 200 in March. Check back for updates as we progress through training. We're glad to have you along!

If you'd like to help us on our way to the Yukon Quest in the next few years, please contact us at runswift@alaska.net. We would truly appreciate any and all support that might come our way.