musher's blog

We have been following Team Ineka Blog for sometime, as it is a wonderful wealth of information on dog mushing. The person writing the blog is a musher of 15years and working on their doctorate. The combination of research and experience makes the postings rich.

Sometime back they had posted an article about the history of Mushing, with quite a bit of depth. It was a wonderful read and worth checking out: 

History of Mushing from Team Ineka Perspctive

This is another story from the Don Bowers 200.

Isn't it the truth that every race ends up delivering a million new stories! Absolute truth.

The way home, as I have mentioned, was a fog of sleep deprived mistakes. The biggest being my decision to chuck my carefully made race plan and push for a single, 100 mile, run back to the finish. Okay, no sense going into how stupid that was anymore than I already have but some good things did come out of it.

A key one is a new found sense of confidence in my winter wood skills. As I have mentioned, I spent a miserable few hours trying to bend the dogs will to mine. Mostly that time was spent begging and pleading to the dogs to keep moving forward but a good chunk of it was also spent at the front of the team pulling them along. Well, really, it was spent in the middle of the team pulling along the back 6 who were actively pulling backwards against the lines so that the front 5, who wanted to keep going didn't have to drag them along. It was hard work!

In the end, once I decided the dogs were going to win the battle, and finally pulled over for a short rest, I was soaking wet. Not a problem. Well, usually not a problem, because I always make it a point to bring a complete set of gear to change into for just this kind of situation. But not this time! All I had with me was my spare parka and the mandatory sleeping bag. Dam!

And, while most the race had been run in warm weather, a small cold front was rolling through and the temps had dropped to near zero, or perhaps even a bit below. Double dam! I mean, zero isn't that cold but when it had been 35 all day it sure felt cold!

And that's when my sleep deprived brain started making some good decisions after a 24 hours hiatus.

The dogs were crashed out, sleeping soundly, comfy in their jackets.

Putting those on first thing after we stopped was the first good decision I made after stopping. Next was taking the time to rub them all down, give them a snack, happy talk them, and generally act like this was a planned stop that was all my decision and none of theirs. After all, in a few hours we were going to have to get going again and if they weren't happy that wasn't going to happen. They had already proven that they had the ultimate say in whether we went forward or not.

Next, I got a fire going by digging down into the snow to make a deep pit, putting down a layer of spruce boughs and thick wood to keep the coals off the snow, and using one of my few remaining bottles of “heat” to quickly light a pile of kindling.

While the fire got going I kept active so I wouldn't catch a chill with my wet clothes still on. I piled up a bunch of firewood. Actually, a pretty big chore since all I had was a small ax and no saw to cut through the the standing-dead spruce trees.

I took a break in the middle of my wood chores to build a stout willow frame over the fire pit to dry my gear on. Then I stripped off the wet gear, putting on my parka over bare skin, and began drying my inner layers on my fancy willow rack. Then I got back to chopping wood, being really careful now not to overheat and sweat. I didn't want to get my parka, the only dry gear I had, wet.

By the time I got the wood all cut my inner layers were dry and I slipped them on under my parka, which was a huge relief. Next, I got my soaking wet one-piece snowsuit on the rack and began to dry that. Now that's a big, heavy, insulated piece of clothing and it was really wet, so it was going to take time to dry.

Perfect! I was exhausted anyway and while it was drying I pulled out my sleeping bag and lay down next to the fire for a few winks. Not as peaceful as you might think since the way the drying rack was setup over the fire, and with my big snowsuit over the top of it, the fire was pumping smoke out the sides right at me. But, at least I was dry and relatively warm!

I slept hard for two hours but woke up freezing. Chilled to the bone. The fire had pretty much gone out but my snowsuit was dry. Once I was awake, I immediately put it on, chattering the whole time.

A few wind sprints up and down the trail took care of that!

I was hungry and tired still, but okay, if not exactly comfortable. It was time to get the dogs up and see how they felt. What they were going to do after this little rest was a big question and I wasn't at all sure they would feel like running yet.

Turns out my worries about them were for nothing and after just a few minutes of loosening up they turned on the heat and we flew the last forty miles to the finish- clocking our fastest average speed of any stage in the race!

It was a great way to finish and the fact that I was able to make a forced camp, dry gear, and get the dogs moving again without any real problems fills me with confidence that whatever happens, if I just keep my calm and stay focused, I can deal with whatever comes up out on the trail.

And, I guess, that's true of any problem, for anyone, in life.

In the last entry I described, in some detail, what the runs of the Don Bowers were like- the mechanics.

But in reality, the race has another side to it- emotions.

This is, maybe, the most important factor in the dogs performance!

Yes, you must have properly trained them. Yes, they must receive the correct nutrition. Yes, to too many other things to list- but the emotions of the musher deeply effect the dogs.

The saying is “you can't push a rope” and it is so true. The dogs have to want to run for us. And they do! With all their heart! Just watch them in training when you pull out the sled and lines- they go crazy wanting to go for a run. It's in their genetic code as deeply as any lab's desire to chase a ball or retrieve a stick.

It's all fun for them- until it's not.

And I think the fun goes away the second I stop having fun. The second I start treating the race as anything but an extended training run. So that's why it's worth describing my emotions on the race. It's just totally interesting how much they effect the dogs.

The race started out mentally slow and relaxed for me. I had a nice, achievable race plan and no pressure to perform relative to the other teams around me. We ran into our first rest smooth and on track with the slight exception that I got a little frustrated that they slowed down a bit at the end. Actually they slowed enough so that at mile 40 a few teams started to pass us, where as prior to that we were all running in a bit of a bubble at the same speed just a few minutes apart from each other.

That frustration built a bit but I did a good job controlling it, understanding that they were a young team at the end of a hard run through hot temps. I never said anything to them as we slowed and then took our break a few miles early to limit the distance we spent traveling slowly.

My thought at the time was that a good rest would perk them back up, the setting sun would bring colder temps, and the trail would harden up some. All of which turned out to be true and once we got back on the trail we were ripping along again much faster than on our first run- making up the time we had spent going slow!

I was stoked! Emotionally totally pumped at their performance and the decisions I had made! All of which fed back on itself to produce a really great run!

In retrospect though, there might have been a few emotional cracks as I waited out their rest break. It was sunset and I always get down around then anyway but the doubt produced by their drooping performance at the end of the first run didn't help. I worked through it though, by building a small fire and keeping myself busy collecting wood while I waited. Then, when it was time to go, they got so excited they pulled the hook and took off before I was even ready- kind of a pain, but their energy got me excited and away we went!

Late into the second run, with about 10 miles to go- I got really sleepy! Immediately the dogs performance dropped off and we slowed down a fair amount. But then we heard a train whistle in the distance. We can hear that from the house and so it was kind of exciting to hear on the race. Plus, I knew it meant we were almost into the checkpoint. I got excited. The dogs got excited. And away we went... looping into the checkpoint looking like we just started out rather than wrapping up a hundred mile run!

And then came the 8 hr mandatory layover.

I couldn't sleep.

I got lonely.

I questioned everything I was doing.

When it was over we left with me having been awake for over 30 hours! Stupid!

The dogs looked like crap. My sled looked like crap. Even the crystal clear view of mt. Denali looked like crap!

I should have slept because in reality nothing was wrong. After about 5 miles of stop and go running where I was running up to fix every little tangle- something I NEVER do in training- we finally got going. I was frustrated and totally doubted we could even finish! Ahh... not again... my own worse enemy!

Anyway, despite me, the dogs took off and we had a GREAT run for about 35 miles. Or a total run of about 40, which is the exact distance they had trouble during each of the previous runs. It just seems to be a bit of either a physical or mental block for this team at this stage in their lives.

But at that point I was nearing 40 hours without sleep and didn't see it so rationally. I thought the world was crumbling and was certain if I shut the team down for a rest the would never get up. So I made the decision to break my race plan and try to run straight through to the finish.

I got excited at the idea of making such a bold move and- once again- the dogs picked up on it and away we went!

Right up to the point where passed our camp from the trip up!

The pups went from 10.3mph to 0.3mph in about 10 feet!

I then struggled for THREE hours to cover less than a mile! Frustration doesn't even begin to describe my emotions!

In my mind everything I had spent the last 2 years working for was crumbling around me! I was certain I would never race again. Considered getting out of dogs all together. Was thinking everything I was was a big joke!

Finally I gave in, camped the dogs, built a fire, dried my gear, pulled out my sleeping bag and slept!

I woke up freezing, ran up and down the trail to warm up, woke up the dogs and took off......

Whooooooosh!

Away we went. I was refreshed from nap, excited to be under a full moon with my dogs and totally stoked to be on the move again!

We ran the last 40 miles in just a hair over 4hrs. Nearly 2mph faster than we train for and at the end of 200 miles... the longest run of the pups lives!

It was a GREAT finish- 6 hrs later than planned- but still, with a strong dog team that I had trouble stopping at the truck!

And now, nearly a week removed the race, it's clear that all the trouble I have ever had on races is from my own head! The result of getting negative.

And isn't that just the truth of life!

Stay positive!

Oh... and the picture at the top?  It's symbolic because in the middle of a sleep deprived race everything is hyper-contrasted... positive/negative... and now I know what's the next thing I need to work on to someday be the kind of dog driver i want to be1