Sunday, March 20, 2011

Training to race?

Yesterday I learned that I had my calendar a bit confused.  The "Valley Funale" race in Two Rivers will be next weekend, and of course I'll be off duty.  I originally thought I would be working during the Funale.

The Valley Funale is just a fun, end of the season, event that is a celebration of sled dog culture in our community of Two Rivers.  When I can, I like running the Funale as a training run for young dogs.  It gives them exposure to the chaos and cacophony of lots of people and lots of other dogs, and a chance to go out and have fun in a low-pressure but nonetheless racing environment.  Mostly, I like to do it because it is just a lot of fun.

On paper, the 6-dog class runs 10 miles though it usually comes out to be a bit less.  Although I could enter a team of all 9 of my active dogs into the 10 dog class, I'm not sure all 9 would do well in a 20-mile run in warm weather, and the weather probably will be quite warm.  I'd be especially worried about Orion, as I think some of his issues the other day may have been heat related.

So, if I want to run the 6-dog race, who should I take?  I think our training runs over the course of this week will focus on answering that question, along with a few others.  Is Capella interested in leading the team?  How about Cassiopeia?  I'd really like to give Orion another turn up front, too. 

Is there anyone who can run beside Grace without her being a total bitch?  So far, that's been an ongoing issue.  Who would be the strongest and fastest pair in the wheel position? 

Those are all questions requiring an answer, and my focus this week will be on answering a few of them.

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