pride up the backstretch

Be sure to bookmark the Link below to follow the team in less than 10 days, well what a new year its been ,I must say moving to Northern Alberta has its advantages I must say we've had the best training this year for our Kennel 5 months ago we started training with hopes and dreams of better things to come ,the team is looking and working out real nice. we have had to make some late cuts but we still have 2 solid leaders not alot but enough to Geter done , As i have stated before my number one leader is blind and has his own seeing eye dog LOL, I have so much respect for him there is no quit in him he is head and tails above the rest he is the quarterback for the team and he will be carrying us all on his back, as George Jones would say Well the Races is on AND HERE COMES PRIDE UP THE BACKSTRETCH...........
zxxx

Pocket of water

2010 is sure looking great so far the dogs continue to shine, we are startng to get a rhythm ,and I'm like'in what i'm see'in, took the tean out on Sunday for our firsts continueos long run, we climbed hills and valleys up and down rivers it was cold enough to make your lungs scream for your next breath ,OK not that severere but it was chilly winter day ,at about the three hours mark I was trying to find a place to stop and take a quick break someplace where i could hook down secure ,because had a thermos of hot tea and home made cookies waiting to be enjoyed ,but as we where running up the smokey river everything was just going great ,I was on cloud 9 i did'nt feel like stopping and the dogs running smooth ,all of a sudden I look up and my leaders hit water ,I'm looking for a quick way out, a back up plan ,next thing I know I'm in up to my elbows in water ,quickly I roll over and upright my sled, look to see that the dogs are ok and still on the trail ,at this point I'm in a panic I scream the command to the team to go ,they don't like standing in water so off we go still wondering if the ice is solid, hoping.My main Leader is Blind and just goes by voice command maybe sometimes thats a good thing ,as we where out away from shore Waylon turned on a dime when i gave he command to Haw Haw ,back thru the ice ,the team must of felt my fear because we flew thru the wet stuff ,Thank our lucky stars,just goes to show that mother nature is an awesome places to play ,but she gets the last laugh because when we hit land
I EMPTYED MY POCKET OF WATER

Feels Right

Wishing you all a happy New Year,lots going on last few weeks as expected ,i"m getting a better Idea of who's who on the team I believe i have a solid 12 dog team But" with no room for error on both our parts we have been running some hard miles the last few days everyone is doing great, up them their" hills to breaking Trail the training continues. we have now signed up for the Canadian Challenge a 320 mile race in northern Saskatchewan nice place to race when its not -50 which the last two times I've raced here the weather decided to plummet, but that's part of dog racing , well I hope to post some training pictures here in the next few days,
Beacuse 2010 feels right...................................

Pretty World

We ran last night under the full moon what a site, I could almost read a book it was so bright. as we were running along and i was looking at the Trees and Willows go by I noticed what looked like firefly's in between the branches wow winter firefly's ,am I losing it I thought they would flicker as i went by at about 10 miles an hour but when I would stop they disappeard, because the moon was so bright and the trees had the right amount of light and frost, they appeared as firefly's if i could have bottled up a little bit of it for another time, last night would have been one of those rare Times where you feel like you are on top of the World ,As the song goes Its such a pretty World today Look at The.............

Long Haul

Well we have now passed the 400 KLM mark and counting the team is looking great and I'm feeling Great after the H1N1 scrap,also the 4 dog sprint Team looks real good on the trail they seem to have some good run in them, (sprinters mean that these dogs will run 4 miles in the fastest time possible ,My wife says i can have my distance team and sleep in the cold in -30 and so on because she says she will be in a warm bed by 9 everyone raced, Fed, and ready for a goods night rest,Ya rub it in ,It was cool enough today that i could have used my cold weather boots and winter gloves ,but back to the sprinters the 4 dogs we have are from some quality sprint Dog bloodlines I'M looking forward to watching my wife run ,in this picture the two females seem to be squaring off as the distance girl says I'm in for the Long Haul

Lest we forget

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

— Lt.-Col. John McCrae (1872 - 1918)

Down with that

Well it sure has been one of my worst weeks of my life and counting what i thought was just the flu bug turns out to be H1N1 and its a nasty bug ,with bouts of Constance coughing followed by a horrendous head ace because of the coughing is just the beginning of this imported disease followed by every other symptom possible ,needless to say my partners out in the kennel are wondering if i have deserted them. As i am unable to even leave the house and they want to run what was starting out to be a great training season, sure changed in a hurry ,that being said from what I read and hear some victims of this nasty virus did not get a chance to write a post so I thank my Lucky stars ,I believe I owe a million heartfelt thank to my wonderful wife and daughter who have catered to my every whimper ,I do appreciate them so much more,and need them,I would encourage everyone that can get the shot to do so ,the suffering is not worth it,How i feel today is the dogs can wait, my race season can end and I'd be happy with that ,once better we will regroup and start over although its only been a week I believe all will work out in the end ,I say to all Take a shot, SO you don't come down with that........................