Jim's December Training Journal

December 1, 1998
What a great way to start off a new month!  I took out twelve of my dogs for a twenty-seven mile run.  The weather was clear and cool, and the dogs were setting an excellent pace.  I saw a huge bull moose in the large swamp where Danny and I had gotten stuck last month.  He ran off as we approached, but I was still able to get a good view of him.  It is nice to seem them, but it is also nice to keep them at a distance.

Yesterday, Dallas and I split up my other team.  I ran nine, and he ran four.  We went a few more miles than today, and the run was quite a bit slower.  We had to stop a few times for tangles and things, and then we had to stop and wait for two separate pairs of moose.  Both were cows and calves.  The first set ran off not long after we saw them, but the second pair took a long time to get off the trail.  There aren't that many moose back in Montana.  It's something new to get used to.

As of yesterday, each of my dogs has around 450 miles on them.  When I stop and think about it, that is a lot of miles for such a young team this far into training.  The dogs have been doing really well!

December 3, 1998
Yesterday, I loaded sixteen of my dogs into the truck and drove them to the Mystery Creek Road about fourteen miles from here.  I split them into two teams and ran each team thirty miles.  Both runs went really well.  My first run was in the daylight, but my second on ran into the dark, and the moon was full, and the skies clear.  It was a wonderful night.  I could run without my headlight on, and the dogs just flew.  It was a lot of mushing, but it was great!

Today, I returned to the same road with twelve of my dogs and did a little camping practice.  We ran about twenty-two miles, the stopped for an hour, and then returned to the truck on an eighteen mile long trail.  We chased a bull moose down the trail for a while, and that was a bit exciting.  The run went really well, and I will take the rest of my dogs there tomorrow for the same run.

December 4, 1998
It snowed quite a bit last night, and by the time I left on my training run at noon, there were at least seven inches of new snow on the trails.  We started out breaking trail on our own, but after several miles, the trails became easier thanks to a local snowmobiler who was out hunting along the same trails I was going to use.  I had the twelve dogs that I didn't run yesterday, and we did a forty mile run with an hour and a half rest break in the middle.  It took us a bit longer than yesterday's run with the other team did, but that was due to all of the fresh snow.  The dogs did really well.

There were two minor problems today.  The first was that the brake on the sled broke a little over half way into the run.  I could still use it, but it was not as effective.  To compensate for that, I disconnected most of the dogs from their tug lines (they were still attached to the gangline by the necklines) when I went down steep hills.

The other problem was my lunch.  Janine makes great sack lunches for us on days when we are training.  She made one for me today, and I was planning on eating it when I took the rest break.  However, I grabbed the wrong brown paper bag when I left the house, and I found only mushrooms in the bag when I opened it on the trail.  I guess one of the risks of dog mushing is that you may have to skip lunch.

Tomorrow, Dan and I are going to Anchorage for the Iditarod Rookie Meeting.

December 7, 1998
Training is definitely getting intense!  Yesterday and today I ran with the dogs for much of the day.  I ran one of my teams yesterday and the other today.  We went out about twenty-eight miles, stopped and camped for a few hours, and then returned along the same route.  It is good practice to get the dogs used to the camping routine and used to resting when they get the chance.  It's also good practice for me.

The rookie meeting was good.  It was nice to be able to talk with some of the other rookies, some of whom are good friends of mine.  It was also good to hear the advice that the Iditarod has for us this early in the season.  In years past, the meeting hasn't been until the Tuesday before the race.  Now we can get in the habit of doing some of what was suggested before the race begins.

December 10, 1998
When I stop and think about how the dogs are doing, I have to smile.  They have been going through some very intense training, and are still energetic, happy, and sound.  Even Mitch was a little surprised at their continued boisterous behavior.

I did the same fifty-five mile runs (with the four hour stop in the middle) yesterday and today.  Both teams did very well.  The team I ran today did the entire twenty-seven mile return trip without a single stop!  I didn't need to give them a break or stop to help untangle anyone.  It was great, but I got a little cold doing nothing but just standing on the runners.

We are looking forward to our first race, which is a fun run called the Sheep Creek Lodge Christmas Classic.  We will take it fairly easy and enjoy getting the experience of being on the trail with other teams.  Dan will run one team and I will run the other.  It's a two day race with forty-five mile heats on both days.

December 13, 1998
Since last Sunday, I have been on the back of a dog sled for 336 miles.  Compared to the Iditarod, it's not much; but for training in December, it sure feels like a lot!!  Since I have two twelve dog teams, the dogs have only run half of that distance each, but that is a lot for them, too.  They have done really well.

We have been getting a lot of snow here lately.  Today was about the first day in the past several where we didn't get any snow.  It was nice to do a run without having to wear ski goggles.  However, the new snow is good training for the dogs, and it helps to prepare us for whatever we may find out on the race trails.

December 16, 1998
Dan and I split up my dogs into two teams and did a little "tune up" run today.  We worked on passing each other and worked with a few yearling leaders.  All was in preparation for the Sheep Creek Race.  The runs went fairly well, but the dogs didn't do very well with some of the passing.  However, the reason we are doing the Sheep Creek Race is to give them experience with things like that.

The weather has gotten pretty cold here over the last twenty-four hours.  It's currently about twenty-five below, and I think it may get a bit colder still.  It's good to get used to the cold, though, because I am pretty sure I will see some temperatures at least this cold in my upcoming qualifiers as well as the Iditarod.

December 22, 1998
Sheep Creek was a very good experience for my dogs.  They learned what living out of the dog truck is like.  They learned what it is like to be on the trail with other teams.  And they learned how to pass and be passed by other teams.  All in all, the dogs did extremely well.

On Saturday, the trail was pretty soft and a little bit slow.  It took me just over five hours to complete the forty-one mile course.  It took Danny about four hours and twenty minutes with my other team of yearlings.  On the second day, however, the trails had set up, and the runs were extremely fast.  It took me only three hours and fifty minutes to do the same trail.  Danny was a bit faster still!  He ended up finishing thirteenth.  I finished twenty-fifth.  It was a great way to go into Christmas.

Currently, I'm in Montana.  I met with the Seeley-Swan High School Student Council today.  They are doing the fundraising for me, which is something I greatly appreciate.  They have done a great job, and it was nice to be able to talk with them.  Many of the members are good friends of mine.

Tonight, the Seeley-Swan Blackhawks boys' basketball team takes to the court.  I'm very excited about seeing my younger brother playing.  It's nice to be home for a few days.

December 24, 1998
The varsity squad played a great game and soundly beat their opponent on Tuesday night.  My brother's JV team played very well, and nearly made a last minute comeback to win their game.  Unfortunately, they did end up losing, but I really didn't care.  It was really neat to see my brother play high school basketball.

Merry Christmas!

December 29, 1998
Tyrell and I got back from a long camping trip run at eleven this morning.  It was a lot of fun.  We left early yesterday afternoon and arrived at a cabin that evening.  We took care of the dogs and then settled down in the cabin for a few hours' sleep as well as some food and a few stories from a book that Ty brought.  We left very early this morning for home and had a nice run back.  We got to watch the sun rise at about ten.

It has been a bit of a switch for me going from relaxing at home to being back in Alaska training dogs.  However, the Knik 200 is just a few days away, and there is a lot of work to be done.  Danny, Tyrell, and Dallas are also starting to work on getting all of the dog food needed for the Iditarod ready.  That is a tremendous undertaking, especially for two teams.

December 30, 1998
I have been busy getting things ready for the Knik 200.  It starts on Saturday, and I should finish in the late hours on Sunday or early morning hours of Monday.  I'm going to take it easy out there and stop to rest along the trail on my way to and from the half-way point, where there is a six hour mandatory rest.  Some of the other yearling teams that are going to be in the Iditarod are going to run in the race, and so is Dalton Fiedler, a good friend of mine and the youngest competitor the the 1999 Iditarod.  It should be a fun race.