Ultimate Iditarod Update

Whew! You know you have been flat out studying too much when you walk out of an Anatomy and Physiology lecture and head straight up to the top of a mountain with your heavy school backpack still on your shoulders.

You also know you have been studying too much biochemistry when you start to nickname your dogs after key terms in the subject. For example, I have now nicknamed Gibson "Delta G" after the term that describes the Gibbs free energy released during chemical reactions. It's pathetic, and I know it, and that is why I am looking forward to a nice Thanksgiving break away from school and entirely with the dogs and my family!!! And in just a few more weeks, I will be totally done with college for my junior year, and I can focus entirely on the Iditarod, the dogs, and, of course, more updates and photos on the web site :-).

Bill Gallea, Jim's father, drives a team (top) down a gravel road that serves as part of the Snowcrest training trail system. Note how long the dogs' reach is when they are trotting at a good pace (bottom). This photo shows how the dogs' flexibility has increased as the resistance they are pulling has been gradually decreased.

But in the midst of all of the studying, I am still training the dogs with substantial help from the rest of my family. And the dogs are looking excellent. The hard pulling that we had the dogs do earlier in the season is starting to pay off now. The dogs are tough both physically and mentally, and they are capable of things that weren't possible in previous years. For example, we used to give the engine some throttle to help the dogs pull the four-wheeler when we started to do longer runs and runs with steeper, longer climbs. But this year they have been able to continue their "work hard, play hard" attitudes as we have increased the distance while gradually decreasing the resistance (by placing the four-wheeler in a higher gear), and I can honestly say that I have never touched the throttle to give the dogs assistance this year. The dogs set a very good pace (about 10-11 miles per hour) while pulling the four-wheeler unassisted in fourth or fifth gear. On hills, they are focused and working hard, and they are in amazing shape.

We have had serious trouble keeping the team stopped when we take a rest break or stop to put dogs into different positions in the team. In fact, at one point, my mom stopped to give the dogs some water she was carrying with her on the four-wheeler, but the dogs didn't want to drink and they pulled the four-wheeler--brakes locked--past the water. My mom left the water and dishes by the side of the trail and picked them up on the way home. The dogs always have a great attitude and excitement to run, but this year they seem even a little more supercharged!

The dogs pick up the pace as we run down hill. On this gentle downward slope, the speedometer edges to thirteen with no help from the engine.

And I should expand on the water issue I mentioned above. Normally we don't need to worry about watering the dogs while they run because they get plenty of water back at their houses and with their food, and we don't run when the temperatures are above about 50^oF or if the weather is really sunny and still. Also, as the runs get longer and longer in November, we normally get a fair amount of rain and even some snow, and this allows us to take "water breaks" as we run through ditches or creeks. And of course once we are doing the long training runs and racing, snow is on the ground, and the dogs can take a bit of snow while they run if they are thirsty (and we give them LOTS of liquid water at camping stops or after runs). But this November has been quite dry, and the normal watering holes are still dry or just mud, and we are carrying water on the longer runs as a result. We simply put the water in a 5 gallon jug and bring along an old duffel bag with dog dishes.

So THINK SNOW. The weather has been fairly cold, any any moisture should come in the form of snow, but for now, the weather is clear, and the trails are still pretty bare and dry.

P. S. I promised a picture from Chicago, and here it is. This was a fifteen second exposure taken just after sunset from the observation deck on the 103rd floor of the Sears Tower. I put a larger version of this picture along with a few others I took on the update page where I talk about my trip.
Go to Chicago Update