The Road to the Can Am: Week 3

Week 3 started out on a high note.

Our goal on Monday was to do a 30-mile run. I met Rob Cooke who wanted to run his dogs 40 miles and we headed out just as it started to snow. The snow prediction of 3-6″ didn’t worry us and we looked forward to a nice snowy run estimating a 4 1/2 hour run for me if all went well. We were using a groomed ATV trail but the trail hadn’t been groomed in a few days so there was already accumulating snow when we set out. Rob led the way with his 8 dogs and it soon became apparent that it would take us longer then expected since Rob’s team had to break a trail in about 2″ of snow that continued to deepen quickly. The dogs were running well though and we were both encouraged. We trudged along and at mile 15 I doubled back and Rob went on ahead. Now I had to break a trail myself for the return trip since the trail we had made was already covered with several more inches of new snow. I stopped to snack the dogs and I had to remove my goggles, which were all fogged up. Trying to clear them made things worse so I had to rely on my hood to keep the snow out of my eyes.

Aura and Fenway had been in lead for the first half of the run but now Aura was showing signs that she was tiring of being in lead. Aura doesn’t like deep snow and bootie issues are an ongoing concern with her so I decided to put Kodiak up front with Fenway since he was sending me signs that he was a very happy camper. With Kodiak up front, the team found a new gear. Kodiak’s “joie de vivre” perked us all up and I felt a new wave of confidence.

“Heartbreak Hill” at mile 25 is intimidating on a good day but in 6″ of new snow, it was daunting. The 4-legged members of the team trudged up the hill in the deepening snow but the musher had to take several breaks to catch her breath. I was wishing I had spent more time on the elliptical machines at the gym!

After 5 1/2 hours, we came down the last hill to the trailhead. We had done it! We completed our first 30-mile run and had done it in a snowstorm and the dogs looked great. My goal is to always finish a run feeling like I can’t wait to get back out there. That was how I felt after that run and one look at the dogs told me they felt the same.

Psychologically I felt ready to tackle the Can Am!
Rob made it back safely as well an hour later and my friend Gino would tell me later that day that he had run 25 miles in that storm and it was the toughest run he had ever done.

I was so very proud of our achievement that day. All our fall and winter training thus far had paid off. Now all we had to do was to stay healthy and continue to work on endurance, finding a good balance between training and rest.

And that is what we did the rest of week 3 hoping that our choices were wise ones as we moved in unchartered waters for the Powers Pack.