Training Log

By admin

Hello from Montana!

Sorry it has been so long since we updated our website - we don’t have internet at the cabin in Montana and get into town occasionally.  Things are going well in Montana, with 2 races behind us in prep for the Iditarod.  Getting here is another story, with the the back tires of the dually coming off on the ranch driveway, and delaying us by a day.  We rolled  into Seeley Lake 12 hours before we were to be in Whitefish for our 100 mile race and with the temp being 22 below zero.  We unburied the dog houses, unloaded the dogs and went in the house to get some sleep, only to find the house covered in dead bees!  They must have gotten in during the summer, and died when it got cold - there were millions of them!  We vacuumed them up and got a few hours of sleep.  Occasionally we will have a live bee in the house buzzing around!  We drove to Whitefish for the 100 mile raced, which consisted of two 50 mile runs , and had a great time with fun trails and finishing respectfully, with Lach in 8th place and myself in 10th.   Our next race, the Seeley 200, was the following week.  The race started with warm temps in the high 40’s and at the warmest part of  the day, 3:00 p.m.  We both ran the same schedule, however, Lach’s team wa about 30 minutes  faster getting into the checkpoints.  We didn’t run together, but saw each other at  the checkpoints.  We both ran an Iditarod schedule, which means we rested the dogs for as long as the run took.   We ran 50 miles at a time before resting.  It took about 5 hours to run 50 miles, so we camped and rested the team for about 5 hours.  The trails were hard and icy, as it started raining.  It rained from Saturday morning until late Saturday night, and was so miserable for the dogs and mushers alike.  Thank goodness for rubber raincoats, because that is the only thing that would keep you dry.  It rained like it was April!  The dogs handled it well, even though I know they could not get comfortable on the wet beds of straw.  The last 50 mile run was worth all the unpleasantness of the rain, as it had snowed higher in the mountains, and the last run is up and over a pass called Huckleberry Pass, which is very well known to mushers as it is very hard on dog teams that are do not have enough training miles on them, and has been know to be a place where dogs decide to take a break on their own!  I am so proud of our dogs, as they motored up the pass without even looking back, and I passed 3 teams and left them behind.   There was a about 4 inches of fresh snow, the sky was clear and the stars were incredible, with Ryan’s Belt always just over the next ridge.  Lachlan finished the race at 1:00 a.m. on Sunday morning and I finished at 4:00 a.m.  It was fun watching the dogs work, and being on the trail with them camping, exploring and seeing what great athletes they are.  Each one bringing something special to the team-whether it was the leaders never missing a command, Cash taking naps when I stopped to pet them,  Geyser loping with a huge grin on her face, Travis kissing the dog next to  him in sheer joy of running, or sleeping with Ollie curled up with me while camping.  Our next race is the Race to the Sky, which Lach will do with 12 dogs.  It is a 350 mile race, and I will handle for him.  Alison Peticolas will come to Montana, and with Amy and Stephanie, our handlers, will run the dogs left behind.  Dave Wurtz, a very close friend and musher is in Montana (I am in Colo. for a week to catch up on work) helping Lach run dogs.  They are heading out for a camping trip, as soon as they can get the trail made with snowmachines.  We have been doing 20 - 70 mile training runs,  with both of us running 14 dogs.  I always said I would never run more than a 12 dog team, and somehow I am now running 14 dogs - alot of POWER!   I will update again as soon as I get back to Montana and keep you posted on our training and the race.  Thanks for being a part of Team Clarke and reading our website!

Linda

Training Log 12/15/09

By admin

Talk about being caught,” between a rock and a hard place!” OK, we had a good snow, then a weeks’ worth of 40-50 mph. winds. Well it rearranged and drifted all the snow so it’s bare in some spots and waist deep in others; you can’t train on a 4-wheeler and there’s still not enough to run safely with sleds, so the last 2 days we’ve run the dogs pulling a snow machine. What some people will do for mileage. during that week of winds we tried but couldn’t keep any trails open long enough to run; then We were down in TX. for the weekend visiting family briefly, so the dogs had a solid week off for feet to heal, etc. They don’t seem to lose much in a week but I don’t recommend it. In a recent dog trade, a yearling named Tux came back to us for another dog named Sloan; the trade seems to have been a good one for both parties. Tux is a littermate of Stella, Vinny, and Houdini, who are doing great in their first season running. With any luck, we’ll be on snow this weekend for the first time this year.

More to come after the weekend. Merry Christmas to all our friends following our log. Thanks for keeping up on Team Clarke

Training Log 12/2/09

By admin

The team continues to get stronger and faster. 3:00 a.m. comes early for us as we have to get out and back before it heats up; it went from 18 degrees to 50 by 11:00 a.m.Yesterday we ran 30 miles at a 9.5 mph pace; that’s just over a 6-minute mile pace; perfect for our team in the races we’re in. That’s pulling a 600 lb. atv plus me at 180 lbs. That should translate in to 10+mph. on a sled.The general rule of thumb due to the nature of pulling a wheeled vehicle on dirt is that 1 mile of atv training is worth 2 miles of sled training, so in theory, our dogs should be ready for a 60 mile run on the snow.  We’ll still start out on snow at 30 miles and increase from there. The Reddington/Saunderson cross yearlings are just beautiful to watch when running; Walter( the father of half this years yearlings running this year.) May be the best addition yet; the number one draft pick from’07; the Michael Jordan of sleddogs for us. We’ve started doing a few back-to-back runs but then they need two days off for their feet to heal; even running with booties on. such is the life of a musher.

Training Log 11/29/09

By admin

Bumped training runs up to 30 miles, but with very little snow left from the storm in late October we’re having a challenge keeping the dogs’ feet intact. Though we’re training on dirt/gravel roads, when it freezes, it’s like running on sandpaper; now imagine doing that bare-footed. We’re putting booties on almost half of the dogs and have moleskin-superglue patches on others who have small dings in their pads. Their attitudes remain high although their working through these challenges. Between runs we’ve had to give them time off for feet to recover which isn’t necessarily the best for their training, but we don’t want to start snow training with no feet. Linda will be posting some pictures later today. I think this is the best team of dogs we’ve had since starting in ‘01. The new, standout dogs are Cash, Donut, and Garth, who seem willing to run through fire,( or a tough Alaska storm)for us if need be. Super dogs from Krabloonik Kennels over in snowmass, CO.

Team Clarke Race Schedule 2009-2010

By admin

For all of our loyal supporters , I thought I’d give you our race season schedule, dates, and website to follow them on.

1/8-1/9 2010- Flatheadsleddogdays.com- 2 back to back 50 milers; a great way to start. We’ll have 2- 12 dog teams running.

1/15- 1/17 2010-Seeleylakedograces.com- a nice 200 miler for any new dogs to learn how to camp and rest. 2-12 dog teams running.

2/12-2/17 2010- Racetothesky.org- The final pre/slection race for Iditarod team.300 miles: 1 team entered. May run other dogs in the shorter race if they decide to run a 100 or 200 miler in conjunction with the main race.

3/6-3/20 2010- Iditarod.com. May have tracking devices on each sled so watching may be more fun this year.

All dogs(36) continue to train and run well but the 8 yearlings will go to Krabloonik in Snowmass to run tours their first running year; as much as we’d love to run them in Iditarod they’re too young for 1000 miles.

Training Log 11/9/09

By admin

Lach- Upped the mileage to 20 and the dogs continue to get faster and tougher. Last run was in 30+ degree weather which they need to be able to handle as I’ve run in to days on the Iditarod of 48+ degrees!! By then the dogs are at a weight that makes running in that kind of heat safe. We’re trying 6 new dogs from Dan MacEachen’s Krabloonik Kennels: Cash, Carson, Dunkin, donut, Travis, and Garth. Walter and Jetta are becoming real leaders. Feet continue to be challenging as the dirt roads we train on are really abrasive; like running on sandpaper; some of the dogs are already wearing booties. The yearlings continue to amaze us with their attitude, power, and work ethic.