However, I intend for that to change.
The team and I have big plans for this race season. It's been almost a month since the weather cooled down and the dogs are getting settled in to our training schedule. It's been a bit sketchy planning runs this year as I have began my college education at Boise State University (Creative Writing major), but so far we are averaging four runs a week which works out pretty well. This is the first race season I'll be training a 12 dog team - it is so exciting that my Alaska puppies from 2012 are old enough to join the race team! Running these guys has been a breeze; a very talented group of pups.
Team Warren 2013-2014 Race Schedule
*West Yellowstone Rodeo Run - December 12-14, 2013 - the A team (me!) will run either the 22 mile/8 dog race or the 12 dog 35 mile race, depending on which I feel is best at that point in training. the B team (my mother) will run the 8 dog.
*Darby Dog Derby - January 18-19, 2014 - 30 miles/8 dogs - (A and B teams)
*Eagle Cap Extreme - January 22-25, 2014 - 100 miles/8 dogs - (B team)
*Cascade Quest - January 31-February 2, 2014 - 100 miles/12 dogs (A and B teams)
*Race to the Sky - February 14-19, 2014 - 350 miles/12 dogs (A team) / 100 miles/8 dogs (B team)
My mother and I have joined together (along with my younger brother who runs a small sprint team) under the kennel name Team Warren - it made more sense to have one kennel name for both of us as we both are focusing on distance racing and my mom decided that she would like to run the Iditarod once so we have that shared goal as well.
I will be unable to attend the Eagle Cap Extreme as it happens to be the same week on which semester two of college begins. I'm already signed up for Race to the Sky, though, and really excited to be running such a long race. It is definitely the premier event for Team Warren this year. I've had to put my Iditarod goals aside for a bit in order to secure my college degree but during the meantime I'm building up our kennel with quality dogs and participating in races in the lower 48 so that when I do graduate I can focus a year on running the Iditarod with (by then) experienced dogs.
During the meantime I've been working on getting ready for the snow season. The dog truck will be getting new custom (SLEDDOG) license plates and a Team Warren logo on the doors. Additionally, the 10-dog box will be getting a new coat of paint this month so it matches the truck, since the truck box is no longer enough to transport our entire race teams.
I need to wrap this up now as I have a spanish class to get to (last class this week), so let's wrap up with a photo of young Rosemary, who has been the best yearling leader in October's training.
