This past weekend, Jenn, Hunter and I were invited to go see some little show called “Ovo”. It was put on by a troupe of acrobats called “Cirque du Soleil” or something – ever heard of them? No? Me either. Even still, they managed to pack the performance tent with close to four thousand people and they put on one amazing show.
Honestly though, and without hyperbole, I saw things there underneath that tent that I didn’t think the human body could do. Some of the acts were unbelievable because of the muscle control and flexibility required, while others were incredibly well choreographed and expertly timed. All of the acts, however, were astounding because of the amount of physicality and skill packed into each segment: it was very likely that we saw some of the best acrobats and performers the world has to offer. The entire show was amazing. I could go on and on about how entertaining it was, but I don’t want to spoil it for any who may see this post before they see the performance. Suffice it to say that I loved it, Jenn loved it and Hunter loved it and we are very grateful for the invitation.
We were not allowed to take video or photographs inside the performance tent, so I made a little video of my most recent run with the dogs instead.
Sheesh! It’s already November and I haven’t yet posted anything about running our dogs. What’s the matter with me?
Well, part of it is that Jenn and I had decided in the late summer that we were going to downsize some of our animals and try to get some work done on our house. We only have three chickens left; the others were sold, and we only have one goat – the infamous Ty. That leaves the dogs.
Originally, we were going to not focus on racing this year. Instead, we were going to have fun runs – like camping, icefishing and daytrips – with the dogs, but when a friend, after hearing our plan, asked if he could use our dogs to run a race this winter we felt it to be an all-round benefitial idea. He could help train and condition the dogs, the dogs would get out on runs, and we would not feel guilty about not running our dogs as much this winter.
This is our string of dogs that we are training this year.
Then, Jenn came up with the idea that we were going to try a different method of training. She’d heard about this eleven-day cycle that is used by some mushers who do races similar to ours. Basically, the eleven days are broken down like this:
Day one: long, slow distance run. We try to keep the dogs between five and seven miles per hour for an hour.
Day two: rest
Day three: rest
Day four: another long, slow distance run.
Day five: rest
Day six: rest
Day seven: Speed run. We keep the dogs running at between 14 and 16 miles per hour. We do this for four miles.
Day eight: speed run.
Day nine: speed run.
Day ten: rest
Day eleven: rest.
When the next cycle starts up, the distance is increased by a mile and the time spent running the long, slow runs is increased by half an hour. In theory, we are working two different muscle groups on each different part of our training and we are giving plenty of rest for recovery and muscle building. So far, we are really pleased with what we have been seeing. Another nice thing about this method of training is that we have a concrete plan: in years past, I would just try to get out as much as I could with the dogs and, as our past racing track record shows, I was evidently not allowing the dogs’ potentials to be reached.
I wish this trail was longer. We can only use it for runs up to eight miles or so, but it’s so nice to run on. It’s a seldom-used concession road that only really sees traffic during hunting season. We use a trail that comes off of it and goes four miles into a cut-block to a nice turn-around so that we don’t have to manually turn the team around on the road.
So, with the help of James, our friend, we are having a great season so far and the dogs are looking every bit the honest dogs we know them to be.
This is the part of the trail that goes through the cut-block. It is still nice and wide, well packed and enjoyable to run.
The end of our second 4-mile speed run. The dogs finished looking really strong, I thought. James is driving and Hunter’s friend, Emily, is riding with us. She was covered in mud and had a great time.
“The goat who thought he was a dog.” I thought this would be a good title for the post – maybe even a children’s story. You know the kind of story: where the goat does foolish things because he thinks he’s a dog and I could write them down in a lovingly charming way, so as to make his foolishness endearing. But it would be hard to compare Ty to a dog because even though I’ve known some idiot dogs, Ty has them all beat.
In a way, though, I sort of feel bad for the poor guy. Afterall, his life of late reads like a Greek tragedy: we killed his sons, banished his wives and daughter and left him to rule an empty and desolate land alone. Well, it isn’t empty and desolate, but it certainly isn’t a goat Wonderland, either. So, now he spends his days wandering around but mostly lounging outside the dogrun - his new, adopted home. And when a select few dogs go on a walk, he follows along behind trying to fit in. Like a big, shaggy dog with horns.
And finally, as promised, here are some pictures of Ty. Everybody, this is Ty. Ty, this is Everybody:
Here he is: the great, lumbering beast.
Trying to fit in with some of the calmer dogs.
Gilligan trying to herd and Ty having none of it. They’re quite the pair, these two: each convinced their way is the right way, but neither is willing to listen to the other.
…really having none of it. Watch out, Gilligan, I think he’s about to make his point!
Lastly, here’s our guy, back from a car ride to town. Well, okay: he didn’t go to town. He just snuck in when Jenn was busy unloading the car. But you weren’t sure there for a minute, were you?
