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| As we described on the "Races" page, our goal for this year is to run a solid Iditarod. However, being a rookie Rich also has 500 miles worth of qualifying races for the dogs to run and Charlie will be running the 100-150 mile Jr. Iditarod with most of the same dogs. So the dogs of Sawtooth Kennels have a busy year ahead of them. And since we maintain only a relatively small kennel of 27 dogs, of which only 19 are training to race this year, we have decided to train the dogs to slower speed and longer run times, in hopes of limiting injuries... sprains and strains... often the result of missteps caused by higher speeds. |
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| Our end goal is to conditions the dogs to be comfortable running at 8mph for 8 to 10 hours at a time... rest an equal amount of time, and then do it all over again. |
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| Training Goals
These are the goals or benchmarks we have set up for our training season.
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| Month |
Mileage (miles) |
Run Time (hours) |
| May |
2-5 |
0.5-1 |
| June |
5-10 |
0.5-1 |
| July |
5-10 |
0.5-1 |
| Aug. |
10-15 |
1-1.5 |
| Sept. |
15-25 |
2-3 |
| Oct. |
25-40 |
3-5 |
| Nov. |
60-80 |
8-10 |
| Dec. |
70-90 |
10-12 |
| Jan |
Qualifying Races (200mile & 300mile) |
25hrs and 38hrs (run times) |
| Feb. |
Jr Iditarod |
17 hrs (run time) |
| March |
Iditarod |
(+/-)11 day 0 hours |
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| Training to Date: |
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| Below is our actual training logs in ten day blocks...**Note: Rest days are not recorded but they are taken, usually (but not always) via a pattern of 3 run-days followed by 2 off-days** |
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| date |
6/22 |
6/23 |
6/25 |
6/26 |
6/27 |
6/28 |
7/1 |
7/2 |
7/3 |
7/4 |
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| temp (f) |
56 |
55 |
54 |
56 |
52 |
55 |
54 |
53 |
57 |
56 |
54.8average |
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| time (hr) |
.33 |
.33 |
.33 |
.33 |
.33 |
.33 |
0.5 |
0.4 |
0.4 |
.33 |
3.6hr total |
23 miles season |
| est. miles |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
23miles |
6.4 mph (season average) |
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| Series wrap up! This was the first series of runs for the season. We were mostly thinking about building big muscles by having the dogs pull heavy weights really slowly. Summer in Talkeetna is pretty hot so we were running early in the morning 3:00- 4:00am and still it was very hot for the dogs so we stopped alot and let the dogs drink bunches! |
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| date |
7/7 |
7/8 |
7/9 |
7/10 |
7/13 |
7/14 |
7/15 |
7/17 |
7/19 |
7/21 |
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| temp (f) |
53 |
55 |
49 |
53 |
56 |
56 |
55 |
54 |
53 |
52 |
53.6 average |
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| time (hr) |
.25 |
.33 |
.5 |
.5 |
.33 |
.5 |
1 |
1 |
.5 |
.4 |
5.3hr total |
61 miles season |
| est. miles |
3 |
3 |
4 |
4 |
2 |
3 |
6 |
6 |
4 |
3 |
38miles |
7.2 mph (season average) |
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| Series wrap up! This second series of runs was pretty much the same as the first. We were still trying to build muscle and still fighting the warm/hot summer temps! But, in addition to all that, we started playing with using different leaders. Most every dog got a chance up front and we have about 12 good runners up lead. We will take 6 of them and Gee/Haw train them. Nice to know there is 6 more that can run up there though, if we need them! |
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| date |
7/22 |
7/22 |
7/25 |
7/26 |
7/27 |
7/30 |
7/31 |
8/2 |
8/3 |
8/5 |
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| temp (f) |
54 |
54 |
55 |
56 |
53 |
52 |
52 |
51 |
53 |
54 |
53.4 average |
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| time (hr) |
.33 |
.33 |
.33 |
.33 |
.33 |
.33 |
.33 |
.5 |
.5 |
1 |
4.31 hr total |
93 miles season |
| est. miles |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
4 |
4 |
7 |
32 miles |
7.4 mph (season average) |
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| Series wrap up! In this third series of runs we continued the work of the last month or two with the addition of adding a bit more speed to the runs. |
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| date |
8/6 |
8/16 |
8/17 |
8/18 |
8/20 |
8/21 |
8/22 |
8/25 |
8/26 |
8/27 |
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| temp (f) |
54 |
53 |
52 |
53 |
51 |
41 |
49 |
51 |
49 |
56 |
50.9 average |
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| time (hr) |
.5 |
.33 |
.33 |
.5 |
.5 |
.4 |
.66 |
.66 |
1 |
1 |
5.9 hr total |
143.5 miles season |
| est. miles |
4 |
3 |
3 |
3.5 |
4 |
4 |
6.5 |
6.5 |
8 |
8 |
50.5 miles |
8.6 mph (season average) |
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| Series wrap up! This fourth series of runs was interupted by a long break in middle when we all went out town for an education conference in Anchorage. it was a good time but we sure were glad to get back and be with the dogs! And the weather cooled off a bit by the time we got back so the dogs are happier. As we have added miles to our runs the dogs seem to be developing bloody stools... We think this might be stress related but aren't sure yet... checking for parisites and a few other things... Not Happy About This! |
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| date |
8/28 |
8/29 |
9/1 |
9/1 |
9/2 |
9/3 |
9/6 |
9/7 |
9/8 |
9/11 |
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| temp (f) |
56 |
56 |
41 |
47 |
34 |
47 |
45 |
48 |
49 |
40 |
46 average |
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| time (hr) |
.5 |
.33 |
.33 |
.5 |
.5 |
.4 |
.66 |
.66 |
1 |
1 |
11.9 hr total |
240.5 miles season |
| est. miles |
4 |
3 |
3 |
3.5 |
4 |
4 |
6.5 |
6.5 |
8 |
8 |
97 miles |
8.2 mph (season average) |
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| Series wrap up! The dogs seem to be slumping alittle... we have added miles to our runs and it is still alittle warm, though cooling off, maybe thats getting them down. Towards the end of this series they seemed to perk up abit! So maybe we are on the up swing. Still dealing with bloody stools in a few dogs... thinking now it might be a nutritional problem so we are switching dry kibble and supplimenting with vitamin E in hopes of getting internal vitamin K production to increase... we'll see very frustrated! |
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| date |
9/12 |
9/13 |
9/16 |
9/17 |
9/19 |
9/20 |
9/21 |
9/26 |
9/27 |
9/28 |
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| temp (f) |
43 |
35 |
38 |
43 |
43 |
39 |
41 |
38 |
42 |
34 |
40 average |
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| time (hr) |
0.8 |
1.2 |
1.2 |
1.2 |
1.8 |
0.9 |
1.2 |
1.8 |
1.7 |
1.2 |
13.0 hr total |
356.5miles season |
| est. miles |
8 |
11 |
11 |
11 |
15 |
8 |
11 |
15 |
15 |
11 |
116 miles |
8.9mph (season average) |
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| Series wrap up!
Adding vitamin E and fish oil seeems to have helped a bit but also started supplimenting psillium (I think that is how it is spelled :) to their morning, after run, feeding. The bloody stools have cleared up so whatever worked worked! The cooler weather seems to have perked up the dogs, too! So things feel back on track now... very hapy with the consistency of run speeds right now, also!
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| date |
9/30 |
10/2 |
10/4 |
10/5 |
10/6 |
10/10 |
10/11 |
10/12 |
10/14 |
10/15 |
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| temp (f) |
39 |
39 |
29 |
39 |
36 |
30 |
29 |
26 |
34 |
30 |
33 average |
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| time (hr) |
2.0 |
2.0 |
1.5 |
1.5 |
1.5 |
1.7 |
1.9 |
2.5 |
3.8 |
2.6 |
21.0 hr total |
547 miles season |
| est. miles |
18 |
18 |
14.5 |
14.5 |
14.5 |
15 |
18 |
21 |
36 |
21 |
190.5 miles |
9.1 mph (season average) |
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| Series wrap up!
Things are going well... temps cooling off and the dogs love that! We have steadily been upping the milages and run time lenghts and the dogs are doing well with it, even picking up a bit of speed along the way... Not sure I really want that but they all seem to be comfortable with it so I will let them have it for a while. We did our first 2 run day on the 14th and were really happy with how they reacted! Still have dogs we are watching closely but things seem to be going great!
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