When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached,
don't adjust the goals, adjust the action steps. Confucius
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Winter 2010 to
2011
The plan for the 2010/2011 winter had been to compete in a series of 100 to 150 mile races with the aim of qualifying for, and running in, the Can Am 250. As such we set out to race in the 100 mile race at Eagle Lake, in the Beargrease mid-distance, possibly in the Wilderness 100 or 30 depending on how things were progressing and then L'Odyssee 120 before heading across to Michigan for the UP200 if all was going well. We figured this would set us up well for the Can Am 250. Unfortunately, as often happens, the weather intervened. As we had had no snow by Christmas, and as I lack the experience or skill to adjust any form of training plan accordingly, we decided that the lack of sled miles by New Year (550 as opposed to the hoped for 1000 miles) would remove any hope of ever making the grade for the 250. Resigned to running one team in the Can Am 60, and hoping to have the yearling team run by Hugh Wakker from Scotland, whilst Moley and Mannie would also run the Can Am 30 on Linda Power's team, we reset our winter goals to training for and competing at shorter mid-distance. In the end 2010/2011 turned out to be our most successful winter, certainly since coming to North America if not, in fact, ever. Fast runs at Brownville and Greenville (where we were beaten into second place for the top pure bred team by one second over 30 miles) were followed up by a creditable run at Saint-Pamphille where we completed the 46 miles at a little over 9.3mph and a great run in 'testing' conditions at Fort Kent that not only saw us finish as top pure-bred team in the 60 and also in the prize money, but also saw us achieve a feat we never thought we would do at Fort Kent, we qualified for the 250. The winter was not without it's challenges: an unfortunate situation at Sandwich followed up by an extremely poor showing in the race left us scratching our heads as to where we had gone wrong in training. However I believe this was just one of the many lessons that we learned this winter and that will, hopefully, make us stronger in the future. Already we are making plans for 2011/2012 - our plans, however, never seem to go according to plan.
More details, including race teams, will follow at the links below.
Sandwich Sled Dog Race
Winter 2009 to 2010
With the relocation from Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia to Saint-Jacques, New Brunswick not happening until the end of October 2010 we ended up with a very late start to training - the first one mile four-wheeler training run taking place on 31 October 2010. As such we resolved to find our feet/paws in the area, get to know the local trails and concentrate on just doing a few 30 mile races
Click on the race banners to go to individual race pages
Winter 2008 to 2009
Click on the race banners to go to individual race pages
Winter 2007 to 2008
Click on the race banners to go to individual race pages
Winter 2006 to 2007
Winter 2005 to 2006
Click on the race banner to go to race page
The plan for the 2010/2011 winter had been to compete in a series of 100 to 150 mile races with the aim of qualifying for, and running in, the Can Am 250. As such we set out to race in the 100 mile race at Eagle Lake, in the Beargrease mid-distance, possibly in the Wilderness 100 or 30 depending on how things were progressing and then L'Odyssee 120 before heading across to Michigan for the UP200 if all was going well. We figured this would set us up well for the Can Am 250. Unfortunately, as often happens, the weather intervened. As we had had no snow by Christmas, and as I lack the experience or skill to adjust any form of training plan accordingly, we decided that the lack of sled miles by New Year (550 as opposed to the hoped for 1000 miles) would remove any hope of ever making the grade for the 250. Resigned to running one team in the Can Am 60, and hoping to have the yearling team run by Hugh Wakker from Scotland, whilst Moley and Mannie would also run the Can Am 30 on Linda Power's team, we reset our winter goals to training for and competing at shorter mid-distance. In the end 2010/2011 turned out to be our most successful winter, certainly since coming to North America if not, in fact, ever. Fast runs at Brownville and Greenville (where we were beaten into second place for the top pure bred team by one second over 30 miles) were followed up by a creditable run at Saint-Pamphille where we completed the 46 miles at a little over 9.3mph and a great run in 'testing' conditions at Fort Kent that not only saw us finish as top pure-bred team in the 60 and also in the prize money, but also saw us achieve a feat we never thought we would do at Fort Kent, we qualified for the 250. The winter was not without it's challenges: an unfortunate situation at Sandwich followed up by an extremely poor showing in the race left us scratching our heads as to where we had gone wrong in training. However I believe this was just one of the many lessons that we learned this winter and that will, hopefully, make us stronger in the future. Already we are making plans for 2011/2012 - our plans, however, never seem to go according to plan.
More details, including race teams, will follow at the links below.
Sandwich Sled Dog Race
Winter 2009 to 2010
With the relocation from Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia to Saint-Jacques, New Brunswick not happening until the end of October 2010 we ended up with a very late start to training - the first one mile four-wheeler training run taking place on 31 October 2010. As such we resolved to find our feet/paws in the area, get to know the local trails and concentrate on just doing a few 30 mile races
Click on the race banners to go to individual race pagesWinter 2008 to 2009
Click on the race banners to go to individual race pagesWinter 2007 to 2008
Click on the race banners to go to individual race pages
Winter 2006 to 2007
Winter 2005 to 2006
Click on the race banner to go to race page