canicross.

If you've ever had a fickle relationship with on-again off-again running, as I have, the sure fire way to start running and stick to it is to get yourself a couple of yearling sled dogs that need training and already have a winter of 50 mile runs under their belts. 

It took Matt and I a good 45 minutes of strategic planning (over beers of course) to figure out how we were going to fit walking two old dogs, running two young dogs, and training one puppy into our busy work schedules. The answer: make Jes get up a couple hours earlier in the morning and start running…hard. Enter canicross, the sport of tying a crazy sled dog to your waist and heading out on the trail.

We're halfway through our second week of intensive training (more for us then the yearlings) and things seem to be settling in well. We mix it up every once in a while with a sled ride so they can relax their brains with something familiar, but they seem to be enjoying the running and Polarbear is progressing nicely with his 'leader' training. I think we're all having fun…most of the time.

I would post some photos of our canicross adventures but pictures at 6am in the dark with raring to go yearlings don't come out all that well…photos of our scenic sled rides however, will be sure to follow in the next post.