Some of you may wonder what sleddog racing has to do with spiritual fitness. For me it has a lot to do with rest. It is important to a person’s health to get enough rest. Often we rest our bodies and even our souls, but I find sleddog activities a time when I can rest my mind. It is very physical work, and it can even be a workout for the soul with the emotions of caring for the dogs and dealing with success or failure in a race. But it lets me rest my mind. It takes me away from the thoughts that often fill my mind regarding my future, the business, finances, studies, schedules, family responsibilities and all of the daily thoughts thay fill our lives. It is an important activity that rests the mind but exercises the body and soul.

So here is the update, Amy and her dogs Cobi, Owens, Orion and Goffee came in 7th in the 4 dog pro class at the Snowflake sprint race in Duluth this weekend. She had some struggles on the run Saturday due to the deep and soft snow, but had a nice clean (and fun) run on a beautiful day on Sunday’s run. It was a great father daughter weekend adventure.

For those of you who have heard of the Iditarod race in Alaska you should check out the website for the latest news on the race. Click here for the official site of the race. Once you are on the site, click on the current standings and find musher Jeff Wells. Jeff is from Fergus Falls and was a friend we raced with when he was in high school. He beat me in one of my first pro class skijor races in Cannon Falls. We bought the two dogs that ran lead for Amy this weekend, Cobi and Owens, from Jeff a couple years ago when he moved to Alaska.

Good Luck Jeff!

If you had by chance followed my blogging career when I was working for EPPD, you know that I often wrote and shared stories about mushing, aka sled dog raceing. This year has been horrible regarding snow conditions and th result has been the cancelation of most races. However, as you read this (if I edited the delayed time stamp correctly) Amy and I are on our way to Duluth for the Snowflake Skijor/Sprint Classic held at the Snowflake Nordic Center and also sponsored by Skijor Twin Ports.

It is a really fun race held on a well groomed XC ski trail. The Nodic Center Staff and Skijor Twin Ports club members are great hosts and I look forward to sharing some stories and pictures when we return.

Yes, the results are in and…………

We’re Number Five! But Cobi and Orion did most of the work. I did contribute by getting into a tuck every once in awhile to cut down the wind resistance.

There were 10 skijorers in the the first wave of the advanced class. That’s me in the yellow and Pete Hindman of St. Paul in the black in front of me. Pete stayed just ahead of me the whole race. We even both had a short rest in the snow about half way through the race. I’ve known and Skijored with Pete for about 4-5 years. He’s a good guy.

I survived so it looks like I’ll be at the Winter Carnival Race tomorrow morning.

Well I’m off to the Skijor Loppet in Minneapolis. It’s my first race in several years since I’ve been dog handler for the kids and their racing. Tomorrow is the St. Paul Winter Carnival Race and provided I survive today I’ll be there also. I’ve done a little training as the pictures below show. I’ve had some good runs and some episodes where I could rest in a soft place. The dogs have had some workouts so we’ll see what happens. I’ll keep you posted.

Well, after months of waiting for a decent snowfall to get out on the sleds, we finally got the white stuff we needed. No longer do the dogs have to spend time dragging a noisy four-wheeler through the dirt. A nice quiet glide over the snow. Here’s a few shots of my daughter Amy living the good life!

And a final “father knows best shot:

Dad “Now make sure you slow down on that first curve behind the barn”
Amy “I know, I know, don’t worry about it”
Result: Some left over snow from a first class “Face Plant”