Days At 40 Below

     Well, another cold spell has beset us. The good news is that there is a chance that this will be the last one, but the way this year is going (with the early cold temps and enormous amount of snow - for Nenana -) it is hard to say!
    On the 2nd we ran, despite the cold, to keep the dogs moving. It was -25F here, but Aaron informed me later that it was -40F for a several mile stretch. I did a 26mile run, while Aaron and Scott ran 40miles with the race dogs. It was fun to "dress up" my dogs with booties, coats and foxtails to keep out the cold.
     With this cold weather, I'd asked Bill and Scott about using dog coats and they agreed that they are a huge help towards conserving the dogs energy and heat. After all, would you want to go out in cold weather without a coat? Bill has raced the Yukon Quest (won in 1987) numerous times and that race is notorious for cold (-60F temperatures!) weather - he uses coats the whole way. As Scott says, "A pound of caution is worth a ton of cure." Scott also uses 3ft X 3ft fleece blankets at checkpoints to throw over the dogs. He sews space blanket (those survival blankets that reflect heat) inbetween two layers of fleece. I've seen dog blankets used at Race to the Sky - the dogs looked so comfortable! I guess I'll be making some when I get home...
     Despite the extra precautions for the dogs, Hawkeye got frozen as well as one dog each on Aaron and Scott's teams. The remedy for this is to thaw the frozen body part out and then apply some frostbite burn cream that is mixed with another ointment, the name of which I cannot recall (I think it was Silvadine???). It is important to keep circulation going, so you also want to rub the area for 2-3 minutes 4-6 times per day for a couple days.
    Yesterday we loaded all the race dogs, except for Griz, Vasser, Finn, Skunk and Saffron and Scott and Aaron left to train in a warmer part of Alaska as they get ready for the Knik 200 race this weekend. The yard is very quiet without the other dogs and it was kind of sad to see them all loaded up to go, with me having to stay behind.
    Today has been spent playing with Hunter and visiting with Mandy since it's still too cold to run. Tomorrow, however, I'll probably be able to run - it's supposed to warm up to -15F! I'm hoping to do the 30mile trail, if it's not too windy on the flats (windchill).
    Stay warm!