When I got into Ollokot, shortly after I got the dogs bedded and fed, Laura and I talked - I was surprised to learn that Brett had left with a very short rest. However, I wasn't too concerned - figuring we'd make up time towards the end...after all, there's two styles of racing and I wasn't going to change mine just because he was doing the other.
We left about an hour after Laura, I think, with the hope that this second run would put me out of Ollokot (where we had to take a 6 hour mandatory layover) in the afternoon rather than having to run through the heat of the day. It was a beautiful run and I wasn't too asleep when we got back to Ollokot!
I worked on Mocha during our 6 hour layover and got some sleep, but after consultation with the vet decided to drop him. After all, a wrist injury on a yearling could develop into something more since they're still growing and he's so good I didn't want to risk anything.
Leaving, the dogs were barking and happy - and I had switched leaders in the hope of giving my good old Legolas a break. However, it was hot and the dogs, going up steep hills in the sun, kind of went into a slump a 1/2 hour out. We motored through it and by the time we got to the portion of the leg we'd run on our 2nd leg the hills seemed steeper (I really think they grew overnight!!!) but the dogs were moving better than any of the teams we saw - even coming down. I think that was where we may have made up a bit of time on the 2 teams in front of us...but I didn't look too closely at that; I just knew the dogs were doing awesome when we got back into Ollokot for our final rest.
I was very tempted to leave without a rest, but I really wanted to get a wet cooler into them and needed to drop Kuchen, Mocha's brother, who seemed tired - though he was still barking to go. Again, it was one of those decisions that could go either way, but I didn't want him to learn he could slack off for the last 50 miles!
We had an hour or hour and a half to make up on 1st place and although I had trouble leaving Ollokot, as soon as we turned the corner out of the lights and on the trail home, the dogs really cruised. I tried helping them up the hills but they didn't appreciate it - it was too dark to see, but I'm sure Summer and Nibbs were rolling their eyes when they looked back at me when I gave them some help - telling each other I was more of a nuisance than a help!
I did roll the sled down a steep embankment shortly before I stopped to give them their wet cooler and remember it woke me up a little...and had me worrying I had a sopping dog food/meat mess in my sled. But I didn't; so that was good. Still, trying not to fall asleep was a challenge. I chewed gum, tried music and telling myself we were close to the teams ahead...but to no avail. What finally got me alert was peppered beef jerky and having to concentrate on changing the batteries in my headlamp...and realizing I was just a few miles from the scary ski slope at the end. If you remember last year, I rolled the sled and had quite a time getting down - I had to have help.
This time I started down with tugs on, but we still ended up dangerously close to the left-hand edge of the trail cut slightly into the ski slope. So I stopped and pulled the leaders over to the far right and unsnapped tugs. This helped but we still would've ended up rolling down if Urchin hadn't pulled Mambo over to the right after I frantically called, "Gee! Gee!"
We cruised into the finish line and dogs like Summer were wiggling like puppies, not ready to be done racing. I had made up quite a bit of time but still remained in 3rd place. However, I couldn't be happier - this was the first race I had had a full 12 dog team (last year I ran with 9) and it had been very encouraging to have seen the dogs race exactly as we'd trained.
The next morning I was reunited with Kuchen and Mocha (we beat them to the finish!) and at the evening's award banquet, was awarded my second best cared for team award. There's a lot I could say about what I learned, but I think one key thing I realized during Eagle Cap this year was that there's a lot more to racing than training a team and showing up. There's a race team mindset that I need to develop to be more competitive. For one, although I believe I've learned to better read my dogs since Alaska, I still need to stop underestimating them - they're far tougher than I give them credit for and, as I've noted before, I'm by far the weakest link!
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