I Heard it Through the Grapevine
March 11th, 2009
Okay, I am officially going to seek treatment for this GPS Syndrome that I have developed. I will however be waiting until after the Iditarod is over. No sense in conquering the GPS addiction until I see Laura cross the finish line. Until then I’ll have to accept the fact that my computer needs to stay on 24/7 and as long as I don’t linger in front of the screen for long then it’s okay to check once or twice an hour. Besides, the computer is upstairs and in order to check on Laura I’m climbing up and down all day. That has to have some health benefits. Granted I am very pregnant right now and probably shouldn’t be climbing all the stairs but since I don’t have an elevator in the house I guess I’ll have to roll with the punches.
So, onto the juicy bits of information I’ve heard about Laura. My family has some close family friends that actually flew into Rainey Pass Checkpoint to photograph Laura, the Race and some other racers for sponsors. They are Kim and Michael Bertrand of Driven Sled Dog Photos and Michael Bertrand Photography. Not only are they amazing photographers but they have been great supporters and friends of Laura and our family.
Kim sent me an email giving me a few little snippets of information about Laura to pass on to all of you. Laura said she is feeling rested which is amazing! She also said the dogs are doing great and eating well. It’s so important that the dogs eat well on the trail. They need to eat the calorie equivalent of 43 Big Macs only with a lot more nutritional value than 43 Big Macs. She did say there was a lot of DEEP, DEEP powdery snow on the trail. She tried to set her snow hook (kind of like a musher’s emergency break) at one point and the dogs “popped” the hook and got into a big tangle. It could have been worse though, sometimes when a team pops a hook the whole team will start running and the musher will have to spend hours on foot tracking the team down the trail until they take a pit stop. There has also been punchy snow. Punchy is a way to describe snow that is not packed and the dogs tend to “punch” through with every step. Laura will slow her team down quite a bit to go through that kind of snow. If you’ve ever tried running through snow up to your ankles then you will know how sore it can make you feel. The dogs need to be held back because they will want to take it at full speed and not realize that it will make them sore later. It is the musher’s responsibility to see the snow condition and hold the team back or slow them down. She is resting for a little longer than she normally would in order to compensate for these conditions. The word on the “street” is that trail conditions are better further on.
One funny incident that Laura wanted to share happened at the cabin where all the mushers can sleep in the Rainey Pass Checkpoint. Laura was sleeping on the top bunk and got a huge leg cramp. I guess she ended up falling off the top bunk while trying to get down. She was laughing about it as she told Kim the story. So very Laura to laugh at falling off a bunk. As usual, she manages to take a dismal (and painful I might add) situation and turn it into something to smile about. As a side note, for those of you who might not know why she is getting leg cramps, it is very hard to stay hydrated on the trail. Unlike the dogs who can relieve themselves while running it’s a little harder for Laura. Sometimes that will deter a person from drinking as much fluids as they need to. I won’t mention any names, but, if you don’t get enough fluids then you’ll start cramping. Last year Laura had a full body cramp that was noticed by a race volunteer who ran to help her. He gave her something to drink which almost instantly relieved the cramp. When Laura asked what it was she had been given the reply was,” I don’t know, the vets made it.” Comforting!
All in all, Laura is doing well and she is pleased with her dogs. She is about 5 miles outside of McGrath Checkpoint as I post this. That is where she took her 24 hour layover last year so we’ll see if she does the same this time. If she does then she may have a chance to call me and give me some more bits for all of you!