Two Inches of Snow!!
March 9th, 2009
I woke up this morning and it seemed unusually bright outside my window and I jumped out of bed to find two inches of snow surrounding my house. My phone was ringing and it was my husband asking if I had seen “all” the snow yet. My girls Addie (4yrs) and SarahDawn (2.5yrs) were asking to go out and play before I could get breakfast made. After sustenance we headed out for some snowball splatting and snow angel making. We lasted a good 20 minutes before heading inside covered in snow and chilled through. There was only one way to break the chill, hot cocoa! It was only after warming back up that I thought of my dear, crazy sister who will not only be in many feet of snow but will stay there for the next week and half. My sister and I both share a love of snow. I love to look at it through my kitchen window as I smell the bread baking and sip warm beverages. She loves to be immersed in it day and night, from horizon to horizon. She views it through a cloud of steam as her breath freezes just beyond the fur ruff rimming her hood. I wish I could make her some hot cocoa right now.
So, I have a confession to make. I have become obsessed with the GPS tracker in Laura’s sled. I thought that having constant access to her exact location and speed would relieve some of the anxiety I felt last year from the “not knowing”. I was wrong, I watch with bated breath as the seconds tick off until the next GPS signal update (every 16 minutes). Last night I sat in front of the computer reading my book and glancing at the screen every few minutes to see if she had left the checkpoint yet. I finally forced myself to go to bed at 12:40am. I couldn’t bring myself to turn the computer off though, just in case I woke up and wanted to check up on my little sister. Now that I have admitted my problem I think I’ll be able to fight the GPS impulse. I’ll let you know how it goes.
Laura is running in 50th position towards Finger Lake checkpoint right now. She’s traveling at about 7mph which is about average for all the mushers on the trail right now. The current temperature at her location is 21® winds are only 3mph. These are great running conditions, as far as weather goes. Now I have no idea what the actual trail conditions look like. In these temperatures the snow will not be wet and sloppy but if the trail was “roughed up before the cooler temperatures came then it would leave the equivalent of ruts in mud. The cooler temps would have simply frozen the ruts in place which can make for slower trail times.
So far I have not seen many of the racers “dropping “dogs at the checkpoints. This is a good indicator that it is not a rough trail yet. If the mushers start leaving more dogs with the vets it means sore muscles from a harder trail. A musher will not run a dog to injury but will choose to take them out of the team and “bench” them if there is any soreness noted. As with human competitor in any sport, there is a line that an athlete will push too while competing but not cross in order to avoid injury. If I start to see lots of dropped dogs I know the mushers are using caution with a rough trail. So far, so good. Laura still has all 16 dogs; she is having good run speeds and not overly long or short resting periods. All of this indicates smooth sailing!
I’ll keep you posted as the race unfolds. If anyone has questions I can answer please feel free to send a message through the website. If it has to do with something that her adoring masses would like to know I’ll write it on an update.