“There are as many reasons for running as there are days in the year, years in my life. But mostly I run because I am an animal and a child, an artist and a saint. So, too, are you. Find your own play, your own self-renewing compulsion, and you will become the person you are meant to be.”
-George Sheehan
Before you think it is all work and no play at Dew Claw this summer let me share some photos Victoria took of our run this morning. Early mornings are cool enough to get the dogs out, and so this is how we start the day. Sometimes in small teams, sometimes free running with the quad. Always with the trade-mark enthusiasm sled dogs are well known for.
“Somewhere in the world, someone is training when you are not. When you race him, he will win.”
-sign on Tom Fleming’s wall while training for the Boston Marathon
And although we do not run long distances in the summer, it is just too hot for these arctic adapted athletes, we can still accomplish a lot of training. Working on commands, bolstering expectations for behavior in team, and giving positive re-enforcement for enthusiasm on the run. All of which leads to a happier well behaved team.
You don’t stop running because you get old, you get old because you stop running.”
-Christopher McDougall, author of Born to Run
And it doesn’t hurt me either to get up early and start my day doing something active with the dogs.
When you rise in the morning, give thanks for the light, for your life, for your strength. Give thanks for your food and for the joy of living. If you see no reason to give thanks, the fault lies in yourself. – Tecumseh
