October Travels: Kripalu and Lake Placid

It has been a very busy month for me and Scooter. A few weeks ago I assisted one of the master ChiRunning instructors for a 4 day session at Kripalu. I had a lot of fun and learned a lot, as there have been many changes in the instructor manual. I also passed my re-certification with flying colors!!! So I don't have to worry about that for another 2-3 years. Kathy, the instructor, and I had a great time yapping and hot tubbing and going to dancing and drumming demonstrations, etc, each day after class was over. We had a great time and I really enjoyed getting to know her better.

Also, I was in Lake Placid recently with Scooter for an event called "Run Dawg Run Festival." It is dryland training and racing for skijorers and sledders (the dog sledders were in little carts being pulled by their dogs). Skijoring is XC skiing with the dog hauling you. The skier really puts out a lot of effort too and you have to be a good skier. The dryland event that people train for this with is called Canicross, a combination of the words canine and cross country. In this, the dog hauls you while you are running. You can see why this is right up our alley, both the doing and teaching LOL.

Anyway, I set up a booth and gave a short ChiRunning demo/lesson during the only sunny time we had all day. Canicrossis very hard on the legs, especially the knees, as most dogs run and pull much harder than the person would run normally, and so the runner is braking all the time. ChiRunning would allow these runners to just go with the flow. And even more exciting is that ChiRunning is a perfect complement to XC skiing. So my presentation was well received. I was, however, blown away, literally. We had torrential rains and 50 mile an hour winds for much of the day. And yes, they held the event anyway . After having to catch the booth the third time, I packed up.

When we got to the place, we were on the site of the 1980 Olympics. I saw some bobsleds doing dry runs. We were at the XC ski area. There were tons of dogs. And as sled dogs are known for their baying and howling and barking and general carrying on, it was very noisy. Scooter was in hog heaven. Oops, I mean dog heaven. When we first got there, he was barking and jumping and butt sniffing and oh man!! I had run him on the treadmill before I left the house, so he was fabulous in the car for 3 hours. Then I took him for a run on the course to calm him down before I set up. I let him have his head and ran him like it was canicross, harness and all. For the rest of the time, I had him on a hands-free leash, so he was with me in the restrooms and registering and setting up and during the demo, and he was quite well-behaved in spite of the distractions.

We met so many wonderful dogs. Scooter's favorite buddies were the Aussies run by the winning woman. They shared peanut butter treats (I spent a few days baking Scooter's world famous organic peanut butter biscuits again. They were a great hit.) The sled dogs were all so different. There were Alaskan Huskies and Malamutes, Siberian Huskies, and a breed that looked not too far removed from western Coyotes. They were very leggy and rangy and yappy LOL. Very nice dogs. Lots of German short-haired pointers (excellent skijorers). There were a few Goldens (a very large one who was 3rd with his runner reminded me of our friend Ronan, except this one was very dark red. But he didn't pull, just ran next to his guy). There were also a few well, not Cocker Spaniels, but similar. A couple of Newfies and Samoyeds and even a Jack Russell Terrier.

If you have never seen sled dogs, or wondered if it is cruel to have them run and haul a sled, you have no idea of the commotion they cause when they know they are going to run. They carry on something fierce. In the starting gate, the four dog teams pulling the carts were so gung-ho, they need to be held by anywhere from 4-8 people to restrain them. And when they finished, the same 4-8 people would try to catch them to stop them LOL. Even some of the canicross/skijoring dogs were so excited about running that they had to be held at the starting line by 1-2 people and caught at the end. Some of these dogs would run all day, given the chance. One or two of the people too LOL. They say that you have to hide the harness from some dogs because once they see it, they go nuts. Kind of like when Scooter and I make the turn to go up where we ski LOL.

Before I left, I signed us up for a 3 day camp at New Years. We get 7 1/2 hours of skijoring instruction, and I get 9 hours of skate skiing instruction (which I have only done once) for a very reasonable price. I have reserved dog-friendly lodging, so we are all set. I really love it in that area and want to expand my business there.

So, anyway, that's it for this month. See you on the trails! AnnMargaret