Doggin' It

Last night, after my long run, I saw a show about Libby Riddles, the first woman to win the Iditarod. (If any of you are unaware, the Iditarod is a sled dog race covering 1150 miles from Anchorage to Nome, Alaska.) Riddles, a native of Teller (?), Alaska, commented that as part of her dogs' training, anytime there was a storm, she'd take them out and run them. (I assume it was to make running in less than ideal conditions seem normal to them.) Her comment made me think of DGC's post on her Running = Sanity blog about 8 miles on the track in the rain. While the Iditarod is a multi-day stage race, it's handled in a go-as-you-please format, but the essential condition of weather is a major factor. In this, it is like the marathon. A race in 85 degree heat is a very different race from one in 30 degrees and gale force winds. Racers must be ready to deal with conditions as they are on race day. Like Libby Riddles dogs, we must be ready to race in whatever mother nature throws at us.