Using Varying Terrains for Dog Sled Training
I recently returned from my honeymoon to Alaska where we got to try out one of the coolest things in the world: dog sled racing. After a short helicopter ride to a nearby glacier we were greeted by literally hundreds of snow dogs all preparing for various races. Some owners were from as far away as New England, while others were native Alaskans.
After interacting with a few of the dogs, we were allowed to ride on a sled pulled by actual Iditarod race dogs. Some of the dogs were pure muscle while others were full of agility and speed. One thing we noticed as we cruised over the smooth face of a glacier was just how much work it was to run a dog sled. So, we asked some of the trainers how they got in shape, especially since some of them don’t live in Alaska year round. Their answer: the use of varying terrains and workout regimens.
Flat Work
One of the most common workouts was flat work, or commonly known as road work. Essentially this is just straight running or jogging over flat land in order to build up endurance.
Hill Training
Hill training seems like the least fun of all the training philosophies. It is exactly how it sounds, training on hills. The idea is that during race conditions you never know what kind of inclines or declines you’ll encounter, so you train for them all.
Sand and Snow Training
Last but not least is snow training, or for those trainers who aren’t around the snow year round, they use beach training. We were familiar with beach training as we were from Florida, but snow training was much more difficult as some snow will actually cause you to sink down a foot or so. Not to mention how cold it is on your extremities, like fingers, toes, ears, nose, and face. One tip they recommended was using sports headphones to help get blood to your ears and keep your mind on the music and not the snow.
The end result is that using varying terrains for training surely increases your overall abilities to take on anything that comes your way in a race.