December 17, 2016
If I ever need my dog to stick by my side, all I have to ask is, "Do you want to go skijoring with me?" He will follow me everywhere--downstairs to get my ski boots, upstairs to get my hat and gloves, to the bathroom for one more pit stop before heading outside. When I get his harness off the hook by the door, he always stands in the exact same spot by the door and bows down his head, so I can slip the harness over it. He then lifts his right paw, so I can thread his leg through the harness and repeats this on the left side. When he sees me put on the skijoring belt, he knows departure is imminent, so he begins coming down the stairs. I check the time--9:40am. It is a few degrees below zero and there is a slight wind--the online forecast says ten miles per hour.
But once we step outside, all I notice is the glorious sunshine and fresh snow from last night's clouds. It is lovely! I cannot wait to break a new trail.
My muscles are sore from skate skiing yesterday, so I am happy to amble along at a leisurely pace using classic technique. We saw only one other dog (with his two people) the whole time we were out. Noko, who, up until this time, had not been pulling at all, now suddenly pulled the line taught and showed what a mighty pulling dog he is. I appreciated his energy and helped us along with some vigorous double-poling.
Something new I'm doing with our trail this year: I've found a place where we can go up the dike for a bit to get some uphill skiing into our routine. I have also made the trail curvy, to get more kilometers out of our route.
We are both terribly out of shape, and whenever we go fast, we have to take a short break to catch our breaths, but that is okay. If we do this everyday, we'll be feeling stronger soon.
If I ever need my dog to stick by my side, all I have to ask is, "Do you want to go skijoring with me?" He will follow me everywhere--downstairs to get my ski boots, upstairs to get my hat and gloves, to the bathroom for one more pit stop before heading outside. When I get his harness off the hook by the door, he always stands in the exact same spot by the door and bows down his head, so I can slip the harness over it. He then lifts his right paw, so I can thread his leg through the harness and repeats this on the left side. When he sees me put on the skijoring belt, he knows departure is imminent, so he begins coming down the stairs. I check the time--9:40am. It is a few degrees below zero and there is a slight wind--the online forecast says ten miles per hour.
But once we step outside, all I notice is the glorious sunshine and fresh snow from last night's clouds. It is lovely! I cannot wait to break a new trail.
 |
| Fresh snow and sunshine--hurray! |
Something new I'm doing with our trail this year: I've found a place where we can go up the dike for a bit to get some uphill skiing into our routine. I have also made the trail curvy, to get more kilometers out of our route.
We are both terribly out of shape, and whenever we go fast, we have to take a short break to catch our breaths, but that is okay. If we do this everyday, we'll be feeling stronger soon.
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| Returning home on our new trail |
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