I meant to start this January 4th, 2010 when we began our more rigorous exercise routine. Since then I have covered about 180 miles and the dogs have done just over half of that. We're shooting for over 1,000 miles of running by the end of May. The other part of the equation is the weight. Fridays and Sundays are our new heavy weight days. On those days we don't run, and start out late in the day to maximize sun exposure while taking advantage of colder winter air. Malamutes are carrying the max 10 pounds that their new packs will hold, Bubba inherited Coco's old pack carrying 18 pounds, Ridik is the most robust with weight also carrying 18 pounds and Tambi has one pound of batteries in her pack. (Oh, and I'm carrying 45 pounds in my own pack.) Initially we will be on flat terrain from concrete to asphalt to dirt to rocks, utilizing the surfaces to build up pad strength.

Here you will be able to see our mileage logs and what our training encompasses to build up four large dogs for pack work at altitude. We are heading out the door in a few minutes here, and I will update the stats when we get back (plus each day).

Day 1: 2.16 miles, 44 minutes. (With weight.) Most of the time was spent smelling things, the time carrying weight is more important than trying to cover distance.

Day 2: 3.77 miles, 41 minutes. Not too shabby when you consider we had to stop five times for poop and a few for marking.

Round Two: 3.56 miles, 51 minutes. This is the Cosmo and Jasmine walk so it's not as demanding on their growing bones.

Day 3: 3.11 miles, 31 minutes. Doggies are feeling a bit tired today. I'll end up only taking Tambi, Ridik and Jasmine for round two.

Round Two: 4.26 miles, 40 minutes. We ran the goose poop route today. To keep them from eating it we have to keep moving briskly. Ridik is the only dog that did both runs today.

Day 4: 3.15 miles, 33 minutes. Today we did sprints. There's a route we take with several grass shoulders and a dirt trail around a pond. On concrete we keep a speed that's their maximum trot. Then at the grass/dirt shoulders we sprint flat out (for me) 15 MPH for 60 seconds followed by walking slowly for 60 seconds. Repeat as many times as possible.

Round Two: 2.56 miles, 31 minutes. Looks like tomorrow will be a one run day for them. I still have to run Jasmine and Cosmo though.

Ridik had a bikejoring session too. That was 2.79 miles, 12 minutes with an average speed of 13 MPH. Also, I hate school zones.

Day 5: Snow day off.

Day 6: 3.83 miles, 40 minutes. The hill I thought was good incline is actually 1.1 miles in length and only 305 feet in gain. It still felt like work.

Round Two: 4.45 miles, the first 3.4 went by in 24 minutes then we got back to Cosmo's and I realized I lost my hat. So we backtracked and added another 1.1 miles at a normal walking pace. They have crashed already.

Day 7: 2.84 miles, 44 minutes. (With weight.)

Day 8: 6.71 miles, 1 hour 32 minutes. (With weight.)

Day 9: 3.45 miles, 40 minutes. Sprints.

Round Two: 3.78 miles, 36 minutes.

Day 10: 3.48 miles, 36 minutes.

Day 11: 4.16 miles, 1 hour 5 minutes. Slow lazy walk today.

Day 12: 3.22 miles, 33 minutes. Sprints. We had a short and heavy snow this morning that made the sidewalks muddy and nasty. After cleaning up blackened dogs I've decided that there will be no second run today. Stupid snow never just snows.

Round Two: 2.87 miles, 30 minutes. Well, we ended up doing round two anyway.

Day 13: 3.81 miles, 38 minutes. I hate goose poop.

Day 14: Ridik and Cosmo did about 2.5 miles bikejoring before I lost a tire to some razor sharp ice. We limped it back home and I ended up taking the rest of the dogs for 1.85 miles, fifteen minutes. So much for days off.

Day 15: 4.89 miles, 1 hour 22 minutes. Today we went back out to Devil's Backbone and tooled around some with full hiking weight. Even managed to get 907 feet of vertical gain out of the day. Swingin'.

Day 16: Snow day off!

I have also nearly figured out the hydration packs. The bladder in Coco's pack was supplemented by two tall one liter bottles on the sides to create a sharper fold over the back. This worked perfectly. Between them I only adjust the packs once after about .75 miles. Check it...




About a half mile from home, Coco found a tennis ball in a gutter and brought it home...

yep not sure how we will keep up with you all this summer!

I would suggest a training routine.

can you suggest one that i can do maybe 2 nights a week and on the weekends? where we live it is hard to get in may miles with out ending up walking along a major road and we have no hills near by. it is hard just to get them out on a 20 min walk everynight much less longer then that. i did get a step counter/ miles thing i can use to track what we do

For the two nights a week I would start working them on weight. I'm guessing it's mostly pavement/concrete so running is out. But you still need to find a way to get their heart rates up, ideally 2-3 times a week. At least 20 minutes at full trot, just before the point they want to run. I suppose a dog park could work, or a treadmill too.

¿How much were they carrying last year?

your funny! I'm no way a runner so runing the dogs is out but i do get them to the dog park at least once a week to play and run. i think in their pack i had jack carrying 2 32 oz bottles and sierra had 2-4 16.9 bottles and i would use hers up first before jacks. not sure how much that weighs, gee im really bad at this but hey we have had them all most a year so im trying i can get their packs on and walk them for sure i have my new step counter and it tells me miles so i will have a better idea as to how far we go now, normaly it is a 20 min walk every night but i can up that on the 2 nights i do not go to the gym.

That's about 5 pounds each. Might be why Jack was able to slip out so easily, not enough weight to anchor down on him. I would start with that for the first week, then double it the second week and shorten the distance to see how they feel. If they look beat, go back to the lighter weight for another week, then start adding another pound of water each time out (16oz = 1lb). If they seem tired but not beat up, work on adding distance with the 10 pounds. Also, I would wait until March to go over ten pounds with Jack. Just seems like the OFA hip certification point of two years old has a reason. No dog I have will be subjected to anything strenuous until age two. Messed that up with Sioux because I didn't know of such things back then.

ok we will start there and hope to have a chance keeping up with you this summer. i need to up my cardio anyway, and i am finding the stair climber sure as hell reminds me of some of the rocks we were climbing so i am gonna keep that one up.

Heh, this is all just the dog stuff. I have my own hour long routine as well six days a week. I came up with an idea and it has been working very well; doing lunges up and down the stairs with 40 pounds. That one is a kicker. Still a little scared to try 50 pounds yet.

ok I used my steeper and it said our longest walk was 1.7ish miles with no weight and just under 30 min at a fast walk. if I want to make it longer I will have to start zig zaging around the streets as this was our perimeter of the neighborhood walk. what do you use to track the miles and elevation gain, I want to get one of those cool toys, would be also cool if it tracked seep as I would love to know how fast I go when snowboarding!

Heh, I'm not sure what I would do living in the metro area. We travel all over this town, never the same route twice in a week.

Just using my phone. The gps tracks are recorded and everything is calculated automatically. Including all of the speed, time, distance and elevation stuff.

dang i need a better phone then! ya we have a small neighborhood, other options start including walking along major roads or unlite areas. im gonna google my area and see what i can do.

Okay... Keeping track of all this has gotten tedious. The original post now has 16 days that show our typical conditioning routine. After another week we will be adding a mile or so to each run. Then we will maintain that throughout March, and in April we will start seeking out elevation.