Succumbing to peer pressure

Last night I went down to the local hangout, Two Rivers Lodge. The neighborhood was celebrating that the ownership of the lodge has again switched over, for the better this time. So everyone was there, drinking beer and eating good food.

Jack asked me, " So Abbie, whats going on?"

"Oh just running dogs, I've done 100 miles in 24 hours between the 2 teams, not to mention I cut some wood today, cleaned my stove pipe."

" No I mean, what's going on?"

Ilooked at him puzzled. Though I knew in the back of my mind, what he was getting after. Jack used to race and he always is asking me what races I am running, am I training the dogs hard, etc. etc. So I could feel the corner of my mouth turning up into a smile.

Jack slaps me on the back, "I mean, what race are you running, did you sign up for the Basin yet?"

Before I could answer Brent asks, "You're running the Copper Basin 300?"

"Well..." I start to explain.

Jason chimes in, " You signed up?"

I was bombarded from all sides. I felt cornered.

"You see, I don't know if I have the money, I don't know which race I want to do yet. I haven't put any double runs on my dogs yet...."

"Sign up for the damn race Abbie," Jack insists, " You know you want to run the Basin."

Jason says, " Its stupid to train the dogs as hard as you have been and not race."

"I know, but....."

Jack slams his fist on the table, " I'll put in $150 towards the entry fee!"

Susan cries ou, "I'll match that!"

Ralph joins in, "I put in $50!"

Then the whole bar starts chanting, "ABBIE!ABBIE! ABBIE! ABBIE!"

What choice did I have? Plus Jack is right, I do want to run the Basin, it is by far my favorite race. I may be crazy, and I have just signed up not only for the Basin but also for being close to broke for the next month. But hey, you only live once. I was so excited I went home and wrote out my very strict training schedule for the next two weeks. Along with the pages of things I need to purchase or get ready. Hmmm.....maybe this is really doable.

The race is on January 13th. It is known as the toughest 300 miles in Alaska. I have run it twice, once in 1999, and again in 2001. Jason has volunteered to be my handler. And Susan will feed the dogs left behind. When I told my Dad, he said he might fly up for it. That would be cool!

They haven't updated my entry on the website yet, they have 18 mushers signed up so far. You can follow the race at their webite. COPPER BASIN 300