Almost a year after an accident took Iditarod veteran Karin Hendrickson off the trail, the Willow musher is ready to get back on the runners.
Hendrickson signed up Thursday to race in the 2016 Iditarod. She withdrew from the 2015 race after being hit by a car while training along the Parks Highway in late November last year.
Hendrickson said in a phone interview Thursday she doesn't want to consider what it would be like to sit out for another year.
"I'm not sure if I can do it, but I'm going to give it everything I've got," she said.
The four-time finisher of the 1,000-mile race said she's getting better every day, training with her team on short runs of up to five miles at a time. Every month she notices improvement, but she admits it's slow going.
"I can be up and on my feet for a couple of hours before I'm too tired and too sore," she said. "I've got to basically improve until I can be up on my feet and going for, like, 10 days."
Hendrickson said she has at least been able to ditch the torso brace she wore for four and a half months. Known for her spunky, upbeat attitude along the trail, Hendrickson is working to turn the bodice-like cast into a Halloween costume.
"It's going be Xena (Warrior Princess)," she said. "I mean, what else could it be?"