Andrew Schrauben

Last weekend Amanda and I volunteered at an adventure race at Ionia State Rec Area. The race is called the GRAAR Spring Adventure Challenge, a 6-hour race geared towards beginners. GRAAR is the Grand Rapids Area Adventure Racing group, the local AR club that I occasionally train with. One of the club's founders, Mike, was a one-man race director, doing nearly all of the organization and planning by himself. Pretty impressive, and the race went smoothly! My job was to help out at the canoe put-in with another GRAAR member plus two of Mike's sisters. We helped unload the 40 aluminum canoes, lined them up by the launch area on the river, and instructed all racers to "park your bikes in the woods, grab paddles and life jackets, and don't forget to punch your passport". During the canoe unloading while holding a canoe over my head, the guy on the other end twisted it the opposite way I was expecting, resulting in me falling to the ground with the canoe landing on top of me! I was OK, just a bruised knee as it turned out. We had great weather for the race - in the 50s - and of course there was pizza at the post-race awards ceremony! If anyone wants to try adventure racing, this is the event to get your feet wet (both figuratively and literally!)

This weekend we adopted out our foster dog. We've been going thru foster dogs like runny nose goes thru kleenexes - you can read all about them on Amanda's site. Down to just two dogs, I decided to let them have some fun and come running with me. This week's training plan was a 20+ miler and neither dog has gone over 14 miles before. I didn't feel like pounding my joints on pavement for such a long distance, so I figured out a good trail run. My usual route on the NCT near home is an out-and-back that covers 11.6 miles, which I've done with the dogs before. This time I did it with both dogs - I ran out and back with Beacon, and upon returning home I switched dogs and went out and back again, this time with Haven. Boy did they get tired, but I think I was the worst for wear! 23.2 miles, just 3 short of a marathon, and entirely on hilly, muddy trails. Once finished, I quickly showered and then took a nap on the floor for half an hour! Then Amanda and I went out to Pizza Hut since we earned it. Oh yeah, during my run Amanda went out and ran, too - she ran one mile, walked a half mile, ran another mile, and walked a final half mile for a total workout of 3 miles. It was the first time she's ever run two miles in one day in her entire life!