3-day adventure race: 335 miles and 2hrs of sleep

[Chris] I'm currently having an academic writing block, so I thought I'd write about the 3-day adventure race my team did in the summer of 2010 in and around Black River Falls, WI. It may not be surprising, but it is kind of difficult to keep track of the details in chronological order--I guess 3 days without sleep will do that to you--so I'll do my best to recount the miles and the hallucinations. 

Me, Will, Paula, Pete

This would be my first multi-day race; up to this point I had only done races between 8 and 30 hours long. My teammates Paula and Will had both competed in multi-day races before but this would also be the first multi-day for Pete. The four of us had all raced together before and we seem to get along fairly well, which is obviously important during long races.

Our experience with grief and loss

[Chris] This is something I wrote a little while ago but still summarizes many of our emotions and experiences. If you don’t know the general background of Emily’s health and family history, probably read this first: Em’s Health Background.

A few years ago we learned that all the cancer in Emily’s family was due to a rare genetic disorder, Li Fraumeni Syndrome, which predisposes a person to any type of soft tissue and some other cancers. We decided Emily should be tested for the disorder so we knew what screening, if any, she should begin as a result. The test came back positive and so began our ongoing experience with grief and loss.

BWCA: snowshoes, otters, and falling through the ice

This is a summary of a snowshoe trip to the BWCA with my good friend, Jake, in March of 2009. We also went more recently in December of 2010, but I thought I should write about these in chronological order, even if the rest of the blog is more haphazard.

[Chris] Emily is fantastic, but she apparently has no interest in winter backpacking (yet). Jake and I talked in the fall about a winter backpacking trip but our free time did not align until March. I always like trips with Jake. He can take care of himself, never complains about a little pain, and is always willing to push the pace if we need. I don’t know if these things are because he’s a Marine or if he decided to join the Marines because of these things; it works for me either way. Emily is baffled that Jake and I are perfectly content talking or not saying a word for hours.

We drove up to Snowbank Lake and headed straight across the lake, avoiding the winter-use trails. Within an hour we were breaking trail and we wouldn’t even see a sign of people for the next few days. The first night was the coldest of our trip and we slept in a snow cave dug out of a 6-foot snow bank. We saw some beautiful sights, snow-covered waterfalls, moose tracks, otter tracks, and quite a few otters. As I’m writing about the otter tracks—foot prints from bounding through the snow and then sliding on their bellies—the Lupe Fiasco song keeps playing in my head… kick, push, kick, push, coooasssssst. We saw otters playing in the open water by inlet streams where the water stays open all winter and one curious otter poked his head up through the snow beside the trail about 20 feet away from us before retreating to his subnivean playground.

Update on Em's health

A brief health update...

[Emily] What a crazy year this has been! If you don't know what has been going on, read this. I am thankful that things are finally starting to settle down a bit. I would still say that I am in recovery mode from my surgery in August. I had re-constructive surgery in February and I am relatively happy with the results. Pain in still in issue, but I am getting stronger every day. My doctors feel confident that they removed all of the breast cancer but will continue to watch me closely. I will continue to have a myriad of doctor’s appointments and scans watching for any other kind of cancer as well. If I may be honest, this has truly sucked, but I am so grateful to have the awesome support system of my husband, my family, and my dear friends. I will write a more detailed narrative of my journey in the near future. If you or anyone you know has had cancer, then you know that it is a challenge mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and obviously physically.

Please pray for my mom who is continuing to battle it out with pancreatic cancer. Thanks!

The time we were rescued

A short account of a small adventure in Phoenix shortly after our wedding...

[Chris] Before going to the Grand Canyon we went hiking as often as possible to get our bodies ready. (If you read our account of our Grand Canyon trip you know that, apparently, Emily's body didn't get the memo.) One of these hikes was a last minute, late night hike up one of the foothills in Phoenix near the Loop-101. There was no trail and it was just us and our flashlights.

There is something about being out late at night that is soothing. Nobody else was around, the lights of the city illuminated the sky to the south, and a cool breeze rolled away the warmth of the day. As we scrambled over rocks we talked about the upcoming trip and our respective days' events. Occasionally we stopped and enjoyed the view of the neighborhoods, mountains, and city lights.

After not long we reached the top, walked around to see the views in each direction, and sat enjoying each other's company. We started back down and noticed the lights of a firetruck off in the distance.

"Hey Em, wouldn't that be funny if they were coming for us?" (Technically, I don't think we were supposed to be out there.)

"Ha!" Long pause... "Chris, they did turn this way."

[Nervous laughter] "Oh, crap."

Backpacking in the Grand Canyon

This was our first backpacking adventure together, Emily's first trip ever and Chris's second. We had got married a few months earlier on New Year's Eve and were living in Phoenix. We both agree that to really see the canyon, one has to see the canyon from the bottom. The following account is based on our journal entry for the trip...

Spring break 2006

[Chris] Like typical college-aged spring breakers, we decided to travel to the chilly AZ north and do a strenuous trip into the Grand Canyon. The weather for our trip was not typical. The night before we started backpacking we drove up from Phoenix and hit a snowstorm by the time we got to Williams. I being a good Minnesotan and us always looking for increased levels of adventure, were excited by the snow. The significance of the storm set in a bit more when we passed the snowplow in the ditch. There is just something particularly amusing about a big, orange truck meant to tame the snow sitting sideways in the ditch with tiny emergency lights blinking shamefully. So we smiled, popped the Jeep into 4-wheel, and continued our drive as the bumper threw powdery snow into the air on both sides of the Jeep.