
RUNNING THE GRAND CANYON
As most of you know I intend to run the
R2R (Grand Canyon North Rim to South Rim) in October. The goal is simple
however the preparation and planning is a little more complicated. The number one way to train for something like this is to run on equivalent terrain or what is known as specifity training. The obvious flaw in this
particular statement is that there is only one Grand Canyon and finding an
equivalent training ground is virtually impossible. Therefore as I live in
Europe I had only one option which was go to the Big GC and do a practice run there ... and that is exactly what I did. Sue and I spent a few days in Monument Valley in Utah, another fabulous, mystical place, before going on to the Grand Canyon
in Colorado. For those who have never been it is impossible to describe, it is
quite simply 'Awesome' and I mean that in the truest sense of the word.
I decided that I would run down to Indian Gardens and back. This is about 2/3rds
down from the South Rim and a steep gradient of 3500 feet. There and back
its about 17k. The trail guides say this should take between 6-9 hours ... but I
was going to run it of course. I thought this would be a good initial test to
see what is involved, the R2R is 2.5 times longer and about twice the
elevation.
I didn't sleep well the night before probably due to jet lag and nervous anticipation. There are so
many warnings about entering the Canyon and even a book called 'Death in
the Canyon' (which to date has recorded over 700 deaths) and so by the
time I was ready to go I was absolutely terrified!
I had breakfast at 5:30 am at the Lodge (this is America folks) and just before sunrise I
set off into the unknown. It was very cold with ice and snow on the trail making
it a little tricky. I really didn't know what to expect because it is so unique so I just
ran it my normal way. I did prepare as if it was an ultra and took 2.5 litres of
water, gels and all the usual stuff that I would take on the R2R itself. As I
always say to my clients you should train for an event exactly as you would do
it on the day.
Its very, very steep but the trail was wide enough not too panic too much about going over the edge so I
went quite fast ... and of course within 15 minutes my face was in the
dirt. I hit a rock, fell and cracked my knee open, not a good start. It was
very bloody but otherwise okay and for the rest of the day hikers would comment
on it and ask if I was alright. I would of course shrug and act as if it was
just a scratch. I didn't slow down after this I just focused more. About half
way down I began to get a little concerned about how tough it would be coming
back up but pressed on marvelling at all
the beauty around me. It is breath-taking as you descend through millions of years of erosion resulting
in giant, vividly coloured rock faces. It makes you feel very
small and insignificant, 'We are stardust', I thought to myself.
I zipped along the switchbacks and as I
passed 3 female hikers, one shouted out; 'You sure know how to
intimidate a girl!' I laughed and continued down whilst trying not to get
too over-confident (which apparently I am prone to do). I could now see
Indian Gardens way in the distance on the valley floor below and
though it looked really close, it wasn't. This is also something that
happens in the canyon, its very deceptive. As my quads ached a little at this
point, understandable as they weren't used to this sort of treatment and
constant pounding, I eased back. I drank and ate as I would do for any long
event, as I hadn't carb loaded (because carb loading is bullshit), trust me. I
passed a few hikers coming back up and soon I could here voices, which was weird
as I thought I was in the middle of nowhere but I actually I had
arrived at Indian Gardens which is an extremely basic campground with about
20 trees for shade and more importantly a water tap. There were a few tents
and people were slowly waking up and chatting about there adventures,
it was quite surreal and very rock and roll. At this point I stripped of my
woolly hat and two layers of clothing, filled up my bottles and got ready
for the big climb back to the top, it looked somewhat daunting; 3500 feet
straight up! I'd gone from freezing to quite warm, even though it was only
February but they do warn you about this. It was only a few more k's to the
river and though tempted I kept my discipline as I had never climbed out of the
Grand Canyon before and figured I should respect its magnitude.
I took off really quick though as the first few yards are easier and flatter;
consequently I nearly ran straight into a wild deer - scared the hell
out of me.
I used my poles to power hike and then ran when
I could. Within half an hour I passed the hikers I'd seen earlier who were
going back up. This filled me with confidence as one shouted 'Tell me you
haven't just gone to the Gardens and back?' ... 'Yep', I replied
with feigned nonchalance. I have to say I felt very strong and really kept up a
good pace which surprised me as I have had quite a few injuries of late and
was worried about a relapse. After about half an hour I encountered a mule train
coming down and so I stood to one side to let it pass (Canyon etiquette). The
lead rider shouted 'Howdy, have a great day'. Brilliant, I was loving this
and tough as it was I just kept powering onwards and upwards, it is
relentless but you just stay focused and keep going. I just felt very
grateful the whole time, it is a stunning place. Within about 500 feet from the
top I started to tire a little and my thoughts floated off to how I might feel
in October after maybe 7 or 8 hours of this. As I reached the trail head on the
South rim the sun suddenly hit me as fortunately I had been in shade nearly
whole way up, I felt fantastic. The guides say 6-9 hours, I had done
it in 3.5 hours including my change around at the bottom. I looked
back across the canyon to the North Rim ... roll on October.
Technical facts
Distance - 17 k, Elevation
- 3500 feet, Water consumption only 1.5 litres including electrolytes, 2
gels, 1 shot blocks, 3 S-caps(not really necessary), 1 cliff bar. My gear was 2
running vests plus a cold weather running top, woolly hat, neckerchief, gloves,
camel back, side bottle, telescopic poles, rolled up rain top, compression
socks, Cascadia 8's shoes, phone (didn't work- no signal), torch,
whistle.
Final thoughts
I could easily have run a lot further though I doubt
faster, my quads and hamstrings ached a bit but the big surprise was that I
ached in my hip flexors which I don't normally get; guess I have to stretch even
more than I do already. The weather, though cold, was perfect. I realise that
the compounding effects of going Rim to Rim will require me to be in superb
shape and I will need to run a lot more severe gradients in training. The
biggest danger I can see is that if you twist or break something you are in
deep trouble. My friend Gemma asked me if I'd figured out an exit strategy if
something goes wrong ... apart from a $10,000 helicopter rescue I don't actually
have an answer. This is what makes it so dangerous, there is very little room
for error if you want to run it in one go. It was an invaluable experience and I
learned a lot, preparation is everything and come October I will be ready.
Posted by
phil
at
12:54 PM
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As most of you know I intend to run the
R2R (Grand Canyon North Rim to South Rim) in October. The goal is simple
however the preparation and planning is a little more complicated. The number one way to train for something like this is to run on equivalent terrain or what is known as specifity training. The obvious flaw in this
particular statement is that there is only one Grand Canyon and finding an
equivalent training ground is virtually impossible. Therefore as I live in
Europe I had only one option which was go to the Big GC and do a practice run there ... and that is exactly what I did. Sue and I spent a few days in Monument Valley in Utah, another fabulous, mystical place, before going on to the Grand Canyon
in Colorado. For those who have never been it is impossible to describe, it is
quite simply 'Awesome' and I mean that in the truest sense of the word.
I decided that I would run down to Indian Gardens and back. This is about 2/3rds
down from the South Rim and a steep gradient of 3500 feet. There and back
its about 17k. The trail guides say this should take between 6-9 hours ... but I
was going to run it of course. I thought this would be a good initial test to
see what is involved, the R2R is 2.5 times longer and about twice the
elevation.
I didn't sleep well the night before probably due to jet lag and nervous anticipation. There are so
many warnings about entering the Canyon and even a book called 'Death in
the Canyon' (which to date has recorded over 700 deaths) and so by the
time I was ready to go I was absolutely terrified!
I had breakfast at 5:30 am at the Lodge (this is America folks) and just before sunrise I
set off into the unknown. It was very cold with ice and snow on the trail making
it a little tricky. I really didn't know what to expect because it is so unique so I just
ran it my normal way. I did prepare as if it was an ultra and took 2.5 litres of
water, gels and all the usual stuff that I would take on the R2R itself. As I
always say to my clients you should train for an event exactly as you would do
it on the day.
Its very, very steep but the trail was wide enough not too panic too much about going over the edge so I
went quite fast ... and of course within 15 minutes my face was in the
dirt. I hit a rock, fell and cracked my knee open, not a good start. It was
very bloody but otherwise okay and for the rest of the day hikers would comment
on it and ask if I was alright. I would of course shrug and act as if it was
just a scratch. I didn't slow down after this I just focused more. About half
way down I began to get a little concerned about how tough it would be coming
back up but pressed on marvelling at all
the beauty around me. It is breath-taking as you descend through millions of years of erosion resulting
in giant, vividly coloured rock faces. It makes you feel very
small and insignificant, 'We are stardust', I thought to myself.
I zipped along the switchbacks and as I
passed 3 female hikers, one shouted out; 'You sure know how to
intimidate a girl!' I laughed and continued down whilst trying not to get
too over-confident (which apparently I am prone to do). I could now see
Indian Gardens way in the distance on the valley floor below and
though it looked really close, it wasn't. This is also something that
happens in the canyon, its very deceptive. As my quads ached a little at this
point, understandable as they weren't used to this sort of treatment and
constant pounding, I eased back. I drank and ate as I would do for any long
event, as I hadn't carb loaded (because carb loading is bullshit), trust me. I
passed a few hikers coming back up and soon I could here voices, which was weird
as I thought I was in the middle of nowhere but I actually I had
arrived at Indian Gardens which is an extremely basic campground with about
20 trees for shade and more importantly a water tap. There were a few tents
and people were slowly waking up and chatting about there adventures,
it was quite surreal and very rock and roll. At this point I stripped of my
woolly hat and two layers of clothing, filled up my bottles and got ready
for the big climb back to the top, it looked somewhat daunting; 3500 feet
straight up! I'd gone from freezing to quite warm, even though it was only
February but they do warn you about this. It was only a few more k's to the
river and though tempted I kept my discipline as I had never climbed out of the
Grand Canyon before and figured I should respect its magnitude.
I took off really quick though as the first few yards are easier and flatter;
consequently I nearly ran straight into a wild deer - scared the hell
out of me.
I used my poles to power hike and then ran when
I could. Within half an hour I passed the hikers I'd seen earlier who were
going back up. This filled me with confidence as one shouted 'Tell me you
haven't just gone to the Gardens and back?' ... 'Yep', I replied
with feigned nonchalance. I have to say I felt very strong and really kept up a
good pace which surprised me as I have had quite a few injuries of late and
was worried about a relapse. After about half an hour I encountered a mule train
coming down and so I stood to one side to let it pass (Canyon etiquette). The
lead rider shouted 'Howdy, have a great day'. Brilliant, I was loving this
and tough as it was I just kept powering onwards and upwards, it is
relentless but you just stay focused and keep going. I just felt very
grateful the whole time, it is a stunning place. Within about 500 feet from the
top I started to tire a little and my thoughts floated off to how I might feel
in October after maybe 7 or 8 hours of this. As I reached the trail head on the
South rim the sun suddenly hit me as fortunately I had been in shade nearly
whole way up, I felt fantastic. The guides say 6-9 hours, I had done
it in 3.5 hours including my change around at the bottom. I looked
back across the canyon to the North Rim ... roll on October.
Technical facts
Distance - 17 k, Elevation
- 3500 feet, Water consumption only 1.5 litres including electrolytes, 2
gels, 1 shot blocks, 3 S-caps(not really necessary), 1 cliff bar. My gear was 2
running vests plus a cold weather running top, woolly hat, neckerchief, gloves,
camel back, side bottle, telescopic poles, rolled up rain top, compression
socks, Cascadia 8's shoes, phone (didn't work- no signal), torch,
whistle.
Final thoughts
I could easily have run a lot further though I doubt
faster, my quads and hamstrings ached a bit but the big surprise was that I
ached in my hip flexors which I don't normally get; guess I have to stretch even
more than I do already. The weather, though cold, was perfect. I realise that
the compounding effects of going Rim to Rim will require me to be in superb
shape and I will need to run a lot more severe gradients in training. The
biggest danger I can see is that if you twist or break something you are in
deep trouble. My friend Gemma asked me if I'd figured out an exit strategy if
something goes wrong ... apart from a $10,000 helicopter rescue I don't actually
have an answer. This is what makes it so dangerous, there is very little room
for error if you want to run it in one go. It was an invaluable experience and I
learned a lot, preparation is everything and come October I will be ready.
Posted by
phil
at
12:54 PM
ThisBlogThis!Share
to TwitterShare
to FacebookShare
to Pinterest