Another EPIC adventure is now in the books and it time to
reflect upon the experience to glean lessons learned for future events. Rim2Rim2Rim was absolutely incredible made
more amazing by sharing the fun (really a lot of misery) with close
friends. Yes…another bucket list event
is now lined through.
For the record, I did not talk anyone into doing this. That responsibility rests solely upon Josh’s
shoulders. I reminded him of that
several times during the day (and night) and made sure the rest of the crew
also didn’t forget it.
R2R2R for me started almost a year ago with some casual
conversation after the JFK 50.
I am
always looking for the next big adventure and steadily climbing my way up the
ultra distance ladder.
For over 4 years
the concentration has been on triathlon and more specifically upon
Ironman.
I became a bit burnt out with
it all and started to look for something just a little bit different.
I needed something more. For several years I
have been struggling with injuries and overall fitness.
I hooked up with Mark Turner from
Team MPI
and Brooks Pritchett Ford with
Legit Nutrition, LLC to try and figure
everything out.
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| Carried Load-7 Lbs minus water |
Trail running is my absolute favorite thing to do and has
been for many years. I find nothing
better than being on a trail during a brisk morning run completely present to
the world immediately in front of me. Coming down a steep decline having to
concentrate on where to put your feet takes your mind away from how hard the
run is or how bad you are feeling. In
essence, you are completely focused on right here and now. If your mind is anywhere else you are apt to
bust your face. (from personal
experience)
R2R2R is a self-supported event that takes place in the
Grand Canyon. The typical route is South
Kaibab to Bright Angel to North Kaibab and back. We chose the Bright Angel to North Kaibab
option because it was not as steep but the trade off was that it was longer…48
miles total. The goal for the 5 of us
was to complete the event in about 16 hours.
I really thought we could do it in 14.
I am going to back up just a touch to talk quickly about my
nutrition and gear set up. In working
with my two coaches we talked about a nutrition plan that balanced whole food,
gels, and liquids. I really wanted to go
100% whole food based but the weight to calorie ratio was just to big, so the
decision was made to split things up a bit.
The plan was to graze on pretzels and macadamia nuts and top off with a gel
every hour. I carried Tailwind for when
my stomach stopped wanting to digest whole food and also had a couple quick
Clif Bars if I needed something heavier.
Total
carried calories was 6076/379.76 per hour.
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| Getting things together in the hallway |
For clothes I wore Solomon shorts for the pockets at the waist band that proved invaluable for storing trash while on the go. I wore a Patagonia Capilene ultra light short
sleeve top and a Capilene long sleeve shirt for when it was cooler. Team RWB running hat, Patagonia lightweight
shell, Yeti Trail Runners Buff, and Hoka Mafate shoes rounded out the rest of
my attire. I also picked up an Ultimate
Direction PB 2.0 with two body bottles.
I really like this bag but really wish I could just make my own. There
was a ton of storage; it was that the pockets were awkward for what I wanted to
use them for.
There was no convenient
way to store my iPhone 6 for quick retrieval to take pictures and my Rudy
sunglasses barely fit in the upfront shoulder pouches. I did like the separation of compartments in
the body of the bag. I used
MountainLaurel Designs cubes to store my electronic charging equipment and first aid
kit. Speaking of first aid kit, I highly
recommend you make it as robust as you think you need it to be. I had to do some maintenance on my feet and
was really glad I brought what I did.
We (Beth, Caitlin, Josh, Greg, and I) converged upon Las Vegas
on 4 October and planned to leave for the Grand Canyon National Park the next
day around lunchtime. The forecasted
temperature was dropping so we decided to make a quick stop at REI for a couple
odd and ends before heading out. We
arrived at the park just as the sun was setting for a quick recon trip of the
trailhead and a general look around to check out the lay of the land. Josh took charge of the hotel accommodations
and all 6 (Caitlin’s husband Kevin was with us too) of us were jammed into a
regular size hotel room with an added bunk bed. This was interesting as two of our group
would have to share a queen bed (not I).
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| Start Time-0345 |
The rest of the evening was filled with nervous energy as
everyone tore through his or her bags to check for gear and to make sure all
was packed and ready to go. The plan was
to be on the trail and moving down by 0400.
This required a 0230 wake up to get some coffee in us, eat a small
amount of food and hope for nature to get things quickly moving (poop).
0230 came quickly and we were up and moving. Reported temperature was 31 degrees and we
all had on base layers with our running shells.
Sunrise was not until 0630 so we also put on our headlamps for the
descent. Kevin drove us to the trailhead;
we paused for a quick picture and at 0345 headed down. We used a ton of caution going down due to it
being dark and the cliffs several feet from the trail. Unsure of how fast we could go the decision
was to error on the side of safety. We
all started to shed layers at the 3 mile rest house and it felt like we got
there really quick. Once the sun started to come up the pace quickened and the
5 of us spread out a bit.
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| Comin' Round the Mountain |
As stated earlier, my plan was to graze on food to keep a steady
trickle of calories coming in and supplement with diluted Tailwind. I cannot take Tailwind at the recommended
strength because it makes me feel like I cannot drink enough water. I stopped at every water stop to top off my
bottles. All water stops were reported
as being on thus I just ran with the two bottles on the front of my pack. I brought a 70 oz. bladder just in case but
never filled it.
The group broke off into two and then into 3 separate groups. Caitlin and Beth kept their steady pace while
Josh, Greg and I pushed it up a bit more to try and get back on the timetable
we built for ourselves. Greg eventually
pushed even further forward and finished ahead of us. Crossing the Colorado River and heading into
Phantom Ranch was our first major milestone.
The morning sun was now up and you could really appreciate the beauty
around us. My nutrition plan was right
on target and we were pushing a steady pace.
All was well until Cottonwood Campground and my wheels started to get
wobbly. I had great coaching leading
into this event but I spent a ton of time dealing with existing injuries and
wasn’t as fit as I needed to be. I
pulled out the trekking poles and the pace really slowed down. This is where our timing really got off
kilter.
The slow ascent up to the North Rim was probably the hardest
thing I have ever done. At the Supai
Tunnel I was not feeling well and really did not start to feel okay until about
3 miles from the top. Beth and Caitlin
were completely out of sight behind us and Greg was at least 1.5 hours ahead of
us. This is also when Josh started to
feel poorly as well. I switched my food
to strictly gel and Tailwind and this made a big difference, as I was able to
push hard to get to the North Rim. We
were now well over 1.5-2 hours behind schedule.
The North Rim was a bit of a buzz kill as it was just a parking
lot. I spent about 10 minutes working on
my feet. I had a blister the size of a
grape on my left big toe and decided to pop it.
Applied Neosporin, liquid bandage and wrapped it in fabric Band-Aids. I left the blisters on my right foot alone to
keep from having too many problems all at once.
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| Trail |
Once we started heading down Josh and I felt incredible!
No longer pukey and actually able to run.
We ran into Beth and Caitlin and they passed
on that they were going to stay at the North Rim and not attempt to head
back.
Truth be told it was the best
decision and Josh and I should have probably done the same thing.
Jason Green from
Yeti Trail Runners advised
us to turn back at 1200 no matter where you were on the course.
We obviously didn’t listen and were punished
for it.
We used a run/walk strategy to Cottonwood but by the time we got
there the wheels were really wobbly again.
The decision was made to walk the rest because the return upon
investment by running was putting us further into the hole. Our next milestone was to try and get to
Phantom Ranch before having to put on headlamps.
Kevin the Superhero hiked down to Phantom Ranch and was to meet
us with Cokes and chocolate covered coffee beans. We were way behind of schedule and were not
sure he was still there. Along our bath
we came upon a couple rocks along the trail and there was some trail magic
there. Two cokes were set up on the
trail between “asshole rocks” and there was only one person that could have put
them there. Kevin was voted President of
Phantom Ranch at that moment. Josh and I
collected up the Cokes and pushed on. We
had to put on lamps prior to reaching our goal.
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| Supai Tunnel |
Side note*** asshole rocks were rocks they put perpendicular
across the trail to control erosion. The
issue was that they were about 10 inches high and required lifting tired legs
over them. Yes…there were a lot of
asshole rocks on this trip.
We got into Phantom ranch and Josh went looking for Kevin. Beth told us to make sure he got out of the
canyon with us. We were both a bit
irritable at that moment. No Kevin. We pushed on hoping he had already left. Of
course, we made a wrong turn in the dark and had to backtrack. It felt like forever to get to the Colorado
River and start the long ascent up Bright Angel. Josh and I were both completely wrecked but
still pushing forward. We were really
out of options. At every rest stop we
would take inventory on where we were, how far we had to go, and whether we
were safe to keep moving. One of the
required items we all had to carry was an emergency blanket just in case we had
to stop and shelter on the trail. On one
stretch of the trail a headlight start moving towards Kevin and us called out,
“Well, could it be?” We both could have
kissed him!!!! He had more Coke in his
bag and both of us were a little queasy.
I was sticking with Gels and Tailwind but then started to eat 5
chocolate covered coffee beans every hour.
This made a HUGE difference!!! Kevin
kept the next several hours lively with good conversation that took our minds
off of how tired we were.
The three of us continued our climb and broke the trip up
mentally into blocks. At 4.7 miles out
Kevin started to not feel good and this is where the trail gets a little bit
treacherous with the cliffs on the sides.
We put Kevin between us (after he dry heaved) and pushed on. At Indian Garden we made our last gut check
and decided to just get it done. When we
were at the last rest stop we had an Air Force PT test (1.5 miles) left and
made a hard push to the top. Of course,
a hard push was walk for 20 minutes and sit down for 5. Cresting the top of the South Rim and seeing
Greg there with a warm minivan was an incredible experience. I truly felt like I had accomplished something
really big. There is no quit in these
bones.
There were a ton of lessons learned from this event: 1) Trekking
Poles rock! 2) Nutrition is a big
factor. I need to further work on this
3) Practice more by doing long events 4) Squats, Lunges, and Planks…do them 5)
Need to work on blister care and 6) Need to rework how I organized my
gear. I felt like I could never find
what I was looking for.
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| Left Over Nutrition |
The magic question is would I do this again. Of course….but differently. I talked to a lot of people on the trails
that were doing a similar trip or just a rim to rim over the course of several
days. I would love to do that. I am
thankful my beautiful wife allows me to do these crazy adventures. This is one I would like to share with her,
just at a slower pace.
***Second side note.
Yes,
Beth and Caitlin stayed the night on the North Rim on couches.
They were able to catch a ride (5 hours) back
to us the next morning by a fellow
Team RWB Eagle.
Never underestimate the power of good
people.
Statistics: I thought it
would take 14 hours and we packed food for 16.
Total distance was 48 miles.
Moving time was 20 hours 2 minutes.
Avg Pace 29:34. Total time 22
hours 15 min. Stopped time 2 hours 13
min. Moving Speed 2.3 Mph. 10370 feet Ascent and 10392 feet
Descent. Data via
Gaia GPS
I almost didn’t make the race due to being broke with an
airplane in Alaska. Josh was flying in…I
was going to be home two days prior…everything was on plan….what could possibly
go wrong???? Well…the secondary locking
mechanism for the crew door is what went wrong.
Can’t lock the door equals not being able to fly. After a very nervous 3 days of freezing in
the Great White north we were fixed and headed home. 
Josh arrived before me and drank the beer and ate the food
before my 0500 show back at the house (see above picture for proof). We met up and on Saturday headed to DC for
the day and over to a friend’s house for the evening. Had a great time at the Team RWB pasta dinner
with 350 fellow Eagles and a fantastic guest speaker. We don’t need to rest,
the race is half the distance of the last one.
Geez…come on now! Went to bed at
2300 and was up at 0245 Sunday morning.
Who needs breakfast? This is a
training run. Who needs to be
hydrated? Man, we just ran the Grand
Canyon.
At about mile 3 is when all my bad living caught up to me
and I said to myself, “self, you really underestimated this race, made some
really dumb rookie moves, and overestimated your ability to do this well.” My biggest rookie move was not carrying any
nutrition and not carrying any pain reliever.
DUMB! By mile 5 my lower back was
tied in knots. By the grace of all that
is holy in this world a lady had a box of hammer gels and was passing them
out. I am sure she was surprised when I
took a handful. I needed the
sugar!!!! Up until that point I was
fueling with snicker bars (it was Halloween weekend). Did I
say DUMB?
