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Wednesday 9th November, Sedona, Arizona Rain during the day threatening to stop tomorrow’s show. Not what we had wanted for sure. Cast our minds back to February 2019, Rim to Rim to Rim (Grand Canyon, R3) attempt ended in a massive snow dump. As ever with these plans, they rattle around ones head threatening to pop out at a moments notice. Back in June of this year Brent, Arnie, Natasha and I were enjoying a shared Canmore supper, shooting the breeze. Suddenly accommodation was booked in Sedona, AZ, was booked. In an instance, a timeless flash, enthusiasm and adventure took over and the R3 project was back in full swing. Love it. The timing had worked well, with Natasha and I taking two days off work, being able to take advantage of Remembrance Day school closures and the weekend. Most R3 attempts take place in November, cooler temps, more stable weather, fewer people.... Our journey out was slightly marred with flight delay to Phoenix, resulting in a late arrival. Poor nights sleep (travel rule list top ten includes ‘bring your own pillow’) and a frustrating morning of intense rain whilst trying to buy a simple wrap to eat on R3 day brought on a hunger grump, but a fabulous feast with good friends later on saved the day. The afternoon was spent packing the days fare. Cold clear skies forecast for R3 day, and cool temps. Perfect. The Plan - 2am drive to Grand Canyon, 4am run off down Bright Angel trail. 14.5 hr prediction. In theory, Natasha and Arnie would pick us up. Love plans. Who knows whether they will all dovetail into a perfect day! Thursday 10th November. Bed time was an unheard of 7pm. Getting up time 1am. Met Brent outside his apartment at 1.50am, warming up the taxi - his prized Corvette. Off we went, unbeknown to us in the wrong direction. Some 60 km east, we turn back round to head west toward the Grand Canyon. Some 90 mins late, at 5.30am, we hastily set off down a moonlit Bright Angel trail, at a chilly -10C. Frost and ice adorned the funky steps which make up the trail, mainly from the Phantom Ranch mules. We sidestepped, stepped over, sometimes through the maze of yesterday’s storm, ice crystals twinkling in our headlights. Slowly the sky brightened, and the moon disappeared to be replaced by a weak sun. The rays caught the tops of the majestic sandstone mountain tops of the Grand Canyon, the red rays accentuating the red tops, as we continued our descent. Headlights turned off in an hour, heading forever down through Indian Garden, finally flattening out at River Resthouse at the Colorado River, elevation a mere 700m above sea level, some 15km and 1300m lower than our car. The descent was harder than we imagined, with the freezing water and slippy wood bars. We noticed the trails were incredibly worn from foot traffic and thousands of mule hooves, making the trails sunken and rocky. It was hard running and I welcomed the self made rock plates I had put in my shoes. Head full of junk and chaos? Well, try getting to grips with the geological timescale of the Canyon. Billions of years, something I cannot comprehend. Guaranteed to sort out a messy head :) However, first challenge to progress was breaking a running pole. Jammed in between two rocks, snapped as I carried on running. A hasty repair with tape provided me with two poles again, but to be used with caution. Phew. We trotted through Bright Angel, Phantom Ranch heading north towards our turn round point some 22km and 1750m climb. Just beautiful running, the trails less worn, the canyon very different. We met a number of hikers, but only one lone runner, on his way back to the South Rim on his R3 quest. Cottonwood, Manzanita, Redwall, Supai, Coconino areas trotted through up to North Kaibab trailhead, shrouded in yesterdays winter storm. A snip over 7hrs. Brent did a quick slam on the sign and headed back down. No stopping. It took me a while to catch him up, but buoyed by the fact we were on our return journey the km clicked by. It was a slow trot, but running nontheless. My legs had been pounded by the first massive descent, and had taken me a long while to get them back. I had not felt great, but I was slowly getting into my stride. I was eating well (every 30 mins), staying hydrated and moving. We just missed the legendary lemonade at Phantom Ranch, which mattered not, and we headed out to Black Bridge to cross the mighty Columbia, back up to the South Rim at 62km under our feet. All was good, climbing well. We were treated to a fabulous lighting display from a setting sun, and soon after a UFO-esq rising ball of white light, as the full moon rose above the North Rim. Headlights went on at about 7km to the end, but found the trail up hard. So many steps, too few nice trails. The darkness swallowed us up, our meagre lights just illuminating a narrow pathway in front of us. There was no destination point to aim for. Just a black abyss to head up into. It took us an age to finally see two waving lights high above us, Natasha and Arnie welcoming us home. I had taken the foolish decision to stop eating with 1.5hrs to go, believing our destination point was not far away. However, the final 3km was fueled by thin air alone. I took the wrong path at Cedar Ridge, putting Brent in front and I just lost momentum. Even though the only way was up, I was going down pretty fast. I was a spent force, having gone from being strong to a messy train wreck in the space of 15 mins. My hands were frozen, I was cold, feeling decidedly worse for wear. No amount of willing seemed to end my never ending black tunnel. I finished with a huge sigh of relief, a shivering energy deficient shadow of what I had been some 90 mins previously. 72km, 3500m elevation/descent. Time to stop. We were both bundled up into warm cars, whisked off to the local McDonalds at Tusayan. Just closing, we used the bathrooms, my feet in the sink, Brent with clothes everywhere. Very funny. Natasha and Arnie presented us with souvenir T shirts - the logo was fitting. An old man with a big pack on his back, finishing the Rim to Rim to Rim. Exactly how I felt. The journey back in the car seemed as hard as the final 3km in my mind, as I felt so ill, having to stop a few times. The McD hot chocolate had not agreed with me. Anyhow, shower and bed within 10 mins of getting in, then sleep. What an adventure. A bucket list adventure for sure. So happy to have finally got R3 done. It’s always big running with Brent. Big runner, big personality, big power, big running, big heart. Loved it. All gear worked well. However, as ever, another learning curve. I carried way too much food with me. Should have carried chews, more Hammer gel and definitely should not have switched from Perpetuem to Heed. Turned my stomach upside down. Thank goodness my pole stayed usable and my carried toothbrush was a total hit! Total gratitude to Natasha and Arnie for making our pick up possible. They did not manage to do their planned run, but still got a solid 15k in. Great team, again. Good times. Tim, Nov 12 2022. Coach Tim’s Grand Canyon run, gear feedback: Shoes: never do this, but out of the box Salomon Ultra Glides. Perfect. I had inserted a home made rock plate. This worked extremely well. Pack: Salomon Advanced Skin 12 litre Hydration: 1.5 litre bladder, but not used. X2 500ml Salomon softflasks, Katadyn softflask water filter. Poles: Black Diamond carbon Z collapsable. Top: Icebreaker 150 merino wool, Salomon pro T shirt Shorts: Craft Pro Trail ultra shorts. Look funny, but work great. Gloves: 150 merino wool mitts, Hat: Icebreaker 150 merino wool skull cap Feed: variety of Springer gels, Hammer Montana Berry gel (my fav), Naak Hornby Hammer bars. X1 Ham/cheese roll, x1 avocado chicken wrap. Carried but did not eat nuts/chocolate mix, pretzel/nut mix, countless excess gels and bars. Drink: Hammer Perpetuem at x2 concentration, Nuun sport caffeine wild berry electrolyte. One flask Nuun, one flask Perpetuem Plus the usual windbreaker, long sleeve top, sun glasses, cap, tape, body glide. Head torch: Black Diamond Bum bag: first time in trying, but worked great to put used wrappings in. What worked well: Perpetuem energy drink is a game changer for me. All was good till I thought I’d run out so I changed to Hammer Heed at KM 50. Never again. Unbeknown to me, I had another sachet in my pack. Nuun was great till I tired of the flavour. Switched to water at KM 50. Most food was excellent. I tired of gels etc at KM 50 (there’s a theme here), and found an errant Kirkland nut bar (200 cals) which saw me through, along with the Hammer gel which I can consume most of the time. I enjoyed my roll and half a wrap. All my clothing and gear performed well, as expected. The tape (thanks Brent for pre run suggestion) kept my pole in a working order. I broke one at KM 15. My clockwork every 30min / 100 cals feeding. I calculated on 200 cals/hr. In the end, I consumed closer to 300 cals/hr and burned 7500 cals, a deficit of 50%. What did not work: Switching from Perpetuem to Heed. The berry seed Springer gels are too concentrated for my stomach. My mitts caused my thumbs to get worryingly frozen after dark due to gripping the poles. My foolish decision to stop eating with 8km to go. I bonked well with 3km to go. Not pretty. I packed *way* too much food, had so much left over. Training: elevation gain and loss. Sulphur Mtn was my friend. I tried to add distance trail running into the mix eg Skyline, Rockwall. However, it was hard to train for the GC run as the start is a 12km/1800m descent! My legs took ages to recover. I was extremely pleased with my days efforts as I was very late in the day with my training due to ongoing injury. Another reminder though of the importance of packing. Everything needs to be quickly accessible otherwise it won’t happen. I should have put more clothing on in the final ascent, but instead I got super cold. I found a spare Perpetuem mix in another pocket.
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We are excited to once again bring you our Athlete of the Month blog post... We started this blog series to showcase a local athlete connected to the store and community and ask them questions about their sport and learn from their experiences! This month we have Olympian and Canadian National Team member... who also happens to be the first place female at last month's Strides and Glides event... Katherine Stewart-Jones! Kath is originally from Chelsea, Quebec but has lived in the Bow Valley for many years now training with The Alberta World Cup Academy and Nordiq Canada's Sr national team. Kath is a very talented athlete and we are very fortunate to be able to feature her as our athlete of the month! What are your biggest accomplishments in the sport? My biggest accomplishment in the sport is representing Canada at the Olympics last winter. I am proud of how I handled the bumps in the road to get there, and how much better of an athlete I became by overcoming these obstacles. What are your goals for this upcoming season? My focus for this upcoming season is on the Tour de Ski and World Championships, where my goal is to accomplish some personal best results. What advice would you give to younger athletes? My advice would be to be curious, ask questions, and don't be afraid to take responsibility for your own success. Thank you Katherine and good luck in your upcoming season... feel free to follow along with Kath's racing on her instagram @kstweartjones and make sure to check the World Cup results as she is leaving to compete in Europe this week!! |
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