But then Covid-19, races canceled, epic challenges that included Everesting, and one of my business partners mentioned R2R2R, and my gut reaction was NO!!! But almost immediately, I knew I was in. The FOMO would have been too much. Recovering from my broken toe, I knew the prep would be tight.
My approach to R3R3R was to enjoy it, no goal for a PR and embrace what it brings! Be thankful I can do this, appreciate the amazing people that are with me and make the most of whatever the day brings.
Goal accomplished!
We had a group of 9, with 7 of them looking to dig deep and see what they could do. I wanted that to be me, but it was just not in the cards right now, that my friends is maturity or wimping out. Alex and I had a plan to listen to your bodies, be safe, embrace what the day brought! We were thrilled to go someplace!
The planning was necessary and reminded me of what else I miss; packing, weighing nutrition and counting calories, etc
I packed 4500 calories- planning for an extra-long day; turns out it was a long day
- 4x PBJ Sandwiches 1200
- 2 Packages Organic Poptarts 800
- 2x Salted Watermelon Shot blocks 400
- 1 packet Yum Butter 1080
- Black Licorice 400
- Cliff Bar 250
- 4 GU's 400
- Camo running shorts
- compression socks (3/4 length)
- Do Epic Shit tank
- NYX Buff
- Baseball hat
Down we went, nearly 7 miles in the dark on a sketch trail, and at least 500 people or maybe 50 people passed us. We decided we were likely the slowest people in the Canyon that day. The sunrise at Phantom Ranch was as stunning as I remember. No pictures can portray stunning beauty! I am not a nature kind of girl, you will not catch me a lookout point, or admiring the view, but the Grand Canyon, this is stunning!
Temps were warming up, and we filled up our water, started on the calories, and started the next 7 miles toward Cottonwood. This is the "most" runnable part of the Canyon, and we ran where we could, and power hiked where we couldn't. It was clear to me that my legs were not fresh; this was not going to be an epic day of "crushing it" A month of BINGO, along with a long ride the weekend prior, did not help freshen my legs.
The key was Alex and I was on the same page; we were looking to enjoy the day and stay together. There was a lot of, "should we run now?" Ok, let's go, "are you okay if we power hike this"" We were well matched for the adventure. We suffered for sure, but not in that deep dark place I go when racing.
After Cottonwood, you have 1.5 miles to Manzanita, and then it gets f'ing real. 5.5 miles up to the North Rim, and it's steep, and I was slightly grumpy at times. You climb up to over 8K, and the altitude is real. I felt reasonably good, other than my heels were on fire, the start of 4 of my 9 blisters. We took a reasonable break at the North Rim, it's a surreal feeling of WOW. We just did Rim2Rim! And as soon as you start to relish in that, you realize you are half way, as in holy shit we have to go back.
This is when Ironman's brain kicks in, stay in the moment, and focus on the next stop. 5.5 miles down to Manzanita, which we rolled through and stopped at Cottonwood to refill and take a break. It was getting challenging; my feet were on fire, hot spots all over, and I knew they would suffer. My legs felt tired, but okay. That kind of yes they hurt but we can hurt like this for a long time.
We trudged on chatting, meeting friends, soaking up the beauty; this was the point that we could have "gone for it," but we both knew that we were going to keep trudging along; next stop Phantom Ranch! On the one hand, we are "almost done." On the other, these will be the hardest miles of the day. 9 miles to go, a few rolling and then 7 miles of "dead man walking" out of the Canyon. I took off my shoes and socks, and it was not pretty; dirt pouring out, blisters on blisters, bloody toenail, and not a lot of options. I lubed my feet, basically rubbing the dirt into the blisters with the lube, and returned the stiff rank sock to the discussing foot. It was clear, my feet were not happy!
9 miles in 4 hours and 20 min, yep do that math; it was hard as fuck and 100% mental, one foot in front of the other, and just get it done. I kicked a rock, and it was searing pain, like my toenail ripped off, lots of F-Bombs, and we just kept going. It's dark now, so the views are gone. All you can see are headlamps up and down. When I'd see a light way ahead, I would then look down and realize there were just as many behind us. We were yo-yoing with a few groups, there were the hares and we the tortoise. They would run past us, wave and say hi and then we would see them splayed out at the water stop, we would make a quick stop and keep rolling, the would run past us, well you get the picture. BUT, after the last stop, which we rolled through, 1.5 miles to go, they NEVER pass us! Yass!!! Not that it was a race, but well we beat someone anyway.
When we knew we had to be close, I heard "our" whistle, the one John and I use in stores, when we get lost, my heart lept, OMG, we are close, and soon thereafter, we hear his voice. OMG, we are nearly done....it seemed like forever, but soon enough, we saw John, and just like that, we were OUT! The finish is very unimpressive, you are trading in the dark uphill, and then suddenly, you are out. But FUCK, we were done!
R2R2R is physically challenging for sure, even if we only ran 15is miles, but it's mental, It just never ends. There are no aid stations, there is no way out except on your feet, so you do mental gymnastics to stay in the moment and just get it done! You want to quit many times, you want to end, but there is only one option, just keep moving.
I'd love to say we crushed it, left it all out there, dug deep, but I did not, and I am a bit disappointed, looking back. My head was not in "race day mode"; I did not prep for that mentally or physically. The rest of our group went for it, turned themselves inside out, but well, I did not. It's easy to say coulda shoulda, but I did not.
My feet are trashed, hard to walk due to the blisters. 2 toenails are lifted due to blister under the nails, it's not pretty. My feet don't like 17 hours.....
I am tired, yes, sore, yes, but not destroyed! Alex and I had a great time, and we are in one piece! So that is a WIN! And we crossed the Grand Canyon twice, so not total slackers. I will find a way to do that this year; I need another "leave it all out there" event, as I did Everesting.
So mentally, I am going to start working on that... It may be 4.4.48, or it may be a 50K. Most of my training has been long, slow distance, so my brain is not in the "hurt locker" mindset, but after a bit of recovery, it's time to get back to that place. I am looking forward to pushing the limits... I want to feel that pain, push through it, and keep going! Sick I know.
Calories: total 3450 - I did not feel like I needed any more, likely the pedestrian pace.
- 4x PBJ Sandwiches 1200
- 2 Packages Organic Poptarts 800
- 1x Salted Watermelon Shot blocks 200
- Black Licorice 400
- Cliff Bar 250
- YumButter 400
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