Grand Canyon Post #2 - Rim to Rim to Rim

As I coasted down the South Kaibab Trail a couple weeks ago and saw the sunrise from the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, I was thinking to myself how lucky I was to be a trail runner.  Later that afternoon on the climb back up to the South Rim on the Bright Angel Trail, I was thinking to myself that there’s no way I’m ever doing this again.  And so goes the highs and lows of an ultra runner…

Attempting to run across the Grand Canyon and back at least for me was quite the humbling experience to say the least.  I knew it’d be hard based on the stories of the guys who’ve done it before, but it’s just one of those things you need to experience.  There are so many factors even beyond the usual ultra that make this run unpredictable.  There are the two relentless climbs and descents of 4,700 and 5,700 feet, the wide range of altitude between 2,400 and 8,200 feet, and the unbearable heat that reached 105 degrees.  And of course there’s that whole thing about being from Minnesota that makes all this hard to train for.

Left to right: Jeff, Tony, Dylan, Joe, John, Brian, Rick, Chad, Roddy,
Randy, Bateman, Paul, Doug, and TJ. 

There are 14 guys who will be telling stories from this day for a long time, but here’s my account of how it all went down…

The Adventure Begins - South Rim to Phantom Ranch
We departed from the South Kaibab Trailhead in two separate groups bright and early that morning – one group at 4:30 and the other at 5:30.  I was in the group of 6 that opted for the later start, along with Joe Z, Tony K, Roddy, TJ, and Storkamp.  We were also joined by our new friend Dave who we met on the shuttle for the initial 7 mile descent to Phantom Ranch; he was doing the double crossing for the 17th year in a row!  After all the talk about which one of us would be setting the pace, turned out we all just tried to keep up with Dave – guess you don’t need to stop to take in the views after 17 double crossings.

Photo by Mike Bateman: First look at the Colorado River from South Kaibab.

This first leg of the trek was pretty light-hearted.  Everyone was feeling good, loving the indescribable views, and making sure to take time to appreciate the scenery.  I think we all wanted to put up a solid effort, but definitely didn’t want to rush through it without taking it all in.  I couldn’t help but be reminded why I love this sport so much.  Not many people have experienced one of the most beautiful places in the world the way we were about to that day.

We pulled into Phantom Ranch at about 1:10 into the run and stayed for probably 10 minutes to take a break and fill up the Nathan vests with water.

Phantom Ranch to North Rim
The 5,700+ foot climb up to the North Rim was sort of broken up into two 7 mile sections – the first a gradual climb to Cottonwood Campground, and the second an increasingly steep trek up to the Rim.
We followed TJ out of Phantom Ranch at a pretty steady pace on the gradual ascent up to Cottonwood.  I really liked this section – felt great and the trail was very runnable with much of it along a river.

After filling up with water quick at Cottonwood, we just had a couple miles before another water stop, where we saw our friend Chad who started earlier.  Chad let us know that we were close to the rest of the group, and sure enough we caught up them all running together within a mile or two…it was good to see the guys and everyone seeming to look pretty good still.

Photo by Mike Bateman: Look closely and you can see 5 of us climbing
up to the North Rim.

The group spread out a bit on the climb, and it was Tony, Joe and I that made it to the top a bit before the others.  The last couple miles included a lot of hiking, but we seemed to be making pretty good pace all things considered.  I really don’t consider myself a very good climber, but for some reason I felt good here on the steady ascent.  And I didn’t even really notice the fact that we were at 8,200+ feet here…a good sign for a guy who’s sort of paranoid about altitude.

Photo by Mike Bateman: View from the North Rim.

We arrived at the North Rim at about 4:32 into the run, and probably stayed less than 5 minutes.  At this point, we were probably still on pace to run around 10 or so hours if all went well.  Little did we know, the way back wouldn’t be quite so smooth sailing…

North Rim back to Phantom Ranch
Within a minute or so of descending from the North Rim, we started seeing all the guys climbing up.  It was pretty clear already that it was going to be a long day.  Most everyone was pretty close together here, but some were clearly enjoying the climb more than others.

When we passed by our new friend Dave as he climbed, he stopped to tell us that our fellow runner Rick was struggling below with a rapid heart-rate and was pretty worried.  After Dave gave us this “heads up” about Rick, he continued to attempt to schedule breakfast for 15 at El Tovar restaurant the next morning for what seemed like several minutes.  Joe and I were admittedly moving on while Tony talked breakfast logistics with Dave.  Unfortunately, that was the last we heard of Dave.  (Dave, if you ever come across this, we are sorry we missed breakfast!  The Holiday Inn had all we could imagine for free and 14 guys are hard to move around.)

Soon after that we met up with Rick, who wasn’t looking so good.  We debated between getting him to lower elevation and water, or getting him to the North Rim and potential help.  Tony – being the nicest guy in the world as always – stayed back to be with Rick, while Joe and I went on ahead.  (More on Rick and Tony in a minute…)

Photo by Mike Bateman: Great view from North Kaibab Trail.

For the rest of the run, Joe and I would be very loyal to the buddy system and were together until the finish.  After we left Tony and Rick, we still had 13 miles of descending to get to Phantom Ranch.  I really wish my quads wouldn’t have been trashed here…this was a rough stretch that just seemed to never end.  The trail was technical enough to make it hard to eat, drink, take salt, and keep up with Joe at the same time.  I was frustrated that I was slowing Joe down because he was running real strong, and strangely I just couldn’t wait to start climbing again.  I kept convincing myself that we were farther out from Phantom Ranch than we were, so that I’d be surprised when we got there.  Joe was keeping us on a pretty steady pace, but man it was painful.

As we made our way down to Phantom Ranch, the temp was quickly on the rise.  I think I was so distracted by the fact that I didn’t want to keep running downhill to notice exactly how hot it was.  Once it started leveling out, I realized the heat was taking a bigger toll than I realized.  Apparently, the temp at Phantom Ranch was up to 105 degrees that day…

I think we did both the 7 miles to Cottonwood and the 7 miles from there to Phantom Ranch in about 1:10-1:15 each.  That put us back into Phantom Ranch in a little over 7 hours.

Extended Stay at Phantom Ranch
As we were sitting in the cantina eating the Snickers and taking a break, we were a bit surprised to have a Ranger come and ask us, “Are you guys with the group of Minnesotans?”  Apparently we stuck out like a sore thumb, and it turns out that our group was already becoming quite the talk of the Ranger radio waves that day.  We found out Rick was stuck on the North Rim – a mere 5 hour drive from the South Rim – with no way back.  At one point, Joe and I were told we’d have to go get him that night, and we were even given the codes to the gates of the closed North Rim.  Luckily though, after 20 minutes of back and forth on the radios, the ranger told us she got him a ride to a lodge nearby, so he could stay the night there.

After all that was settled, Joe and I started to stumble out of Phantom Ranch and back on the trail.  At this point, we were pretty worried about everyone else, had stopped caring about how long it would take us, and sort of had the wind taken out of our sails.  We left at about 7:40 into the run, and figured it could take 3-4 hours of mostly hiking to the finish.

Photo by Mike Bateman: Coming back across the Colorado River.

Phantom Ranch to South Rim
This 9.6 mile section up the Bright Angel Trail was doomed for us from the very beginning.  Joe was bonking from about the first step with the heat really getting to him, and within 10 minutes was throwing up on the side of the trail.  In the meantime I was feeling just fine and munching on Honey Stinger chews while waiting for Joe.  Once we got moving again, it was pretty slow hiking with Indian Gardens being our next stop for water at 4.5 miles from the finish.

We finally got to Indian Gardens and met up again with Chad there, who had very smartly turned around early before reaching the North Rim and had been going solo for almost the whole day (and probably wondering about that buddy system the whole time).  It was great to see him looking good and in great spirits.  By this time, Joe was starting to feel better and I was starting to fall apart.

Photo by Chad Austin: View of Bright Angel Trail from Indian Gardens.

At about 4 miles out I tried to convince Joe that if we toughened up and averaged just 20 minute miles, we could get in under 11 hours and beat his and Tony’s time from 2 years ago.  He wasn’t having it.  About 10 minutes later, he seemed to be feeling great, and I wasn’t having it.  As we climbed higher, I had a harder and harder time breathing (this is why I’m paranoid about altitude).  I felt like I was having an asthma attack or something, and Joe said I sounded like a freight train trying to breathe.  Man it was rough going.

Then when we were three miles out, Joe told me with all good intentions that we just had “600 football fields left to go to the finish.”  I responded, “Is that supposed to make me feel good?”  It wasn’t until about five minutes later that I realized he was off by a zero and it was really only 60 football fields.  Needless to say though, I’ll never take a simple 5K for granted again…never thought it would take me 1:15+ to move the body just three miles.

As hard and slow as it was, we kept the constant forward motion going to the finish at the Bright Angel Trailhead.  We finished about 11 hours, 7 minutes after we started.

Joe and I at the Bright Angel Trailhead shortly after
we finished.

You might wonder…What happened to everyone else?
As it turned out for the group, all 14 of us luckily made it out alive and well!  In summary, Rick was thankfully just fine and actually made his way to our hotel that night before we did.  TJ apparently had some memorable moments to say the least at the water stops, but made it through thanks to Joe’s water bottle and Doug’s S Caps.  Roddy was so happy after we met up with the early group and found a more sustainable pace that nothing seemed to phase him after that.  Dylan and Randy stuck together through an epic last couple miles that lasted 2 hours and involved some laying down on the ground.  The guys you don’t hear about were the ones that had the best run – Holovnia the veteran, Denney the Olympian, Doug, and Bateman, all seemed really steady.  Tony and John – after spending a couple hours with Rick on the North Rim and getting in some extra miles – were the last ones to come in under headlamps at about 9:30 that night...we were so relieved to see those two headlamps making their way up the trail.  As everyone gathered and came back safe, we enjoyed some food and beer at the bar right on the South Rim before heading to the hotel exhausted.

All in all, this run/hike was without a doubt the hardest 44.6 miles I’ve ever experienced.  Given the conditions and heat, I think it’s probably more like the equivalent of the effort and time of a 65-70 mile run on an easier course.  It’s a must-do for avid ultra runners, but definitely not to be taken lightly.  My only advice for first-time double-crossers is to imagine how hard it could be, and expect it to be harder.

Now even with all this being said, I have found further proof that ultra runners have selective memory.  Even though I told myself I’d never do this again many times during the run, almost as soon as it was over I knew that I’ll be back again for more someday.  It might be a little while though…

Grand Canyon Post #1 - A short video

The adventure to the Grand Canyon this past weekend was indescribable!  I have yet to find time to gather my thoughts and stories into words, but I did throw together a short video for starters with the little footage I had.  

I had full intentions of making this a sweet video and taking time to get some great shots. But then reality set in and I found myself not caring anymore once the going got tough.  Sorry it's a little choppy..enjoy!

I'll be back with the written version in a few days...in the meantime, check out Chad's blog for his perspective and some great pictures.

Chippewa 50K

So since the next adventure begins tomorrow as we depart for AZ and the Grand Canyon, I guess I should finally get around to some thoughts on the last one - Chippewa 50k.  

This race represents sort of the “beginning of running as I know it” for me.  Two years ago, I ran Chippewa as my first 50K and second trail race. At the time I really didn’t have a clue what I was doing, didn’t know anyone, had never heard of an S Cap, didn’t have one of these fancy handheld water bottles, and didn’t have one of these high-tech watches that would tell me how fast and far I was going…or any watch at all for that matter. Although I met a couple guys there at that race in 2009 who seemed pretty cool and were way better runners than me. They must’ve felt sorry for me or something, because they invited me to come and run with them once in a while. Since most good things in life start with just showing up, I took them up on it!

Fast forward a couple years to now, I guess I still don’t really know what I’m doing, but I run a lot more now, get to train, travel, and race with a great group, and have a whole lot more fun. So, I couldn’t think of a better way to start the trail season than a trip back to Chippewa!

Race In a Nutshell
Hard to believe, but this was my first trail race in over 7 months! The game plan for this one was to be real steady, start off feeling comfortable, and then try to finish strong and negative split it by a few minutes. As it turned out, I succeeded in running pretty steady, but felt a little too sluggish on the last half to pick it up at all. That course doesn’t seem like it should be that hard, but it just chews you up with all the constant rolling hills and is just technical enough that it’s hard to put it on cruise control and settle in. I was real happy with how it shook out though in the end, and ended up holding on for first place with a time of 3:59:39.

Here’s the Garmin Data of how it all went down mile-by-mile.

Getting ready at the start.
Picture is from the Chippewa Facebook Album.

Out

After valiantly overcoming multiple sabotage attempts by Joe Z in the first 30 seconds or so, I settled in for the first mile with a good group of six or so runners – Joe, Storkamp, and a couple other guys I just met right then. Once we hit some single track, I pulled out in front a bit and settled in to run the first half almost all on my own pretty consistently in 7:30s or so. I was expecting the course to be super muddy since it rained all day/night before the race, but it was surprisingly in pretty good shape! 

I must’ve got a bit lazy near the halfway point or they got faster, because Craig H, John S, and one other caught up right before the turnaround. I did take a wrong turn around there, but only lost less than a minute I’m guessing (good news is that I’m getting much better at admitting it when I’m lost!). In hindsight, I wish I would have just run with those guys the whole first half so I would’ve had people to talk to.

And Back
The four of us hit the turn-around aid station together, and Craig and I left together. We ran together or real close for the first five or so miles of the second half and it was good to get to know him. He is going to be hard to beat by the end of the summer (or end of spring for that matter).

The way back on an out-and-back is always fun to see all the familiar faces on the trail. After that though, I guess the last 10 or so miles were pretty uneventful. I was cruising along pretty steady, trying to get used to eating a lot, and just loving the beautiful course. There must be a dozen lakes that the course goes along and the weather was perfect for running. When I got to the mile 5 sign, I had about 40 minutes left to sneak in under 4 hours. This was easier said than done with some tough climbs and the killer hill at the very end, but ended up coming in with a whopping 21 seconds to spare!

Post-Race
Jeff Allen and Randy Fulton with FrontRunner put on a great event. This race was almost cancelled last year, and then revived by Jeff and company. There were over 200 runners that were pretty thankful they did it on Saturday. It’s a great addition to the local trail race scene, awesome course, fun atmosphere, and they even had soup, sandwiches, cookies and plenty of cold Lienie’s to enjoy as friends came into the finish! I’m definitely hoping I can make it back next year.  All in all a great way to start the trail season.  

Joe, John and I at the finish.  I think Jeff Allen took this picture...thanks Jeff!

Next up is the double-crossing of the Grand Canyon on Friday!  This one's going to be tough, which hopefully means there will be some good stories to tell.

Easiest 6 miles of my life...

I've covered a lot of ground in the past few years on the paths around the Minneapolis Riverfront area, but I can safely say that none have been more memorable than last Wednesday afternoon.  I went with all my co-workers on a Segway Tour!  I'm pretty sure the hardest work I did the whole time was to step on and off the Segway when we stopped for breaks and some history lessons.

I learned a few fun facts about Segways from Bill the owner when we were there.  First of all, I was quite impressed by their top pace of 5:00 per mile!  Secondly, I guess they really really struggle after about mile 22...I mean really struggle.  Lastly, they wouldn't be very good on technical trail.  Bottom line here is they're fast, but they wouldn't stand a chance against an ultra runner.

This cast of characters in the video is the 8-person full time staff of Students Today Leaders Forever (STLF).  Our staff is sort of a spectacle when we go anywhere together anyway, but I'm sure that was escalated by the fact we were scooting around on these Segways.  Believe it or not, this year alone we will work with 500 student volunteer leaders who will organize cross-country service trips called Pay it Forward Tours and Leadership Camps for 4,000 student participants!  I loved how the Segway Tour guide couldn't believe how we were the whole staff since we were all so young.  You can probably tell that I have one of the greatest jobs in the world...

I've since resorted back to running as my means of logging miles.  Even had the first real trail run of the year at Hyland this morning...good to be back!

Spring Training

Well, it's taken a while to arrive, but the warmer weather is just making me want to run more.  I've never been one to take anything for granted, but I'm hoping a good spring of training will be a solid foundation for some good races this summer - that is as long as I don't screw it all up and injure myself or anything. 

I've been working pretty hard the past five or so weeks and legs feel really good.  It's been mostly just a whole lot of miles, but this year I'm also trying to hang on to enough speed not to slip into a rut.  The last four weeks I've been alternating weekend long runs between steady ultra distance one weekend, and 20+ with a road race in the middle the next weekend.  Seems to have been a good variety of training so far and keeps the legs fresh.

Today was so much fun!
This morning was one of the most fun times I've had on a run in a really long time, and it was my longest run in almost 6 months.  I set out to get to at least 40 miles on this one, although I was feeling pretty sluggish mid-week so wasn't sure how it would go.  Turned out it was just a great day and ended up with about 41.5.  The weather was perfect, and I think the aid station I brought in my car helped too, in particular these bite sized chocolate chip cookies from Target.  I'm pretty sure I consumed at least 2,000 calories by 11:30 in the morning...don't worry, not all in cookies but I had my fair share!

Most of the run was a pretty steady pace around 7:50s (give or take 30 seconds or so), with some hill repeats at the U and on 50th Street thrown in to mix it up a bit.  Then I got through mile 36 and found myself on my own since the other guys either called it good or didn't have the time....so decided to pick it up a notch.  Ended up hitting miles 37 - 41 around Calhoun and the Isles at 6:52, 6:57, 6:36, 6:19, and 5:55 pace.  It was so much fun to be feeling good enough to tick off some faster miles that deep into a run.  Definitely encouraging for now...just have to keep it rolling.

Coolest thing about today is that I was pretty lucky to have run with several guys on the longest run of their lives!  So cool to see guys still feeling good after running more miles than they ever have...definitely remember that feeling not very long ago when I was first getting into ultras...every extra mile is sort of a new accomplishment!  Only thing that could have made today better was if it were on the trails out at Afton, but that would have been a pretty slow slog through snow and mud still...one more week I think.

MDRA 7 Mile Recap
Last weekend was the annual rite of spring at the MDRA 7 Mile.  Nick, Joe, and I did this one last year as part of our long run with around 7 before and 7 after.  So since Joe was back in town we did it again, but had a bunch more guys from the group out there this time.  It's a good hilly course and just a good spring test of fitness.

A 7 mile road race probably isn't my strongest event, but all things considered I think I ran the race about the best I am capable of.  The course was a bit short and had 6.85 miles on the Garmin...finished in 38:01, which was a little over a minute faster than last year (although not taking any wrong turns this year helped greatly).  It's a really informal race that no one took very seriously at all, but was fun and a great workout on a long run.

I am now longing for the trails...very soon!

Irish for a Day

When I signed up for the 100% Irish for a Day 10 Mile back in the middle of February, I had just got back from New Orleans and it was 50 degrees out.  At the time, I was pretty excited for a fun spring race and to take a crack at a good time in my first 10 mile.  Turns out I was definitely fooled about the "spring" part, which sort of did a number on the "good time" part.  I must have forgotten this is Minnesota.

As it turned out on race day, it was about 20 degrees with around 30 mile hour winds, and just enough snow and ice to make the footing pretty miserable.  Not going to lie, I was less than excited about this one (even my skier friends are saying its been a long winter).  But then again its a race and everyone's running in the same conditions...and the positive thing I've learned about racing in bad weather is the worse the weather is, the more memorable the race is.

Matt Trok and I met up to run for an hour or so before the race, and got some extra miles in while scouting out a good chunk of the course.  It really didn't seem so bad as we trotted along slowly, but it was pretty clear there would be sections into the wind that would be pretty ridiculous in the race.

I was a bit surprised at the pace at the start of the race when there were probably 8 or 9 guys that ran about a 5:35 first mile...seemed pretty fast on a tough day.  The group started spreading out quite a bit by mile 2-3 as we came north up the east side of Lake Harriet, running on snow into the northwest wind coming across the lake.  There were two fast guys up front that I sort of gave up hope on by mile 3 or so, and a third who was steadily pulling away.  This is where the shorter distance is so different than a marathon or ultra...in a 10 mile or less you probably won't ever catch guys that you lose sight of, where in a longer race there's a decent chance you might see them again.

By mile 4 or 5, I was feeling pretty terrible around the windy side of Lake Calhoun, and had slipped back to 6th place and running about 6:00 pace.  Thankfully, right around mile 5 is where the course turned south, the footing was much better, and the wind was mostly at the back for the next 3-4 miles.  I had a Gu and eased my way back into a rhythm a bit around here and started feeling pretty good.  There were quite a number of 5K runners who made the last few miles around Lake Harriet a bit of an obstacle course, and the last mile or two was pretty brutal back on snow and into the wind, but all things considered it felt like a pretty steady second half.  The official results put me in third place, but it was really fourth since one of the guys far in front of me apparently took a wrong turn right before the finish.  My time was 58:45.

My 10 mile PR is now almost 2 minutes slower than my first and second 10 miles of the marathon four weeks ago, but that probably sounds about right with the combination of tough winter conditions and non-tapered legs.  All in all it made for a great workout in the middle of a 22 mile training run.

Next race is the MDRA 7 Mile in two weeks (hoping for a fun spring run...but planning for snow and ice).  Then on to the trails!

Canyon on my mind...

So I think I have declared that it is the "last coldest day of the winter" about 9 times so far...but now that its March, one of these days I'll actually be right.  I feel like once spring does come it always goes by quick, which means the big trip for the Grand Canyon Rim to Rim to Rim in May is really just around the corner!  I am so excited...never been there before, but I'm very glad that I will be able to see it for the first time by running it.

It seems like the majority of my travel these days has been related to running.  Most of the time though, the big event is a race, and not just running for fun.  Don't get me wrong, I really do enjoy races...but I'm really looking forward to just enjoying the run, taking in the scenery, not worrying about how fast we're moving, taking pictures, and just appreciating it all.  Sometimes it's easy to forget in the day-to-day, but I have a feeling it will be one of those experiences that will remind me how lucky I am to be a runner.

While some of the guys have been busy reading this recommended reading for the trip, I took a different route to learn about how to survive 44 miles in the Grand Canyon.  A few weeks ago, I watched this really bad movie called "The Canyon".  Here is a list of things I am now well aware of:

• Don't go on a mule ride with a crazy random local guy.
• It is a bad idea to go off the trail...you could get lost.
• Rattlesnakes can kill you.
• Cell phones don't work very well in the Canyon.
• It can be quite hot down there.
• It's sort of a good idea to bring lots of water.
• Don't try to climb vertical rock walls without any experience or equipment.  
• If you break your leg in the canyon, you will probably be attacked by wolves.
• If you are a guy there on your Honeymoon, whatever you do don't trust your wife.

Sorry if this ruins it for all of you who have been itching to see this movie.  

Seriously, though, I really can't wait to get there and experience it for myself.  Maybe it's because I'm from MN and do not get to see places like that very often, but I've already decided it'll be one of the coolest running experiences I'll ever have.  And nothing beats a trip with the guys...will be a ton of stories and memories for sure.