Grand Canyon-Rim Cubed
The double crossing of the Grand Canyon was next on the 17 hour training day agenda. 2 days after racing Rage in the Sage the group took its journey through the incredible canyon. Setting our eyes on the canyon knowing we were going to run the entire canyon and come back again left us all in awe. It really is quite the sight to see.... but imagine seeing this and knowing you are going to run it! And not just once, but twice!
Sonja did a remarkable job researching information for the run. Countless hours were spent putting together the information to make this training day possible. Her attention to detail left everyone feeling prepared and gave us all the feeling that we were on an adventure. The Tuesday before we left she headed up a group meeting to give out all of the details and the map with the route and water stops. Steve and I put together a recovery plan for post Rage race and a post Grand Canyon run. Recovery was critical for going into the training run.
This was a totally self supported training day. There was no one to meet us and give us our rations. Everything had to be carried in and carried out. We decided on start times: Andrea 1am, Sonja (with Dave Newcomer) 3:30am, and Anthony and Steve would start at 4am. The staggered start was implemented in hopes that we would all finish running up the South Rim together.
The big morning had arrived! Our first footsteps into the canyon were in the dark of the night! Everyone of us felt pretty ready for the day. The NormaTec sessions and the attention to post race recovery helped us go into the day feeling positive. Our experiences getting ready for Canada have taught us so much. One of the most important things we have learned is to not go into a deficit during an event but also to spend as much time preparing for recovery as we do for the event itself. We felt our preparations for the day were solid and headed into the canyon feeling confident, but also aware of what we were attempting. There are lots of people who attempt a double crossing of the canyon and fail, and we were attempting it 2 days after a race. We just needed to be smart and make good decisions. We all agreed that if at any point we had doubts or felt we were in trouble that we would turn around and that making good decisions was just as important as finishing the day.
All of our experiences were different in the canyon. All four of us (and our friend Keith who is also getting ready for Canada) finished the entire double crossing of the canyon. It was totally cool and we each earned a life tile this day. Each of us came out with a different perspective and different things learned. Some of us hurt more than others, but we all finished! As a group we have decided we came out a little more compromised than we went in, we all experienced muscle soreness, but none of us is injured in any way. Complete success!
Recovery post Grand Canyon run was a little less than optimal. Anthony drove back to Vegas, got 2 hours sleep in a hotel, got on a plane, landed in Denver and went straight to work! Sonja, Andrea and Steve all made the drive back to Denver. It was pretty painful, but we made it! Sonja ran 10 miles and Andrea ran 9 miles 3 days post G.C. The boys took a little more time off as they were both a touch bit more compromised than Sonja and Andrea. All in all, everyone came back within a week and we are on to the next epic adventure.
Happy Training
AW
Sonja did a remarkable job researching information for the run. Countless hours were spent putting together the information to make this training day possible. Her attention to detail left everyone feeling prepared and gave us all the feeling that we were on an adventure. The Tuesday before we left she headed up a group meeting to give out all of the details and the map with the route and water stops. Steve and I put together a recovery plan for post Rage race and a post Grand Canyon run. Recovery was critical for going into the training run.
This was a totally self supported training day. There was no one to meet us and give us our rations. Everything had to be carried in and carried out. We decided on start times: Andrea 1am, Sonja (with Dave Newcomer) 3:30am, and Anthony and Steve would start at 4am. The staggered start was implemented in hopes that we would all finish running up the South Rim together.
The big morning had arrived! Our first footsteps into the canyon were in the dark of the night! Everyone of us felt pretty ready for the day. The NormaTec sessions and the attention to post race recovery helped us go into the day feeling positive. Our experiences getting ready for Canada have taught us so much. One of the most important things we have learned is to not go into a deficit during an event but also to spend as much time preparing for recovery as we do for the event itself. We felt our preparations for the day were solid and headed into the canyon feeling confident, but also aware of what we were attempting. There are lots of people who attempt a double crossing of the canyon and fail, and we were attempting it 2 days after a race. We just needed to be smart and make good decisions. We all agreed that if at any point we had doubts or felt we were in trouble that we would turn around and that making good decisions was just as important as finishing the day.
All of our experiences were different in the canyon. All four of us (and our friend Keith who is also getting ready for Canada) finished the entire double crossing of the canyon. It was totally cool and we each earned a life tile this day. Each of us came out with a different perspective and different things learned. Some of us hurt more than others, but we all finished! As a group we have decided we came out a little more compromised than we went in, we all experienced muscle soreness, but none of us is injured in any way. Complete success!
Recovery post Grand Canyon run was a little less than optimal. Anthony drove back to Vegas, got 2 hours sleep in a hotel, got on a plane, landed in Denver and went straight to work! Sonja, Andrea and Steve all made the drive back to Denver. It was pretty painful, but we made it! Sonja ran 10 miles and Andrea ran 9 miles 3 days post G.C. The boys took a little more time off as they were both a touch bit more compromised than Sonja and Andrea. All in all, everyone came back within a week and we are on to the next epic adventure.
Happy Training
AW
0 comments:
Post a Comment