So just over 5 years since I first ran the Grand Canyon rim to rim I returned at the age of 65 to attempt to do it in the depths of winter but this time down and up the south side as the North rim is closed due to snow. It is shorter at 26 kilometres this way but still the same descent from 7000 feet to the river. At 7am it was still dark and -5c with ice and snow on the upper reaches of the trail plus a wind chill factor that made it feel about -10c. I had not trained in this kind of weather so the challenge in itself would be a whole new experience however there was one even bigger difference in that my wife Sue was coming with me! She only started trail running 3 months ago and now I was throwing her into one of the toughest challenges in the harshest of conditions.This all may sound a little crazy but I had trained Sue myself and we had concentrated not only on running but also on her strength and conditioning as this is what would carry her through physically when or if things got difficult.
We had decided many months ago that if she didn't feel right on the day then she wouldn't do it as it was just too risky. The plan was that I would then just go it alone and meet her later.... well, that was the plan.
When we arrived the day before and she saw the snow and ice she immiediately said 'NO WAY!'
At this point I thought it might be interesting to let Sue, who is a complete novice, give you her thoughts on this great challenge.
SUE'S STORY
As we were planning our trip to the States, I asked Phil if he was intending on running the
Grand Canyon again and he replied ‘no not this time.’ So I mentioned that maybe we could
walk down the trail a bit together as I’d never ventured off the rim all the times we’d been
in the past. He shrugged his shoulders and said ‘Sure, we can do that, how far down do you
want to go?’ ‘Indian Gardens looks lovely looking down from the top’ I muted not realising
that this was my first mistake. His expression changed as he told me quite seriously that 'it’s a long
way down even though it doesn’t look it'... and that I would have to get alot fitter to do it. 'In fact if you plan on going that far you may as well go down to the river and back up again but I need to start training you straight away!' I started backtracking rapidly to just maybe going down half an hour or so but I could see his brain had kicked into gear and there was no going back.
My normal weekly exercise pattern was 2 yoga stretch classes, one ball class and a 4k run plus a few walks but nothing too strenuous. Suddenly I was being dragged out in the morning for 5k runs along the canal and then later 12k runs in the Andalusian mountains (trail running being the new norm). On top of this were tempo runs (Don't ask but they are horrible) and sprints along the beach walkway followed by hill sprints, all on top of my normal routine. Protein and veg became the order of 3 meals a day plus carbs on training days plus added vitamins and green drinks. I must have been mad but this went on for the 3 months before we left for America. I was still non-committal about the challenge but Phil was taking it all very seriously.
I was adamant that if I decided not to do it or just to go down a little way he could continue on his own. He blithely ignored me and delighted in buying me new trail shoes, a water pack & poles whilst I stood there bored to death in the store just wanting to get to the perfume department.
As we boarded our flight to the States we were loaded up with enough gels, almond bars,
salt capsules you name it, to climb Everest along with antiseptic wipes and gels for the
plane. Immediately Phil got busy wiping the whole of the chairs, TV screens and tray tables
to avoid any germs (which is totally impossible on board a 737 Dreamliner). He had taken full
responsibility for this and I was just floating along beside him. Apparently you are 23 times more likely to catch a cold on a plane, 'Olympic athletes do it and so are we' he exclaimed with that serious look again. What had I let myself in for?
We arrived at the Canyon the day before we intended to attempt the impossible for me
and the first sight we saw was snow and ice! I retreated rapidly as I hate walking on ice but undeterred he dragged me along to some people who were just coming out of the trail. They were wearing these spikey things on their shoes and Phil persuaded them to let me try them.
Miraculously I could walk easily without slipping, so off we went to the Grand Canyon shop to purchase 2 pairs.
The day dawned and I still wasn’t bothered, worried or anything as he was just taking control. Firstly he vaselined my feet, (again, dont ask) and then we dressed in all the gear stuffed with protein bars, gels, water, plasters, newskin, recovery blanket, torches and whistle. I could go on but when he started counting the calories and working out my sweat rate I thought it better just to switch off until he said with a very serious look on his face:- 'People die in this place, if you don't respect it you can get into serious trouble'.....which was just what I wanted to hear as we left the hotel!
Arriving at the the rim it was freezing cold, dark and a little foreboding but at 7:40 am just as the light appeared we began. The snow lit up the Canyon in all its magnificence and the first couple of miles were suprisingly easy as the ice filled in all the holes and fallen rocks so it was quite smooth and the views were breathtaking. We reached the first rest house (2k), no problem, then took off our spikes a little while later as the snow had disappeared. This brought new problems as the ‘steps’ down were very steep with lots of rocks meaning we had to navigate around them all. We reached the second rest house (4k) and was excited to see Indian Gardens below which from the top looked like a nice calm grassy plateau. How wrong could I be? The divets were getting deeper as we went further into the Canyon, these jarred my back and put pressure on my weaker left leg from an old back injury from 12 years ago.
My knee started aching as we reachede Indian Gardens where there is a water tap, a few tents and the odd tree, not quite what I had imagined. didn’t stop for long and at this point Phil asked did I want to go any further as we’d been much slower than he’d anticipated due to my leg pain and fear of the divets. It was then that he told me the next part called ‘Devil’s corkscrew ‘was very steep and difficult. I looked around and thought to myself that I’d come this far and was very unlikely to do it again, so I just had to go for it or I would have been disappointed, he said 'Cool' and off we went. Devil’s corkscrew was as hard as its name, scary to look down and it went on forever. By now the pain was all the way up and down my leg but I just ignored it and carried on down to the river even though it was killing me to put my foot down on anything except flat ground, which was obviously nowhere to be found.
Finally after about 3 hours we got to the river, I know Phil would have got here in less than half the time but he stayed with me throughout the day as he'd promised to do. It was breathtaking, stunning, beautiful and worth every painful step and I was surprised at how fast it was travelling and how cold and salty it was.
Phil gave me some ibuprofen which he said he would normally never do but it was neccessary and a godsend at that moment. Looking back up at the Canyon, it really was awe-inspiring to see the power of nature at its most beautiful but most dangerous. It made me feel so humble yet grateful to be part of it at that moment. However there was no time to dwell on that as the enormity of the ascent back out was so real and with my bad leg we had to get going.
Phil had split the ascent, (which is apparently what ultra runners do) into 6 quadrants to help with my mental endurance, so Devil’s corkscrew was the first (and the worst!).
I used my poles to help take the pressure of my bad leg but it was less painful than coming down. I kept saying it was my knee and he seemed to get a bit worried but when he pressed and prodded it he realised it was actually my quad muscles and explained with a smile on his face 'Its only your quads, thats a relief I thought it was something serious'.
Next came the second quadrant up to Indian Gardens then another and another until the last two very steep quadrants up to the second then the first resthouse. By now I was on autopilot and following my 6-breath yoga routine to manage both the ever growing pain and the elevation gain as we ascended. Phil kept making me take all the provisions he had brought to keep up my energy levels and really monitored my movements encouraging me to move quicker where it was easier. I can’t say my responses to him were at all pleasant as I insisted I was doing my best but I knew he wanted us to get up before it went dark.
Then we hit the mud! This was awful as where the snow had melted it was just a gooey mess, slippy and very hard to manoeuvre around unless you tried to keep your feet as close to the edges as possible. By now I just wanted to get to the top and just totally focussed on my poles and feet not letting my mind wander in any way, especially to the now excruciating pain down my leg. Eventually we came back to the snow near the top which was much easier to cross with the spikes and I could finally see the summit. At this point we met a young girl, quite fit, about 27, who was really struggling and had taken 12 hours just to come up from the river which was half the distance we had already covered. We gave her some gels, electrolytes and salt capsules and she seemed to perk up as we told her she was nearly there. Later Phil started to mumble on about what happens when you don't prepare properly. The Rangers warn you not to go there and back in a day, which we were doing but she apparently had stayed the night at the camp at the bottom and was still struggling. 'Bloody stupid' said Phil (or something like that).
On average 17 people die every year in the Canyon with over 400 recorded evacuations due to injury etc by helicopter per year, so he had a point.
By now I was exhausted but 9 1/2hrs after entering the Canyon, we finally made it. Phil had gone on a few minutes before me and rounded up a load of tourists to cheer me out and of course I just burst into tears!
To this day nearly 2 weeks later, I still can’t believe I actually managed it and then recovered well. The next day I had no pain whatsoever and I slept like a baby. When I look at the pictures and videos it just feels like a blur.
Maybe it was just an incredible dream after all……
...................................
Anyway, back to me:- I have to say I was very impressed with Sue's attitude the whole day as she didn't complain or moan at all. At the beginning and in the half light she just 'lets go' and off we went. Personally I loved running in the snow and ofcourse in the winter you don't have the heat problem.
This was quite a different challenge for me as I just felt responsible for Sue the whole time whereas normally I'm just thinking about myself. (If you know what I mean). Her recovery was excellent which was due to all her strength and conditioning training. People often forget that in challenges like this recovery has to be managed just as much as the preparation.
I think many people will be suprised about what Sue achieved and at the age of 64 and having never done anything like this before but I always felt she could do it because her attitude during training was always enthusiastic. She stuck to the schedule religiously and never once gave any excuses.
After 30 years of marriage I will admit that I was suprised at her mental endurance but she told someone later that it was much easier having a baby!.....Now as a man that sounds like a complete nightmare.
Sue has now joined a unique band of people. A Ranger told me this year that ony 1% of visitors ever leave the rim and of these only 1% get to the river, and of these very few go there and back in a day.
I think the takeaway from all this is that it is important not to limit yourself in life. If you keep yourself fit and healthy then you are capable of much more than you can possibly imagine.
When we arrived the day before and she saw the snow and ice she immiediately said 'NO WAY!'
At this point I thought it might be interesting to let Sue, who is a complete novice, give you her thoughts on this great challenge.
SUE'S STORY
As we were planning our trip to the States, I asked Phil if he was intending on running the
Grand Canyon again and he replied ‘no not this time.’ So I mentioned that maybe we could
walk down the trail a bit together as I’d never ventured off the rim all the times we’d been
in the past. He shrugged his shoulders and said ‘Sure, we can do that, how far down do you
want to go?’ ‘Indian Gardens looks lovely looking down from the top’ I muted not realising
that this was my first mistake. His expression changed as he told me quite seriously that 'it’s a long
way down even though it doesn’t look it'... and that I would have to get alot fitter to do it. 'In fact if you plan on going that far you may as well go down to the river and back up again but I need to start training you straight away!' I started backtracking rapidly to just maybe going down half an hour or so but I could see his brain had kicked into gear and there was no going back.
My normal weekly exercise pattern was 2 yoga stretch classes, one ball class and a 4k run plus a few walks but nothing too strenuous. Suddenly I was being dragged out in the morning for 5k runs along the canal and then later 12k runs in the Andalusian mountains (trail running being the new norm). On top of this were tempo runs (Don't ask but they are horrible) and sprints along the beach walkway followed by hill sprints, all on top of my normal routine. Protein and veg became the order of 3 meals a day plus carbs on training days plus added vitamins and green drinks. I must have been mad but this went on for the 3 months before we left for America. I was still non-committal about the challenge but Phil was taking it all very seriously.I was adamant that if I decided not to do it or just to go down a little way he could continue on his own. He blithely ignored me and delighted in buying me new trail shoes, a water pack & poles whilst I stood there bored to death in the store just wanting to get to the perfume department.
As we boarded our flight to the States we were loaded up with enough gels, almond bars,
salt capsules you name it, to climb Everest along with antiseptic wipes and gels for the
plane. Immediately Phil got busy wiping the whole of the chairs, TV screens and tray tables
to avoid any germs (which is totally impossible on board a 737 Dreamliner). He had taken full
responsibility for this and I was just floating along beside him. Apparently you are 23 times more likely to catch a cold on a plane, 'Olympic athletes do it and so are we' he exclaimed with that serious look again. What had I let myself in for?
We arrived at the Canyon the day before we intended to attempt the impossible for me
and the first sight we saw was snow and ice! I retreated rapidly as I hate walking on ice but undeterred he dragged me along to some people who were just coming out of the trail. They were wearing these spikey things on their shoes and Phil persuaded them to let me try them.Miraculously I could walk easily without slipping, so off we went to the Grand Canyon shop to purchase 2 pairs.
The day dawned and I still wasn’t bothered, worried or anything as he was just taking control. Firstly he vaselined my feet, (again, dont ask) and then we dressed in all the gear stuffed with protein bars, gels, water, plasters, newskin, recovery blanket, torches and whistle. I could go on but when he started counting the calories and working out my sweat rate I thought it better just to switch off until he said with a very serious look on his face:- 'People die in this place, if you don't respect it you can get into serious trouble'.....which was just what I wanted to hear as we left the hotel!
Arriving at the the rim it was freezing cold, dark and a little foreboding but at 7:40 am just as the light appeared we began. The snow lit up the Canyon in all its magnificence and the first couple of miles were suprisingly easy as the ice filled in all the holes and fallen rocks so it was quite smooth and the views were breathtaking. We reached the first rest house (2k), no problem, then took off our spikes a little while later as the snow had disappeared. This brought new problems as the ‘steps’ down were very steep with lots of rocks meaning we had to navigate around them all. We reached the second rest house (4k) and was excited to see Indian Gardens below which from the top looked like a nice calm grassy plateau. How wrong could I be? The divets were getting deeper as we went further into the Canyon, these jarred my back and put pressure on my weaker left leg from an old back injury from 12 years ago.
My knee started aching as we reachede Indian Gardens where there is a water tap, a few tents and the odd tree, not quite what I had imagined. didn’t stop for long and at this point Phil asked did I want to go any further as we’d been much slower than he’d anticipated due to my leg pain and fear of the divets. It was then that he told me the next part called ‘Devil’s corkscrew ‘was very steep and difficult. I looked around and thought to myself that I’d come this far and was very unlikely to do it again, so I just had to go for it or I would have been disappointed, he said 'Cool' and off we went. Devil’s corkscrew was as hard as its name, scary to look down and it went on forever. By now the pain was all the way up and down my leg but I just ignored it and carried on down to the river even though it was killing me to put my foot down on anything except flat ground, which was obviously nowhere to be found.Finally after about 3 hours we got to the river, I know Phil would have got here in less than half the time but he stayed with me throughout the day as he'd promised to do. It was breathtaking, stunning, beautiful and worth every painful step and I was surprised at how fast it was travelling and how cold and salty it was.
Phil gave me some ibuprofen which he said he would normally never do but it was neccessary and a godsend at that moment. Looking back up at the Canyon, it really was awe-inspiring to see the power of nature at its most beautiful but most dangerous. It made me feel so humble yet grateful to be part of it at that moment. However there was no time to dwell on that as the enormity of the ascent back out was so real and with my bad leg we had to get going.
Phil had split the ascent, (which is apparently what ultra runners do) into 6 quadrants to help with my mental endurance, so Devil’s corkscrew was the first (and the worst!).I used my poles to help take the pressure of my bad leg but it was less painful than coming down. I kept saying it was my knee and he seemed to get a bit worried but when he pressed and prodded it he realised it was actually my quad muscles and explained with a smile on his face 'Its only your quads, thats a relief I thought it was something serious'.
Next came the second quadrant up to Indian Gardens then another and another until the last two very steep quadrants up to the second then the first resthouse. By now I was on autopilot and following my 6-breath yoga routine to manage both the ever growing pain and the elevation gain as we ascended. Phil kept making me take all the provisions he had brought to keep up my energy levels and really monitored my movements encouraging me to move quicker where it was easier. I can’t say my responses to him were at all pleasant as I insisted I was doing my best but I knew he wanted us to get up before it went dark.
Then we hit the mud! This was awful as where the snow had melted it was just a gooey mess, slippy and very hard to manoeuvre around unless you tried to keep your feet as close to the edges as possible. By now I just wanted to get to the top and just totally focussed on my poles and feet not letting my mind wander in any way, especially to the now excruciating pain down my leg. Eventually we came back to the snow near the top which was much easier to cross with the spikes and I could finally see the summit. At this point we met a young girl, quite fit, about 27, who was really struggling and had taken 12 hours just to come up from the river which was half the distance we had already covered. We gave her some gels, electrolytes and salt capsules and she seemed to perk up as we told her she was nearly there. Later Phil started to mumble on about what happens when you don't prepare properly. The Rangers warn you not to go there and back in a day, which we were doing but she apparently had stayed the night at the camp at the bottom and was still struggling. 'Bloody stupid' said Phil (or something like that). On average 17 people die every year in the Canyon with over 400 recorded evacuations due to injury etc by helicopter per year, so he had a point.
By now I was exhausted but 9 1/2hrs after entering the Canyon, we finally made it. Phil had gone on a few minutes before me and rounded up a load of tourists to cheer me out and of course I just burst into tears!To this day nearly 2 weeks later, I still can’t believe I actually managed it and then recovered well. The next day I had no pain whatsoever and I slept like a baby. When I look at the pictures and videos it just feels like a blur.
Maybe it was just an incredible dream after all……
...................................
Anyway, back to me:- I have to say I was very impressed with Sue's attitude the whole day as she didn't complain or moan at all. At the beginning and in the half light she just 'lets go' and off we went. Personally I loved running in the snow and ofcourse in the winter you don't have the heat problem.
This was quite a different challenge for me as I just felt responsible for Sue the whole time whereas normally I'm just thinking about myself. (If you know what I mean). Her recovery was excellent which was due to all her strength and conditioning training. People often forget that in challenges like this recovery has to be managed just as much as the preparation.
I think many people will be suprised about what Sue achieved and at the age of 64 and having never done anything like this before but I always felt she could do it because her attitude during training was always enthusiastic. She stuck to the schedule religiously and never once gave any excuses.
After 30 years of marriage I will admit that I was suprised at her mental endurance but she told someone later that it was much easier having a baby!.....Now as a man that sounds like a complete nightmare.
Sue has now joined a unique band of people. A Ranger told me this year that ony 1% of visitors ever leave the rim and of these only 1% get to the river, and of these very few go there and back in a day.
I think the takeaway from all this is that it is important not to limit yourself in life. If you keep yourself fit and healthy then you are capable of much more than you can possibly imagine.
