What a weekend!

Joel and I are now in the final stages of training, which is also the most difficult.
This past weekend we spent running 3 consecutive long runs.  In the Transrockies circle this is known as the back to back to back.

We started with a trip to the Grand Canyon for a midnight full moon run from the rim down the S. Kaibab trail to the Colorado River, and back.  The moon could not have been any brighter.  We started down the trail at 1230 without our headlamps on and with our packs full of water and GU.  The descent was not as fast as we had planned due to the lack of shadows and having to be very careful of our footing.  We stopped a few times to take in the view as you could see the entire canyon lit up by the moon.  We reached the river at 215 am, refilled our water, and fueled up.  Temps were good, probably in the high 40s on the rim and close to 70 at the river.  Now the hard part begins.  Up we go.  I find it easiest to break the trail up into 4 sections.  The river to the Tipoff, the Tipoff to Skeleton Pt, Skeleton Pt to Cedar Ridge, and Cedar Ridge to the rim.  Each section has its fairly difficult ascents, especially from the river to the Tipoff and the brutal switchbacks, just before you get to Skeleton Pt.  We ascended slowly but steadily, running everything that was runnable.  As we neared the rim the first mule train was coming down so we took a refreshing break to let them pass before moving on.  Just as we reached the last set of switchbacks before the rim, the first hikers bus had arrived and a steady stream of headlamps came at us like Christmas lights.  At this point daylight was coming quickly.  We arrived at the rim at 445 am, jumped into Joel's van, and slept for a couple of hours.  Ahhh that sleeping bag felt good.  What a great start to a difficult weekend.

Day 2 we decided to let off of the hills and just go for a long run on the forest roads.  I knew this would be the toughest day for me as running 20 miles on a flat road would be more mentally taxing then physical.  Starting from Joel's house we proceeded out to the forest, starting on forest road 518, this was a gradual uphill for the first 8 miles or so.  Luckily there was cloud cover that kept it cool.  We passed a few places in the forest that a tornado had ripped through last fall.  It looked like someone had taken a huge lawn mower and cut the trees off about 15 feet from the ground.  Crazy the destruction.  We proceeded to forest road 171, then 222, and back to Joel's house.  Coming in at 20 miles and just over 3 hours, it was a relief to get this run out of the way and have plenty of time to recover for the final day.

Day 3 we met at the bottom of Snowbowl Road, where we would shuttle to the starting point of the Weatherford trailhead.  Another morning of cloud cover and everything was still wet from the rain the night before.  Heading up the Weatherford the first 1.5 miles or so is just a continuous grind, climbing 700+ feet.  My legs were on fire and the lungs were working overtime.  We help on though and were able to make it to the Kachina trail junction on the run.  Feeling good about this considering we had already run 35+ miles and climbed over 6500 feet the previous 2 days.  About a mile up the Kachina trail I was feeling my first stomach issue of the long training.  This would be something to work through considering we still had 14 miles to run and the possibility of this is great in the race.  Focusing on an awesome run across the Kachina trail through wet ferns, and lush forest, I kept concentrating on the run and not what was going on with my stomach.  We saw a herd of elk and a few deer along the way.  We arrived at the Snowbowl ski area about 1.5 hours into the run.  Knowing it was downhill back to the truck was a relief.  We were now going to explore the new Arizona trail.  Descending from Snowbowl, we ran through meadows, passing the protesters camped out, who are opposed to snowmaking.  We proceeded on the Arizona trail south, the new trail is amazing, smooth, and a fairly gradual descent.  We arrived at the small section of the trail that was not finished and proceeded to go cross country, following the marking flags of where the trail will be.  After about .75 miles we arrived at the other end of the trail which was also in primo condition.  Down we went through the forest.  We opened up at about 7800 feet, where the sun was out and it was getting warm.  We were making good time, and still running solid.  We arrived back at the truck in just under 3 hours.  No worse for the wear but still mentally and physically fatigued.

We accomplished a weekend where we would become better team mates and friends, working together to push forward, and overcome adversity when things got tough.  Our communication is great, and out team work is getting even better.  I feel that we are very close in our understanding of our abilities and where we will be in this race.  Our totals for the week were 51+ miles, 10.5 hours on feet, and over 8500+ feet of elevation gain.  This week focuses on turnover, and then one more very difficult week of training before tapering.  We are ready now but will be even more ready when race time comes.

mw