Grand Canyon R2R2R Part 2

As we left Phantom Ranch, we passed a sign: 13.4 miles to the North Rim... I knew there was a long ‘flat’ section before the actual climb to the rim, but I wasn’t prepared for how tough this part would be mentally.

Not even halfway in and I was already feeling just a little bit tired. I didn’t like the general sense of fatigue so early on. I was still moving well, but nervous about pushing my not-yet-recovered body so soon after two hard marathons!

I wanted to climb and hike, but the easy runnable miles went on and on, twisting and turning through the canyon. I think it was this stretch where we all felt the reality of what we were attempting to do. There is a reason the park warns visitors not to even go down and back in one day.

I cautiously suggested I might just do a time-based run and turn around 6 hours in no matter how far I got. I was secretly hoping everyone else would agree. We would turn this into a scouting run to come back rested and more prepared, laughing at our naivety. Not surprisingly, everyone said they felt fine to do the whole thing like true ultrarunners, so on we went.

I focused on keeping a steady pace, running ahead of the others often and then re-grouping at each rest area. In my head, I was still going to turn around solo when the time came.