Vertical running!

During my latest trainingtrip in the US I was given the chance to run in the Grand Canyon together with my friend Gordo. Hold that thought by the way; run down and up the Grand Canyon!

For many mountain- and ultrarunners it´s an achievement to run “rim-to-river-to-rim” in one fell sweep and even though the distance over 30 kilometres might not scare too many, the elevation will; it´s a daunting 1400 metres! To be managed both ascending and descending…

We chose to descend down Kaibab Trail which is the steepest trail. Kudos to the brave and fearless men who built these amazing trails in the toughest of conditions and no doubt with an enormous amount of hardship. To prevent erosion and to secure the longevity of the trails the builders have used logs and rocks in many places that now form stairs. That gives new meaning to the definition of “running” down the trail. Rather we´re talking about an infinit number of lunges. Which meant that my legs were soon enough trembling from the rather unorthodox way of motion. Forget about trying to letting it rip the downhills like one would do on any other downhill; doing that in the GC would only send you flying into a cactus or in a heap over the next edge of the cliff….

We reached the Colorado River after about 90 minutes and passed over a few bridges before we nourished ourselves with the sweetest of lemonades at the legendary Phantom Ranch which is situated along the river. As I´m the kind of person that usually packs more stuff than I need I was toting along a backpack with everything from first aid and vaselin to extra socks and even a pair of extra shoes. All with other similar adventures in mind of which some left me rather traumatized!

I was also carrying a lot of fluids. And it sure came in handy when we started ascending the somewhat longer Bright Angel-trail for the return trip. Not only did this get our by now aching muscles to work but it was also highly aerobic for the few hours it took us to get up. My heartrate settled in around 140 while we slowly gained elevation and with the huge mountainside towering over us.
   
Many “normal” hikers were surprised to see us dragging our tired stride through the switchbacks and the further up we came, the sight of tourists in normal clothing happily careening down the trail became more frequent. I wonder if all of them were really aware how much harder it is to walk back up again? Especially if you´re carrying some excess baggage in the form of lovehandles….Well, they sure found out soon enough:)

After more than four hours of hard labour we were back on top again. And without the desire to run a single step further. Those that are truly hard-core attempt to run the “rim-to-rim-to-rim”; which is down and up both sides of the canyon. That would be more than twice the distance we ran. We contemplated our accomplishment and decided that we´re not quite tough enough yet. Or stupid….:)