Date: 2012-02-04
To: On Peaking Too Soon (Part I)
Miles today: 0.0

Some thoughts on why if you spend 36 years training to hike the A.T., the chances are pretty good you will peak too soon:Part I ¢ In which I attempt to set the record by a sane individual in running across the Grand Canyon from rim-to-rimThe day before Thanksgiving in 1977, I was offered a helicopter ride from the South Rim to the North Rim of Arizona¢s Grand Canyon, conditioned on my running back via the Kaibab Trail. This 21.3 mile route begins at 8060¢ elevation before beginning a 14-mile, 5,600¢ descent to the Colorado River. After crossing the Black Bridge, the trail begins a climb back up 4,800¢ to Yaki Point (elevation 7,260¢). The preceding year, a New Zealand beer company sent famed long distance runner Max Telford to run the canyon as a publicity stunt. His time rim-to-rim was 3 hours 20 minutes. Having had a chance to live on the south rim for seven weeks, I felt somewhat acclimated to the area¢s thin air, and didn¢t think that time sounded so tough. And I would have walked through seven miles of hell for the chance at that free helicopter ride.The North Rim had already closed to visitors for the year, and there was still evidence of the first snow of the season on the start of the trail. It was unlikely I¢d see another soul until I reached Phantom Ranch at the canyon bottom. A Ranger gave a signal by radio to start a stopwatch on the opposite rim, and I was on my way.Mules use the North Kaibab Trail down to Roaring Springs, and until that point the trail was more like a big ditch filled with small boulders. I tried to make my foot plants on the sloping sides of the trail to avoid the rocks in the middle, but it was mentally rough and slow going. At least the remains of the season¢s first snow did not last much below the rim.Beyond Roaring Springs the trail flattened slightly and the running became a little easier. My most vivid memory in the first ten miles was a large flat rock near the Cottonwood deserted campground. After spending so much time carefully picking my steps, what a relief to have at least one solid landing spot. Except it wasn¢t ¢ I came down on what amounted to a large teeter-totter. I felt my ankle twist and almost give way, but fortunately I was able to recover and catch my balance. What a scary thought to be incapacitated miles from any help, and carrying only a small water bottle¢¦The last few miles before Phantom Ranch is a stretch called ¢The Box¢ where the steep walls of the canyon close in, and you lose the magnificent canyon vistas seen earlier. Today The Box seemed to go on forever. My water bottle was now empty, but I had sent a package of E.R.G. (electrolyte replacement powder) down for the staff to hand me as I breezed through. But instead of finding a prepared drink waiting for me, here was a person standing next to the trail holding a pitcher of water and the unopened packet. I tore open the package and poured it into the pitcher, took a big two-handed swig and then used my hand to stir the rest and dissolve the powder. After filling my bottle, I chugged the rest of the pitcher, said a quick ¢thanks,¢ and headed off to the black bridge and the Colorado River.Much like a NOBO thru hike in VT, I had now covered 2/3 of the distance, but climbing out of the canyon would require way more than half the energy of the trip. My time so far was slower than I¢d planned¢¦(To be continued)-N