The Start of Something Grand
Written by Miss January 2014, Whitney Sutherland

Sometimes I consider myself lucky to have some crazy friends and other times I’m surprised by the adventures that they talk me into. 2014 is going to be a Grand year thanks to two of my dear friends, Jon and Lori.
 Photo credit: Grand Canyon National Park Service

Jon and Lori are coordinating a group trip to run the Grand Canyon. Rim to Rim is what this is known as in the running community. It is a self-supported run done on the trails within Grand Canyon National Park. Most runners will leave from the South Rim of the Canyon and head to the North Rim via one of two common trail options. There are several water stations along the way and the famous Phantom Ranch at the bottom where there is a small canteen store.

Lori has been talking about this trip for months and finally she said the magic words that convinced me to explore it for my training this year…”No Drop.” This means no runner left behind. The group is making a commitment to not run for time rather to run for the experience and to stay together throughout the run.

This month I have spent plenty of time debating in my head the practicality of this trip. The run itself will be about 23 miles (my longest run so far is only 13.1 miles.) There will be lots of elevation change as we will run down into the canyon, across the Colorado River, and then up the other side. And lastly, the big challenge, it’s on trails!

As a runner, I have done almost all my running on the road. Every year I compete in one or two cross country races on groomed cross country trails but I rarely venture off road onto actual trails. That all changed today…today I began my Grand Canyon training with an 8 mile trail run with the group.

The Crystal Bridges Trails

Making our way onto The Urban Trail

We worked on elevation training on the infamous Presidential Bush Push Hill.

We worked on descent training with a few sections of trail stairs.

I hung towards the back so that I could take my time navigating the roots and rocks. I rolled my ankle and tripped a few times but managed to keep myself upright. The trails that we have are much rockier than what we will encounter in the Grand Canyon, thankfully!

Always time for a selfie!

In addition to incorporating trails into my training, I made a pre-commitment to the adventure by booking hotel reservations. We are looking at a mid-October trip date and reservations are starting to fill up at the more desirable hotel options. I’m 95% sold on the adventure and I must admit that I am terrified as much as I am excited for the trip! It’s such a big challenge and that is terrifying but if I believe in myself and put in the training I know that I can do it!

I’ll be sharing more of my training over the next months on my blog and I will definitely be incorporating more trail and off-road running into my routine! It’s going to be a Grand year in 2014!