Back on the Trails. Again. Yay.

Been a while. Been living. Kids, work, moving, etc, etc.  Finally made it out for a run last night.  Embarassed to say...first run in nearly 3 weeks.  At least my achilles, both of them, don't hurt today.  Sure hope that trend continues!

Managed a few pics (viewed on Webstagr.am) from the run too. Check em out if you want.  You might like to see why we're spoiled in the Winter time in Arizona. Even a few from Ironman Arizona.  Oh, and it must have been at least 83* yesterday.  :-)  

Okay, yeah, yeah...I've been slacking again w/ the blog.  Or out running. and working. and living.  A few have asked about the Grand Canyon and the oval stickers for "Rim to Rim to Rim" or "Rim to River to Rim."   You can find them here:  http://www.cafepress.com/rim2rim2rim  and http://www.cafepress.com/rim2river2rim.  If there's another kind/type of sticker you want. Let me know as I may be able to add it.  :-)

Did you do it? Run, hike, mule, crawl? Did ya?

Summer. Hot... Storms.... Humidity...

Can't believe how long it's been since I posted anything here. One thing I do know though. I've been slackin' on the training.  Big-time!  No more excuses about the heat, the storms, the humidity, etc.

How about I get my butt up once in a while actually get out there and do something?  Easier said than done sometimes, but if I'm going to even consider another run at the Grand Canyon this fall (rim to rim to rim), I need to get SOME sort of a base... and that won't happen while sitting on my booty!

(Only a sample - not a REAL "Slacker" Certificate:)

Summer's Over! Yay!

Now that the hellish firestorm we call the "Arizona Summer" is behind us, it's time to take advantage and run a little more - OUTSIDE.  No more night-time lows of 93 degrees and day-time highs of 114.  No more getting up at 4 a.m. to start a run and have it get progressively hotter every minute of my watch.  And no need to run on the "dreadmill" - only by choice once in a while when time is short.

On that note, I'm off for a nice, cool run! (Sorry to everyone who's not in the SouthWest and/or buried under 2 feet of snow.)  :-)

Javalina 12 Hour Run

Okay, pretty sure this means I'm committed. My $50.00 means 12-hours of running? Really? Yep.  The Javalina 12 Hour Run in McDowell Mountain Park.

I've done six of the 48-mile variety in the Grand Canyon (between 13 hrs 50 min to 18+ hrs), but never anything more than 26.2 with a race number pinned to my chest.  Guess that'll change this September.  :-)

Now...to train in the heat of the Arizona Summer for some serious long-@$$ distances.  Time to get my training schedule nailed down and be in good shape - or else!  More to come!

Oops, I Did It Again

Yep, just 30 days removed from my last "rim to rim to rim" I made a last minute (or last second, rather) decision to head North and do it one more time before the Summer heat hits (and the heat hit while I was in the canyon...).  I'll keep this report shorter than usual -you're welcome! ;-)  Left Scottsdale around 10:30 p.m. Arrived at the S. Rim around 2:30 a.m., organized my stuff and headed down just before 3:00 a.m.

Less than 30 minutes after I began, I ran into 3 other guys from Phoenix (Marcus, Joseph, & Jeron) so I tagged along with them most of the way over to the N. Rim.

<--- Marcus (10th or 11th R2R2R) and Joseph - jammin' along.

After Marcus and Joseph kept up a little faster pace up the N. Rim, I was more than happy to hang with Jeron the rest of the way - we separated for a while but met up again back at the Supai Tunnel. He had a very short-lived "suffer-climb" those last few miles of the North (I think a lot of us did, to be totally honest -myself included.) and recovered quickly and was back in business for the trip to the S Rim. I think we were both just happy to enjoy the day and no need to hammer through it too hard (and pay the price on the climb out). Got pretty hot as we headed back down N Kaibab, and instead of running ALL the way to Phantom Ranch we shifted to hike mode from Cottonwood on down.  It had to be 100 degrees in the inner canyon.



Total time was slightly over 18 hrs.  (Marucs and Joseph rocked it in about 15 1/2 hours). Took about 7 hrs 30 min to reach the N Rim and took our sweet time coming back.  While I was going to shower at the campground afterwards and crash in the back of my car (happily), these guys were super-generous and offered to let me rinse off at their lodge (and even offered an extra bed they weren't using - how cool was that? WAY cool.)  I owe them a round or two of drinks!! Marcus, Joseph, and Jeron - you guys rock!

Half way.  At the N Kaibab Trailhead for 15 min of rest, my PB&J and time to head back!  Only 24 hot miles to go!

Jeron headed down N. Kaibab towards the Pumphouse.

~3 miles to go!  Ready to be done!

Done!  And Tired!

Endurance Planet - Rim to Rim to Rim Podcast

After the last Grand Canyon trip I was lucky enough to be connected with Kevin Patrick, the guy who runs Endurance Planet for an interview about running the Rim to Rim to Rim (Thank you, Shannon for pointing him my way!). I think I was more nervous about the call than completing the actual adventure.  ;-)

It can be found here--->:  Endurance Planet FB Link or directly on the EP site here: enduranceplanet.com/running-the-grand-canyon.  Was fun to share the pleasure and pain (mostly the pleasure!)

Running the Grand Canyon

BY KEVINPATRICK ⋅ MAY 19, 2010 ⋅ POST A COMMENT

FILED UNDER  ULTRARUNNING

There are certain runs that you tell yourself you absolutely have to do sometime. There’s the Boston Marathon, there’s Big Sur, and then there’s the Grand Canyon rim to rim to rim. Today on Endurance Planet we hear from veteran runner John Schultz of Scottsdale, Arizona who is quite familiar with running the Grand Canyon—in fact, he just recently returned from his latest rim to rim to rim. Schultz tells us about the run and what makes it unique.

http://www.enduranceplanet.com/running-the-grand-canyon