run, rest, eat, bitch, buy things, cross-train, blog, repeat.

Thursday, May 29, 2014

Grand Canyon Part 4

OMG, we're only on part 4, FFS.

Previous Recaps:
Part 1
Part 2 + Part 2
Part 3

After we crossed the Colorado River, we approached Phantom Ranch.



We all stopped at a picnic table and emptied our shoes of sand, rummaged around in our packs for various items and I filled up my hydration pack.

The KoB made his Pepperoni Burritos.
Yup.

And after just a few minutes, we were back on the trail.


It was at this point that I hit my first low of the day. Having that pack filled with water for the first time felt like I was lugging around a gorilla on my back. And not only that, we were running more during this stretch (because we could) and having that heavy pack on me, I felt VERY bogged down.

I tried to put it out of my head and keep plugging away, but man... it was a grind.
It was also a long stretch to the next water spicket, so I knew we would be traveling for awhile without much stopping. 

Melissa started checking in with me at this point and I was just kind of mentally a mess. I felt like I was falling behind. I felt like I couldn't keep up with the guys. I had this overwhelming feeling that we were trying to "make up time" from the descent and while... we probably were and rightfully so, I just internalized that into stress.

I finally shook it off after a couple miles and told myself to buck up and get over myself. For chrissakes, I was IN THE MOTHERFUCKING GRAND CANYON... ENJOY IT!


Once I got over my little pity party and started feeling better mentally... I magically started feeling better physically, as well. Doh. Unfortunately, during my little bitch phase, I had stopped taking care of myself physically... I had stopped eating... wasn't drinking enough... and was setting myself up for some dire times ahead.

FORESHADOW-Y CLIFFHANGER. You're welcome.

3 comments:

Carina said...

Now that you've made it clear no one dies, the cliffhanger is less dramatic. Roughly what mile are you on at this point, or don't you keep track since watches might not even keep laps that long? And how many total miles is the event? And is this an organized event 1-x times per year, or do people do it whenever? There should be a Grand Canyon RTRTR basics post too among the recaps in case you said those things already and I forgot. Anyway, enjoying the series a lot!

Amy said...

You ask some good questions, which makes me realize I should have done a better job explaining this whole R2R2R thing at the beginning. I will do that in Part 5. (OMG. Even I'm sick of the Grand Canyon at this point).

Fairytales and Fitness said...

Looks like a great time. Those trails are beautiful.