Training Switchbacks – A R2R2R Journey, Part 1

It was December of last year when I saw a post in the Trail Sisters Bend, OR Facebook group page, “Has anyone here run R2R2R? Looking for tips on logistics, and hoping to find a few friends who might want to give it a go this spring.” I had heard of R2R2R, which is short for Rim to Rim to Rim – a 50-ish mile trek through the Grand Canyon – starting at either the north or south side of the canyon, running to the bottom and across the Colorado River, up the other side before repeating it in the opposite direction. Grand Canyon National Park is a common training ground for the trail and ultrarunners who live in that area and I had read about attempts to break the Fast Known Time (FKT) on the route. Maybe because it was the dead of winter and I was longing for a warm adventure, or maybe I needed a goal for 2024, but I commented on the Facebook post, “Hmmm, that could be fun!”

A meeting at a local brewery was quickly assembled. We discussed what we each  knew about the route, the unique challenges of running that much elevation (about 11,500 total) and the best times of year to make an attempt. One woman in her 30s was already planning a spring trip to the Grand Canyon and was open to others joining her. Others were interested in a spring run, but two of us, both in our 50s, questioned our ability to train through the coming months of snow and cold, especially the lack of opportunities to run in the mountains and train in the winter. We decided to plan our own trip for fall 2024, hoping to take advantage of the summer months to train and the cooler autumn temperatures in the canyon.

Over the winter, we discussed our plans with others during our Trail Sisters runs. We picked up two more adventurous women who were also game for the trip. The four of us have done other long missions in the mountains so we felt comfortable to move forward as a group. We booked flights to Phoenix and hotel rooms in Flagstaff and at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. There was no going back.

I worked on fitness through the winter and had a fun time at a 10-mile race in March. I began my real training for R2R2R in May, when the snow had mostly melted around my house and the mountain trails were just starting to thaw. I was feeling strong and confident about a summer filled with runs and mountain adventures with my dog.

In late June, I was running along the Deschutes River Trail near my house in Sunriver when I had my first training set-back. A mountain biker failed to yield to me on the trail, forcing me to step off. I tripped on a rock and almost fell into an old stump. I caught myself before falling, with all of my weight on my right leg. Pain shot up my hamstring and into my glute. I was too shocked to say anything to the biker as he passed me. “I can walk this off,” I told myself. I was two miles from the car. It took me almost an hour to limp back to the trailhead.

In the weeks that followed, the details of my injury became clear. The back of my leg was black and blue and it hurt to even walk. I visited the doctor and got a referral to physical therapy. Luckily, walking and hiking didn’t seem to make things any worse, but running sent excruciating pain up my leg. I would have to settle for rehab exercises and more hours on the trail – hiking and walking instead of my usual running the flats and downhills while walking the uphills.

By late July I thought I may be able to try some short runs again but I was getting a sore throat. After several days of cold-like symptoms I had a dreadful feeling and took an at-home COVID test. Sure enough, I had avoided the virus for four years but it had found me. Running was not only out of the question for my leg, but also for my burning lungs. It was another week of just walking and easy strength training in my home gym.

On August 2, I was feeling better and had committed to joining some other Trail Sisters for a Ragnar Trail Relay at Mt. Bachelor. I knew I wouldn’t be able to run the three loops around the mountain totalling about 16 miles, but I could run some and hike the rest. It was a fun experience camping in the parking lot and running through the night with friends. It was also just two months out from our run through the Grand Canyon.

With my leg healed and COVID out of my system, I was ready to hit the R2R2R training hard. I got permits to hike South Sister for my birthday on August 7. I started running and hiking at least two or three days a week in the mountains, mixed with runs through the trails and paths in my neighborhood. I retired last year, so I told myself that my “job” this summer was to get ready for the canyon, to dedicate the time to running and strength training.

As with most summers in Oregon, the air quality due to wildfires was an issue from time to time. In early September, a series of thunderstorms rolled through the area and ignited dozens of fires. On September 6, a strike started the Little Lava Fire, part of a complex of fires in the Mt. Bachelor area. Winds picked up and drove the fire east… directly toward my community. That week, evacuation notices were issued daily and my neighborhood was threatened. We packed up our small safe, electronics and our dog and headed to the Oregon Coast to escape the smoke and hoped a change in weather would come. Luckily, the incredible work of firefighters and cooler weather had an effect and the fire slowed. But the road leading from our community to the mountains was, and still is, closed. Getting to the mountains required a half-hour detour and many of the trails I had done all summer were off limits. All of this demanded a pivot to training plans – whether due to poor air quality or trail closures.

Two weeks ago, our R2R2R group met up to circumnavigate one of Central Oregon’s most beautiful peaks, Three Fingered Jack. The loop is about 25 miles of forested and alpine trails. We saw dozens of mountain goats with their kids and bush-wacked through miles of Manzanita bushes. We talked about our hydration and calorie plans for the Grand Canyon while fine-tuning our gear for the trek. It was the last big adventure before our run.

We had one more meeting to discuss our packing lists and talk through our nerves. Our R2R2R adventure is just days away. Like a trail up a mountain or canyon, my training was filled with switchbacks and obstacles. But I’m as ready as I will physically and mentally be to get the job done.