Rim to Rim to Rim - My Run Across the Grand Canyon and Back

First-hand stories can entertain us, motivate us and educate us all at the same time. In a bit of a change of pace, Tom gives an account of his epic run across the Grand Canyon...and back.

Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Fitness disrupted a production of My Heart Radio.
I am Tom Holland and this is Fitness disrupted. The
rim to Rim to rim my run across the Grand
Canyon and back. To say that I am sore today

(00:23):
would be a gross understatement. My legs, my abs, parts
of my arms. Yes, it is really cool to do
this podcast today because I am two days out from
having just run across the Grand Canyon and back, which
is known as the rim to rim to Rim run.

(00:44):
So you start on one side, you run down, you
run up, and then you go back. There are people
that do rim to rim. It is not possible to
do it right now because there's really no way to
get back unless you get dropped off on one side.
You can do it if you drop off a car,
and it's just the logistics are harder. So if you

(01:04):
can run the whole thing, which is right around fifty
miles depending on the route you take, and you know
you're kind of deviations from there, but it's around fifty
miles across and back fifty miles. So I did this
two days ago. I got back last night. My kids
laughed when I walked in because yes, I was sore.

(01:25):
Then and now the morning after, or you know, the
two days after the delayed onset muscle soreness that I
did a whole episode about, and most of you have experienced.
The first time you ever truly exercise lift weights, you
get that soreness that is unique, and it's not usually
the day after, but two days. So after an event

(01:47):
like this, sure you are sore the next morning, and
you are even more sore two days And that's where
I am right now. So I thought, you know what,
what a perfect time to do a show like this.
And that's what I of about this medium is that
I can do this, and I have a producer who
will turn this around ridiculously fast for me. And so

(02:08):
while it's fresh, and as I stand here, as I
do when I do this podcast, I stand standing desk
in the studio, I am really sure. I'm gonna talk
all about a quick race report, and that's what it's
known as. And I just want to say that historically speaking,
I don't I haven't done race reports. So when you

(02:29):
do an iron Man, when you do a marathon and
ultra marathon, a lot of times online people will write
up race reports and I've read them and they're great,
and so they'll say, here's from start to finish, here's
what I ate, here's my experiences, and they're super entertaining,
they're super educational. You can learn from other people. Obviously,
I personally just it's been more personal to me. I

(02:50):
think I've always wondered, like, why why don't I do it?
And people have asked I think racing is really personal
to me. And there's a whole bunch of reasons too.
About you know, sometimes I think it can sound like
excuses when things go wrong, because things are going to
go wrong, and that is a huge part of this episode.
This was one of the scariest things I've ever done,
one of the hardest things I've ever done. I'm fifty

(03:11):
one years old. It is the longest I've ever exercised
in my lifetime, So to say that I've done that
at fifty one is kind of crazy. But I thought,
you know what, this is the time to do a
race report, and that's what today's episode is going to
be about. And so the Rim to Rim to Rim
run just finished. It went there with a friend. You know,

(03:34):
I've been talking about potentially doing this for years. I
had heard about it, said that's nuts. Almost went a
couple of years ago. And then I met this guy
in my neighborhood. He is a true ultra runner. I
have done a couple of ultras. I'll talk about that,
but this guy, Bill O's and he is the man
when it comes to trail running and ultra's way more

(03:56):
experienced than I. And we talked about it quickly, and
he said we should do it, and I said, listen,
let's pull the trigger. Let's book flights, let's book hotels.
No more talking, it's COVID, there are no races. Uh,
this is pretty much, you know, one of the few
things you can do. You gotta do it on your own.
And well and behold, he booked everything and I had

(04:17):
to go, and I was so excited and one of
the greatest experiences I've ever had, and I've had many
when it comes to racing and challenging myself. So if
you want to be entertained at my expense, this is
the show for you. A little schaden freud maybe, but
an amazing experience that I hope you'll enjoy. So when
we come back, quick break, uh, quick fun race report.

(04:42):
My experience running across the Grand Canyon and back two
days ago. We'll be right back. So the Rim to
Rim to Rim. I have never been to the Grand Canyon.

(05:03):
I'm sure many of you have before, so this was
going to be very cool in that regard as well.
Only difference being was that I was going to have
to run across it and then run back again. It's
around fifty miles or different couple different trails. You can
take ways in and out as I'll say, uh, I
tell you further along. My watch, my garment watch was

(05:26):
off overestimated. I think it showed fifty six miles, more
closer to fifty. And it's totally self contained. In other words,
you've got to bring everything with you, and that part
freaked me out, amongst many other elements of it, the
distance being one of them, and you have to bring
everything with you. Now again a little history. I have

(05:46):
done several ultras in my lifetime. And ultra marathon, for
those of you who don't know, is anything over twenty
six of fifty k thirty miles. They're fifty miles, they're
hundred miles, and there's much farther, So anything over a
marathon is considered an ultra. Years ago, when I was
much bitter and younger. I did a fifty mile and

(06:07):
actually was super fit and again younger and went fast,
did it, did a sub nine hour, which is pretty
good for a fifty mile or and then I did
the run up poly Acola I've talked about before, incredible
from sea level to the ten thousand foot summit of
Mount holy Akola. Amazing, super challenging. That was around memory

(06:28):
serves a little over nine hours as well, straight up
though basically. And then I did a fifty k not
too long ago, thirty mile or at Bare Mountain, brutal,
just hills and up and down, and then some crazy
thirty mile treadmill runs things like that, but by large
iron Man triathlons, marathons and those handful of ultra So

(06:48):
this was going to be super challenging, not just the
distance but the dropping down. You're running into a bowl,
you're running downhill for seven eight miles, you're running across
you know, seven eight miles, and and then you're running
straight up you know, switch backs, and then you're doing
it again. Uh So this was some crazy uncharted waters

(07:10):
for me generally speaking to when you do your research
on this run, you either do it roughly in May
or October November, when the temperatures are going to be
favorable for you. And there are water stops along the way,
and that's another thing you have to research. The trails
you take are largely dependent on what water stops are open,

(07:30):
what faucets are on, because you are carrying everything. This
is not a race. There are no aid stations and
that was totally unique to me. Never done anything like this,
so I had to go by race vest, I had
to buy running polls. I'll talk about all the gear
I brought with me, and and that was frightening because
not only are you running roughly fifty miles, but you

(07:53):
are carrying a heavy pack with you the entire way.
And because you're in the grand cam in and you
know the UH, you you carry out what you bring in,
so you're not throwing anything away. You're bringing out everything
you brought in as well, so you can't lighten your
pack as you go, even your garbage. It all stays
with you. But this was an amazing goal and I

(08:15):
was super excited for it. You probably are thinking, Okay, training,
how did you train? Uh much less than the average
person would for this, And my thought on that as
I was preparing notes for this is my goal is
to be injury free. If you've listened to the other podcast,
that is what I'm most proud of. So you generally
get hurt in training. So my whole philosophy and approach

(08:39):
to to racing, especially at this age, and not even
that this isn't a race, but you know, challenging yourself
is to do the perfect amount of work, you could
call it the least amount of training, to enjoy the
race and not get injured. And that is what I'm
most proud of as well when I used to train clients,

(08:59):
and again I'm living proof of it. That's it. I
want to be healthy. I want to train, obviously, train,
but I'm not gonna do uh, you know, five thirty
five miles in preparation for this. I'm not gonna get
injured and I'm not gonna be completely fatigued going into
the run. So that takes a lot of experience and
a lot of education. And I've been doing this for

(09:21):
a really long time. But that's that's how I approached this.
So when I tell you my training, it was a
handful of shorter runs, it was a lot of cross training,
strength training, outdoor biking, all of the above, swimming, and
then a handful probably three runs over ten miles anywhere
from ten to fifteen sixteen, about three of those. And

(09:43):
then two weeks before this, I went out and did
a twenty mile. And some of you may say that's
too close to those of you who are runners. I
you know, that's that's what my body was telling me
to do. So I went out and did twenty mile
or with the race pack, getting acclimated to that, not
totally packed up, and we'll talk about that. But two
weeks out I did a twenty mile and so that

(10:05):
was it. And for most ultra guys and most runners,
they're gonna do so much more, but you know what,
they get hurt. And so the first major point I
want you to take away from this is the goal
for you, regardless of what you're doing, is to do
the perfect amount of training so that you don't get hurt,

(10:26):
that you stay healthy, and that you enjoy the event.
And that is so important because so many people get hurt.
And this is not a race. I don't care what
my time is, and that is so essential to this
whole podcast. Enjoyment. It's all about throwing that time. Who cares?

(10:52):
And yes, I've already had people say how long did
it take you? And I know that that's for different reasons,
but I was not going to, you know, do a
specific time. And listen, there are many runners of the
guy I was with, Bill had a time basically in mind,
it's different. You have different approaches, and he trained much differently,
many more miles to each their own. But my goal

(11:15):
is again to not only get the perfect amount of training.
And I have kids, and I have a wife, and
I have a job, so balancing all of those things
is super important and you can do it, is my point.
You can do these crazy things like run across the
Grand Canyon and back without getting hurt. Now I know

(11:37):
you're going that's insane. Now, obviously this is a relative
thing based on your goals, but what you learn when
you do events like this is how absolutely amazing the
human body is and how much we can do. And
I am not superman. And I had shin splints as
a kid. I could not run as a kid sports.

(11:59):
I was the bench with chin splints my entire childhood
and into high school, you know, debilitating chin splints. So
to think that I did at fifty one. What I
just did should give hope to everyone out there. I
am not Superman. This is my job. I have studied
it and warned it and put it into practice, and
I let ego aside and all those important things I

(12:22):
talked about on every podcast that you can do too.
All right, So we decide we're gonna do it. And
what happens. Bill text me on Friday and he says,
there's a huge storm coming in. We're gonna have to
run on Tuesday, and that there's going to be snow,

(12:42):
and we're gonna have to, you know, stay a day later.
And this is Friday, and we're supposed to fly out Sunday.
And I said, well, what if we fly out Saturday?
What if we go a day early? And he said,
I'll get right back to you. And he gets back
to me and he says, we could do that. I
can change the flights, can change the hotel, but we're
gonna have to go tomorrow morning, six am. And I'm like,

(13:05):
I'm in. And this is such a crucial point as
well point number two. It is never perfect. Whatever plans
you put out there, whatever goals you have, it is
almost never exactly the way you lay it out and
and and there will be ten twelve twists and turns
along the way, and you roll with the punches because

(13:27):
there will always be obstacles. And so I was so
excited that he said, yeah, let's do it. I thought
he was gonna say, no, let's wait, let's run in
the cold. I do not want to run in the cold.
I did it for so many years, biking and running,
and uh, you know, at fifty one, I wanted to
be warmer. So he said, he's in, We're going. And

(13:48):
so now I've got to change. You know, my plans.
I had a whole you know, uh, fueling up plan
that now was a day off. I didn't have that day.
So what so you keep moving forward and you adapt.
So we're in, We're going. I have to scramble. I
have to go buy some stuff that I thought had

(14:09):
another day to get. And that's why you always want
to be as prepared as possible, as quickly and you know,
as you can be, because things will always go wrong.
It's not a matter of if, but when, and you
just keep moving forward. So I got everything I needed,
packed my bags. We left bright and early. This was
this was always a bright and early weekend. So up

(14:31):
at three am for a six fifteen flight out Saturday morning,
six fifteen flight, bright and early, uh flight. We get there,
jump in the rental car. Three hour you know, roughly
drived from Phoenix to the Grand Canyon, and we're good
to go. We get to the Grand Canyon I've never been.

(14:53):
We park, we look out, got the tourists looking all out,
and I go, oh my gosh, I gotta run across
that and back. And this is where the doubt starts
to settle in. Andre. You go, this amazing, you know,
natural wonder of the world I'm looking out at, and
I decided that I have to run across it and back.
Why don't I just enjoy this like every other tourist.

(15:16):
So I'm excited as can be. And again for the
first time in a really long time, I've got those
doubts and I'm nervous. I haven't been nervous in that
way in so long. And you know what, that was
exciting to me. Because the line is, if your goals
don't scare you some, if you're big goals, you should

(15:37):
have you know, short term, smaller goals and a couple
of big ones fitness, finance, family, everything. If they don't
scare you, they're not big enough. And this one scared
me on multiple levels. And so I embraced it because
I chose it. I chose to do this, and I'm

(15:57):
healthy enough to do it. And I remind myself of
that right now. I did it the entire time I
was running and when I was nervous looking out before. Okay,
so we did the look we go, Okay, here we are,
and then we said we got a fuel up. So
we found nice simple restaurant pasta perfect. You know, I'm

(16:21):
gonna get a carve up. You need those carbs before
and super important, you're running fifty miles. You need as
much fuel in you as possible. So I keep it simple.
I figured out over the years, I've experimented with many
different things pre race fueling, different for everybody, but I
want it simply. You don't want to try something different.
You want stuff that is going to fuel you up

(16:42):
and uh not screw you up as far as g
I issues and things like that. So basic pasta and meatballs.
As I was eating outside, we were both eating, you know,
outside of a bench, bird pooped on my head, so
you know, that's supposedly good luck. Luckily, I was wearing
a hat, but there you go. I was like, Okay,
that's a sign. I hope, I hope it's a good one.

(17:04):
I hope it holds true because I'm nervous back to
the hotel. So now I gotta pack up. I gotta
pack up. I gotta pack up my packet, everything ready.
You don't want to wake up, because I'm getting up
at two thirty am because we gotta start in the dark.
We gotta start in the dark. And that scared the
heck out of me. And you know what, perfect time

(17:25):
for the final break. So it's the night before and
I'm starting to freak out, starting to freak out because
this is new, this is far, this is in the dark,
this is on cliffs. For those of you who have
seen or walk that. I had seen videos and it's
it's it's scary. So I'm gonna run that in the

(17:46):
dark for three plus hours and possibly at night as well.
And that was scared in the heck out of a
final break, will be right back, all right. So we're

(18:10):
at the hotel. He's packing up. I'm packing up. I
got to bring everything with us now, Bill was amazing.
He again was is an experienced ultra runner, and he
is one of these you know, cross every t dot,
every eye, very very analytical, super helpful. You know, he

(18:30):
gave me a list. I obviously do my research. I
had done, you know, some longer runs, but there's a
lot to bring. And that was scaring the heck oudemy
to why because when I picked up my vest after
I packed it and thought, I have to carry this.
It's hard enough to run fifty miles. It's hard enough

(18:51):
to run down and up the elevation change twelve tho
feet when we were done looking at the watch, crazy
and so what was it? What did I put in? Okay,
here you go. Fifteen Goose fifteen Gail packs. For those
of you who understand, that's carbohydrate. I have to bring
as uh, I gotta bring water and I gotta bring fuel,

(19:13):
and I also have to bring sports drink. So I'm
going to be able to get water. And that's it.
So fifteen Goose. Those are the single gel packs about
a hundred calories each. Four packs of Gatorade Endurance. So
that is a specific Uh, it's a powder, So think
of your sports drinks. Now I'm going to pour that

(19:33):
into my flasks and make my own as we go.
So within that race vest on my back is a
two leader pouch to put water in. Okay, that's big,
two leaders on my chest. I have two water bottles.
That's gonna be my sports drink, and those are seventeen
ounces each. See how heavy it's getting now, So I'm

(19:57):
gonna drink. I I started with those filled my chest bottles,
seventeen ounces of already I just poured in sports drink.
And then when I finished those, I was gonna put
water in them and add in the powder. And that
was gonna give me about you know, four six eight
more bottles of Yeah, about eight bottles of sports drink,

(20:19):
all right, So four packs of that and then salt
super important. I will talk about that little tiny vial
of salt. You put your thumb, you lick your thumb,
You open up the vial, you shake it, you lick
your thumb. Salt so important. So that was going. I
had two packs of of Google Blocks, so those are

(20:40):
semisoft kind of choose a couple hundred calories each. I
had two cliff bars. That was my only kind of
hard solid food. So generally speaking, when you're running, you
want as many colories to come from liquids as possible.
The harder the food, the harder is to digest, the
more solid and so again this is so individual, but

(21:01):
generally speaking, you want your calories to be as much
liquids as much semi solids as possible so you don't
have g I issues when you're running. So two cliff bars,
those are about two fifty calories each. And so when
you total it all up with the sports drink and
everything else, right around thirty calories, and looking back, I
should have done a little bit more all right along

(21:23):
with that. So that's all going in the vest people,
all of it. Then extra batteries for a headlamp. So
I gotta wear a headlamp. I haven't worn a headlamp
since I did adventure racing twenty years ago at least,
so that was a new thing or you know, thing
I hadn't done in a really long time. So extra
batteries for that. Bringing a go pro. Had a go

(21:43):
pro as well, I gotta grab some footage, have a phone,
uh pictures, and you know when I get out and
I gotta you know, get back to the hotel. All
that kind of stuff, So I got my phone. Now
the elements, it's we're gonna start at about forty degrees,
is gonna get back up to about eighty and then
it's potentially going to be cold on the north Rim.

(22:05):
And when I finished as well, so because the inclement
weather coming in, I have a super light raincoat like
folds down to nothing. I also had a warm jacket,
performance jacket, rolled it up super tight, but that was
in case, you know, it got super cold. And I
had a thin hat, you know winter hat, really thin,

(22:27):
though didn't end up using that, by the way, had
gloves which I would definitely knew that I would use
because my hands get super cold at this age. And
then I'm bringing running poles, and running poles were the
first time I've ever used these, and that was a
question do we bring those or not? And we went
back and forth and back and forth, and because of
the internet, because of video now everybody you do your homework,

(22:49):
and the consensus was you bring them. And I had
never used them before, and I'll get to that really
quickly actually. Finally, so that all packed up and I
picked it up, and I freaked out, and I was like,
this has to be at least ten pounds. I found
out later Bill Wade his vest fifteen pounds for his
Now he brought more gear than I did, but mine,

(23:10):
I would guestimate at least ten. So that stress started
to kick in. And then finally I brought oatmeal, plain
oatmeal with me in you know, sealed seran bag. And
so that night, after the pasta, I still want more carbs.
I want to start that race with as much fuel

(23:30):
in the tank as possible, so oatmeal, poured it into
a cup water. There was actually a microwave there, but
if there wasn't didn't matter to me. I've done it
cold as well. And so, you know, a cup or
two of oatmeal right before bed, perfect, easy on the stomach,
slow releasing, and I had two more ready to go
in the morning. All right, so freaking out. Now, let

(23:54):
me say this one thing I violate, because again I
don't want to get hurt. But it's never perfect. And
one of the rules of of doing an event or
a race is you never try anything during the event
that you haven't practiced. Well, I get it, and yes,
I should have practiced with the polls. I should have
run with the weight of the vest as heavy, and

(24:16):
the exact weight that I was going to use during
the run itself didn't get there. And I have a
lot of experience, and there were certain things I had
time to do and certain things I didn't, and I
knew that. But no, that whatever you're doing, you obviously
want to try to approximate your training as much as
possible so that you don't have anything surprising during the

(24:40):
event itself. Sometimes that's possible, sometimes it isn't, and sometimes
you go, you know what, I'm okay with trying this out,
and only the truly experienced should kind of take that
chance with certain things. But the polls no big deal,
right And by the way, I could strap them on
my pack if I didn't want the they fold up.

(25:00):
They're amazing, and I was kind of excited to use them,
all right, So the fear sat back and said, okay,
good to go. I'm kind of excited because I haven't
felt this nervous in a really long time. Set the
alarm clock to thirty am to thirty am. Oh it
went to bed. By the way, here's the other great
thing overlooked going from Connecticut to Arizona. This is the

(25:24):
perfect time change. Perfect. So six am flight, we get there, drive,
We're three hours behind now, so when I go to
bed at seven thirty, I usually go to bed much later.
It's about ten o'clock at home, right ten thirty, and
so I get up at two. Not too bad. I
get some good sleep, which is rare. So flying West

(25:46):
worked out perfectly as far as starting in the dark,
and we started in the dark, so woke up to
thirty am. Alarm goes off. I'm excited. I'm feeling good.
Body feels good again. I haven't trained, overtrained, there's no
nagging injuries or anything. But the nagging question too is
did I do enough? Is that one or for most

(26:07):
people that's not even gonna be close to enough. I
also have years of racing and years of training, and
that has not talked about enough, and I've talked about
it in another podcasts. You have a base of strength,
and that's why when pro triathletes and runners and other
pro athletes talk about what they do after and you
don't need to do that much, they are right. But
they also have a base. So in other words, when

(26:29):
you put in all that work, I would argue, and
my experience has been it pays off that you shouldn't
do as much. Now your goals are different. You're not
going as fast. But my goal is to enjoy it
and to complete it. To enjoy it and to complete it,
that's it. I don't care how fast I go, and
don't let me throw on and not get hurt during

(26:49):
And that was a huge part two when it came
to pacing and not caring how fast I went. All right,
So wake up, have those two cups of oatmeal again, perfect,
you know, simple, more carbs in the morning, top off
the fuel tank and getting ready to go. Now, chafing
for anyone who's done a long event is a huge issue.

(27:13):
So I body glide. That's a specific type of product
that you use my entire you know, every area where
you think you're gonna chafe, the body glide goes. And
that's huge because chafing is just you don't want that
friction and you can minimize it and almost you know,

(27:33):
avoid it completely if you do this correctly. So body glide, up,
some coffee, the oatmeal, and get dressed. Now what am
I gonna wear? It's forty degrees but it's gonna get
up to eight. So I was in shorts. I was
in a T shirt that was kind of a performance type,
performance fiber, and then arm warmers, so arm warmers that
roll up and then I can roll them down or

(27:55):
take them off. So it's kind of a long sleeve
shirt of sorts, you know, with the T shirt and
the arm warmers, and then I put a thin shirt over.
Now stepped outside and said, you know what, I'm probably
gonna take this shirt off and just run in the
T shirt pretty quickly because you're gonna drop into the
canyon and the temperature warms up quickly. So not wearing

(28:18):
a lot T shirt, arm warmer's thin longsleeve shirt over
performance fiber, and that's it with the shorts. But I
got everything in the pack, the colder weather jacket if
I need that, and so that's going to be good
to go as well. All right, let's get into this.
Let's get into it. So jump in the car with Bill.
Drive to the canyon. We're close, about fifteen minutes away.

(28:40):
We left at three ft. Goal was to be running
by four am. We were out at I've never been
scared like that in that way. When we started. It's
pitch dark, Bills in great shape. Bill is an ultra
runner Bills younger, he trained more, and he's gone, not

(29:01):
totally gone, but you know we're gonna We're gonna basically
run alone and that will be a theme as I
go along. But we're standing at the top, we start
the watches and we go. Now. The only saving grace
to me right then was that I couldn't see the

(29:22):
sides of the cliff. I couldn't see what I was,
you know, running down. I just focused on the trail,
which was very narrow, and any of you who have
walked it, no, it is super exposed. So one wrong
step and you're in trouble and you're super high. You know,
you're you're starting at and you're dropping. So Bill and

(29:42):
I are running, and I am using all my mental
tips and tricks and things I've learned over the years
just to stay focused. And so I literally just focused
on the trail ahead of me, didn't think what was
to the side, and just ran. And it was hard
because you're going down, so it's not going fast. And
Bill is true ultra runners, it's a technique. It is

(30:05):
so unique. You know, it's nothing like running on the roads,
especially when you're descending, you're using polls. I was going
much slower. I also, by the way, have one week
link when it comes to running on trails like that.
I rolled my ankles like crazy and woods and I
must have fallen fifteen times, twenty times. So my goal

(30:27):
was to not do that. Because you roll your ankle,
you can still run. And I've done it many times
even though it hurts. You know, if you haven't really
hurt yourself, it's just rolling it. And those of you
who have done it experienced it. So my goal was
not to do that slow pace, slow pace. So we ran.
He was up ahead, and he would stop periodically, but

(30:48):
by and large I would be running for an hour,
then I would catch up to him, he'd wait, and
then we take off again. And that three hours in
the dark unning down the Grand Canyon, just us, no
one else by head lamp was amazing and it was frightening,

(31:09):
and it was truly testing me in a way that
I haven't been tested before. And all the time I'm thinking,
I gotta pace myself. This is just the start, this
is just the start. But as we're going to I
am reminding myself how amazing this is, how amazing that
I have the ability to get there, and enjoy this

(31:33):
and do this, and I'm healthy enough and to experience
the Grand Canyon in this unique way amazing. So we
did that for like ten miles. Now the whole way,
I am hydrating. You have these special tubes that come off,
So you have a tube that comes off that two
leader water comes across your chest. You put it right
in your mouth. Every ten minutes or so, I am
drinking that every five or ten minutes. I'm taking some

(31:56):
sports drink as well. Every forty five minutes or so.
I am taking a goo, so a couple hundred calories
hundred calories every forty five minutes, and hydrating and gatorade periodically.
I have to front load to get across and enjoy
this and get back. And it was spectacular. And about

(32:19):
seven am, the sun comes up and Bill is waiting
and watch as the Grand Canyon woke up. And it
was one of the most amazing, amazing experiences, one of
the most incredible surroundings. And I've been in amazing places
so to see because it's been pitch dark, haven't seen again,
thank goodness. As I was running down and now you

(32:41):
can see what you've been running through, and it was amazing.
Again for those of you have been there, this was
my first time. And now I'm down in it and incredible, incredible,
all right, So now we're going, We're into it. We're
ten miles in and I'm feeling good. And by the way,
I keep checking my body. The goal is to be
in the moment. I'm never thinking ahead, and I am

(33:05):
just thankful that the body feels as good as it does.
And I was shocked at how good. Now Again, the
question is, well, do you feel that good because you
haven't trained that much. That's part of it. But I'm
you know, I've been running downhill, which is brutal on
the legs, by the way. You know, the downhills and
the up hills just you gotta be you know, they

(33:28):
shred your legs, and you know, super hard, super slow going.
I would much rather run faster on flat than slower
up and down, just really hard. So we're running, and
now Bill is in charge of navigation. We talked about
how we're gonna stay on this bright Angel trail, by

(33:49):
the way, and he's way ahead and there's a fork
in the road. I can go one way or the other,
and I'm looking at that sign and I'm cursing myself
out because stupid. And I'll admit it, right, you should
never do uh an event like that and not know
exactly the route. Now again, it was a very simple route.
This would be the only true fork in the road.

(34:10):
But it was a fork in the road, and I
have no sense of direction, and given two choices, I'm
going to make the wrong one, and so I am
cursing myself. I'm staring at that sign, and then all
of a sudden I looked down and there's a rock
formation pointing to the right, an arrow. There are rocks
in the form of an arrow pointing to the right,

(34:31):
and I thought, oh my gosh, Bill has left me
an arrow. And then I thought, well, maybe it's not Bill,
and I thought it's gotta be Bill. There's no one,
you know, there's a couple other people out there, I'm sure,
and we ended up seeing people. But he left me
a rock arrow. So off I go, and sure enough,
as I saw him later, he confirmed that he left
the arrow for me. But note to all of you again,

(34:54):
don't do as I do, and if you are challenged directionally,
have the map with you. Um I did not so
laughed that I you know, hadn't seen the rocks right
away because it was a big formation. But off I go,
all right, and again, I am just loving every second

(35:16):
and I'm loving that it's not a race that I
don't care about time. And that's point number three in
this whole race report lesson is that we are so
tied up and what other people think. You know, when
people do marathons and whatever the event is, you know
what other people are going to think about what you did.

(35:38):
And this, you know, it sounds selfish to say it's
not about anyone else but you. It's your time, and
it's your suffering, and it's your learning about yourself. And
so I couldn't care less what my finishing time was.
And it's taken a long time to get there. Yes,
I raced, you know, years ago, and there's certain times

(36:00):
when I care, but it's it's a totally different now.
And I talked about this with Dean car Nazis and
when I interviewed him, and it is one of the
most freeing things when you truly get to that point
when you don't care what other people think. And again,
it sounds like it's a selfish thing and self centered,
but it's absolutely the opposite. It's that this is for you.

(36:24):
And there were moments super spiritual, by the way, and
that's personally or for another show, but it's about being
in the moment, enjoying every step, looking around at where
I was. You know, I used to do, you know,
be in the races in like New Zealand and South

(36:46):
Korea and China, amazing locations, and I would just notice
the people who we're racing and not you know, truly
enjoying the moment. And I get it and enjoying the surroundings.
But they're not mutually exclusive. They're not. You can enjoy
it and take it in now. I was doing that
at a different level. I was taking some pictures and

(37:07):
slowing down. But who cares? Is my point? Who cares?
Enjoy it now? My only stressor, I should say, was
that Bill and I and I'm surprised we didn't have
the conversation that he should just go ahead. So at
that point, about halfway across the Grand Canyon for the
first leg, I just wanted to catch up to him

(37:29):
and tell him to go to not wait any longer.
You know. He would wait at certain water stops and
things like that, and that was the only stressor everything
else was just amazing. And I was constantly checking my
body and being thankful that it was responding so well.
All right, at miles seventeen, get to a water station

(37:49):
and there's Bill or no, I'm sorry he wasn't there.
The people told me that he had just left and
that he had waited around but was getting cold, so
that again, a little stressed, I wanted him to that
he should go ahead. So now we're climbing to the
north room. We started on the south rim. Now we're
climbing to the north. He's ahead of me, and that's
up at so that's gonna be altitude. So it was brutal,

(38:11):
and that's where you start to question. This was super hard.
A mile is so slow going when you're climbing to
feet as quickly as we were, and so this is
where you start to question and think can I get back?
And again I just kept checking my body. I was fueling.
I was going, this is this is gonna be fine.

(38:32):
I'm gonna finish. I don't have to rush. I don't
have a time, not trying to qualify for the way
iron man, I'm not trying to break three hours from
here I'm just here to enjoy it, and it was
so special. I truly love this whole ultra running for
that reason is that it really takes the focus off that.
So as I'm suffering on the way up, sure enough,
here comes Bill on his way down, which I expected,

(38:53):
and it was such a freeing moment. We stopped quickly,
you know, checked in with each other. He was looking great,
and I said, Bill, go, I will see you at
the finish. I will see you at the finish. And
that was the final weight lifted off me. And it
wasn't a huge one because I knew, you know, deep down,
that he was doing his thing, obviously, but I wanted
to have that final conversation where I wanted him to

(39:15):
know he should just go. Not that he wouldn't have anyway,
but he didn't have to wait around the way he was.
And so now I'm good to go, and now I'm suffering.
So that final climb to the North Rim brutal, so
slow going got to the top. It is so windy
and cold, the temperature changes, the environment changes. For those
of you who haven't been to the Grand Canyon, incredible.

(39:37):
Every thousand feet it's different, and it was just amazing.
So got to the top first time. I'm like, okay,
I'm suffering. You know, I'm still feeling good. By the way,
there's such a difference. So I didn't have I hadn't fallen,
hadn't twisted my ankle. There was no major issues. Was
I tired? Yeah? Was the altitude like really? I could

(39:58):
feel it absolutely? But that's okay. And here's what number
are we on? Takeaway number four? I think is the
most incredible lesson you learn, and I've said this on
other shows from doing these events, is that no matter
how bad you feel at one point, you can feel

(40:21):
incredible later on. And that's counterintuitive, that doesn't make sense.
So you think I just made it across. I have
to go back. So I'm twenty some odd miles in.
I gotta go back, but I feel like garbage as
far as just the altitude, and you know, bodies, you
know there's no major issues. But this is challenging. But

(40:44):
I know because I've been there that I can feel
even better. So you don't pack it in. You don't
start the negative self talk. Listen to my podcast on
self talk. You don't start that. I had positive self
talk talk the entire time, and it is a it
is an art and something you need to practice. And

(41:07):
I I am amazed at how it has changed for
me over the years that during this event, keeping the
negative thoughts out of my head, it was easier than
it's ever been before in one of the most challenging
tasks I've taken than ever before. And that was practice
and that self efficacy and this way I talked about
on Fitness Disrupted and that will be the takeaway too,

(41:31):
about challenging yourself how you learn and it sounds so
simple and so common sensical, but you have to experience it.
I'm not superman. And by the way, I ran by
and and got passed by probably fifteen other people doing
this run. A bunch of women incredibly fit, some solo,

(41:52):
some in you know, groups of two pairs of two,
and one group of four or five, which blew me
away that they could stay together for that long. I
mean Bill and I stayed together for ten seconds. So
we're not superman or superwomen. We've just learned. And so
that is such an incredible takeaway. And it goes for

(42:16):
life that you're going through tough times and you think
it's it's you know, like you're a teenager. It's the
be all end all. You cannot see the light at
the end of the tunnel. And not only is there
a light at the end of the tunnel, but it's
even better than you think as far as how you
can feel. And again it's counterintuitive. It doesn't make sense

(42:37):
you shouldn't feel better at mile forty then you did
a mile. But that's exactly how it played out for
me and has so many times. But if you let
the negative talk take over, you're finished. That's why at
the end of every podcast I talk about controlling our attitudes,
because that is everything. All right, had the cliff bar
first time I've had solids. It felt like rocket fuel.

(43:00):
I get off that rim and I say, okay, now
I'm running home. And as crazy as it sounds like,
I used to do the marathons where you get to okay,
it's six more miles for this one, I got to
ish and I said, okay, now I just gotta go back.
And that was the way to chunk it. Mentally, that
really worked for me and not surprised even me. I

(43:21):
was like, wait a minute, I'm basically saying I just
have to do another marathon and I'm done, but that
was okay. Mentally, I was going home. I was going back,
and our mental framing and reframing is everything, all right,
So going back down, feeling good, getting off that foot altitude,

(43:44):
and I'm going back and yeah, I'm getting tired, but
I'm shocked at how I haven't fallen, which is remarkable.
But I'm going slowly and I'm fueling and I'm pacing,
and I'm using all the mental tips. I'm enjoying the moment.
I'm looking around saying this is insane, how incredible that

(44:07):
I'm here. And then I'm healthy enough to do this,
and I'm fifty one again. I'm pretty sure I was
the oldest one out there doing the rim to rim,
at least on that day. But they're older people than
me as well. I know some of you have reached
out and said, stop talking about being old at fifty one.
You're right, You're right, all right. So home stretch to go,

(44:30):
and I'm feeling good again because the one weight that
I had about, you know, feeling bad that Bill was waiting.
Now I don't have to worry about that. Now I
can just go. And we should have had that conversation
and if you ever do something like this or with
a friend anything, have that conversation makes a difference mentally
should so running, running, enjoying beautiful, taking pictures. And now

(44:53):
I'm getting tired. Thirty some miles in, you're starting getting
a little goofy. So making sure to stay on top
of the hydration, to can in the gels every forty
five minutes or so. Taken in my salt because cramping
not something I want to have happen. Talked about that
on prior episodes. We'll talk about that more big believer
in salt to prevent cramping. At least for me and

(45:15):
my experience, it has worked. Wonders. The one thing that
I can definitively say in all my years of endurance
races that has made a remarkable difference is the salt.
And then I'm running down a trail. It's beautiful, We're
getting closer to sunset, but it's hot. It's about eighty
degrees about an hour or so before sunset, and rattlesnake

(45:35):
right in the middle of the trail. Rattlesnake nearly stepped
on it. It's kind of excited that I saw rattlesnake.
Never seen one before it scampers off and I was
going to UH. I didn't say that. I brought headphones
with me, And it was a question if I would
listen to music at any point. No, I said, there's
no way. As much as I love music, I need
to have all my faculties about me, especially if there's

(45:56):
rattlesnakes and there's other wildlife in the canyon. Obviously, no,
no music. So now completely alone. This has been amazing.
The body is good, and I'm getting ready to have
the final stretch, which is gonna be night, and this
is going to be challenging. And I realized that I
thought I would potentially finish before the sunset. I had

(46:18):
no idea. There's uncharted waders. I hope that I would
finish before there was no chance. And so now I'm
getting nervous again because now I'm on my own, it's
gonna be dark. I'm gonna be really fatigued, and I'm
going up and I'm on that cliff, you know, on
the side, really exposed, and I'm all by myself, and

(46:39):
I am praying that the batteries on my head lamp
don't die. Now I got backups, thank goodness, But that's it.
And so I'm reframing again and I'm thinking, like, is
this not everest? I feel good, the weather is perfect,
So I'm constantly reminding myself of what's good. And the

(47:01):
final takeaway before I, you know, wrap it all up,
is what I did at that time and throughout the
entire run, was remind myself of all of my worries
and fears that it was gonna snow, that it was
gonna be too cold, that I was going to fall
off the side, that my legs were going to be
shredded early on, that I you know, it was gonna
feel like garbage, all of these things that were worries

(47:24):
that I thought of, And then I put aside all
of the things. And it was a long list that
could have gone wrong. They didn't. And that's how I'm
gonna bring it all together in a second, I promise.
So let's just go to nightfall. It's night and now

(47:45):
I'm like, okay, I got three hours. Most likely I'm
doing the math now because I'm climbing out and it
is so slow going and I'm tired and I'm just
beating up, but I'm good and again didn't fall. I'm fatigued,
but I know I can finish. I just have to
keep moving forward. Slow is still moving forward. And when

(48:11):
you don't have a finishing time and your goal is
just to finish and your goal is to enjoy it,
then you go. But I was just praying that that
head lamp was good. And by the way, the winds
started picking up early on we had gust up tour
and that got scary because now it's dark and I've

(48:34):
got the head lamp and I'm tired, and I got
three hours climbing out. But again I would say to myself,
this isn't everest. Other people have done this, and that
was a constant refrain by the way other people have
done this. Other people have done this. If they can
do it, so can I. You've got to remind yourself

(48:54):
of that. And I've used that for iron Man's when
I first started swim. Start craziness. Other people are doing this,
so can I, and so can you. But I have
to say, did that three hours was one of the
most uniquely challenging mentally and physically that I've had in
my lifetime. It started to rain and I thought, oh,

(49:18):
here we go. I got a couple of hours left,
and I thought, do I put on my rain jacket?
I thought, you know what, it's not that cold. I'm good,
I have it if I need it, But I don't
want to stop, because truly the legs were starting to
give out. I was really tired. I'm forty some odd
miles in and so I said, I just gotta get
to the finish, just keep moving forward. And that was

(49:41):
some crazy challenging times and that final to one five
one mile to go, an eternity, an eternity, And now
the rains start coming down harder and it was getting cold,

(50:01):
and about one point five miles from the finish, I said,
do I put the jacket on and said, no, I'm
just gonna keep going. I'm good, like, yeah, it's getting cold,
but slowing down, stopping, I'm gonna be colder. I got,
you know, who knows how long to get back out
of here because it was so steep last three miles.
But I'm gonna keep moving. I'm gonna keep moving. And

(50:23):
long story short or not so short. All of a sudden,
because you don't really see where the top is, it's
dark and you're by yourself, and I pop around a
corner because it's switched backs all the way up and
there's a head lamp and a couple other people and

(50:44):
one of the people says, you know hi, I say
hi back, and then the other person with the headlamp
says hey, and I say hey back, and he said hey,
it's me, and I woke up in its bill. He
had come back. He had finished ahead of me, long
long ahead of me, had gone act checked into the
hotel which was just you know what, a ways away

(51:04):
walking and came back, which was amazing. And the feeling
of completion and just having done yet another incredibly challenging
physical and mental and more mental was It's the greatest feeling.

(51:28):
And we need to challenge ourselves. And to have had
at fifty one that experience the longest sixteen some odd hours.
By the way, I gotta look, my watch died, by
the way, two miles from the finish. That's how long
it took, fully charged garment died. Incredible and I haven't

(51:49):
been that tired and fatigued in years. And that's what
it was all about. So final point, it about challenging yourself.
It's about collecting experiences. I don't care about the material stuff.
Couldn't care less. It's that experience I just had with

(52:13):
an amazing guy, Bill, like, no better person to do
this with, and to have challenged myself at this age
to do something that again was more than I've done
in my lifetime as far as moving and exercise and
you know, just crazy. And it's about the anxiety and

(52:37):
the worry, and that's what I want to leave you with.
It's all worthless. Worry is worthless and anxiety. So we
want to control what we can, so I end every
episode it's the perfect way to end this one, and
then you let the other stuff go. So I had
my head lamp, I had my food, I had my nutrition,

(52:59):
I planned, should have known the route, things like that.
But worry is worthless, anxiety about something that might happen.
And that was what was so powerful during the run,
is to go over those things in my head and
remind myself that they didn't. So what's the point. Think

(53:21):
of all the times you worried about something that didn't happen,
and then if it did, did you get through it?
Was it remotely as bad as you thought? No? And
I didn't think I could be nervous the way I
was nervous for this and those last three miles in

(53:46):
the rain and the cold, you know, forty eight miles
whatever it was to the finished, you know, deep into
the forties of high forties and mileage. I should say this,
by the way, you're probably thinking, what, why didn't you
get My watch was completely wrong? As I I alluded
to that, you know, fifty six miles it showed and

(54:06):
it died to two miles early it was somewhere around fifty.
But in other words, I couldn't really look at my
watch to know where I was. Yes, at the end,
there was finally a sign that said three miles and
then one point five, but that's part of this whole
journey as well. You are just in the moment. When
I do other races where it's marked, I try not
to look at the mile markers. I don't care. I

(54:27):
just want to know how I feel at that moment.
Now you may say, well, that's stupid. You have to
fuel yourself, and I have a plan. I'm still going
to take in my nutrition every forty five minutes. I'm
still gonna take in my hydration. That's not going to
really change. So I'm working backwards. But when I felt
the way I did at the top of the North
Rim halfway across, and then thirty miles in, I'm feeling great.

(54:51):
I'm feeling better. I ran more on the way back
than I did on the way out. Part of that
was pacing, and a huge part of that was that
I felt better thirty miles in that I did twenty
And so that's what this is all about. Did this
race report too hopefully entertain you a little bit, but

(55:14):
also just to show you and tell you that the
human body is capable of so much more than you think.
That anxiety and and worry is meaningless, accomplishes nothing, and
that we need to challenge ourselves, need to be frightened
about your goals. And that's where self efficacy and confidence

(55:39):
comes from, is constantly challenging ourselves and getting that confidence
that you can get through it. If you don't take chances,
you don't get that confidence and you don't get to
experience incredible things. I mean, I've always said how blessed
I am that my job is not just helping people

(56:00):
will look better, feel better, live longer, but to put
it into practice myself and to travel and to prove
that you know you gotta walk the walk as well.
And so that's it. Collect experiences. We have one life,
you know, go for it, get out there, challenge yourself.
I want to thank Bill Osane, my partner uh in crime,

(56:23):
for this race. Amazing, put the whole thing together. Even
had by the way, not only you know, finished before
me checked us into our rooms, but he had a
piece of pizza and a cheeseburger waiting for me in
my room. That was the greatest piece of pizza and
the greatest cheeseburger I've ever eaten in my lifetime. I

(56:43):
hope you enjoyed this, and again I just want to
say that you can accomplish so much more than you think.
That has been my job for years decades now, helping
people do that, and that is what this show is
all about. All right off, thank you for listening. I
am Tom Holland and if you have not yet rated

(57:05):
the show, please do so. Obviously this one was longer.
Don't don't complain about the length this was. This is
not a you know show with you know, specific studies
and things like that. A little different. I want to
mix it up for you, and that's what it's all
about too. Uh Some science some stories, some interviews, a
little of everything. All right. If you have not subscribed

(57:27):
to the podcast, please do so. Uh and if you
want to check out actually pictures things like that, connect
with me Tom h Fit is my Instagram as well
as Twitter, Tom h Fit, and you go right to
Fitness Disrupted dot com and connect with me there as well. Again,
I hope you enjoyed it. You know, I hesitated to
do a race report, but I know that you can

(57:48):
learn from it and hopefully be inspired and get out
there and do things that you didn't think you are
capable of because you are. There are three things we
can control, how much we move, what we put into
our mouth, and our attitudes, and that is awesome. I'm
Tom Holland this is Fitness Disrupted, Believe in Yourself. Fitness

(58:15):
Disrupted is a production of I Heart Radio. For more
podcasts from my Heart Radio, visit the I heart Radio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.