The Enchanted Tower: Steep, pumpy, bliss...

The Enchanted Tower...

...this place is rad.

I hadn't been to the Enchanted Tower (in western New Mexico) in many, many years and forgot how much fun it is! The landscape is beautiful, the camping is super convenient (a couple minute walk to the climbs) and the climbing is pretty much all steep jug hauling.

Steep jug hauling may make you think of easy and boring but this place is nothing of the sort. Yes, all the routes have massive holds on them, but many of the routes are 80 -100 feet tall and overhang by 20-40 feet. All I can say is...I have never had so much fun saying take with only 20 feet left to go on a route because I literally couldn't hold on to buckets anymore. My wimpy little forearms didn't know what to do. They just couldn't keep up. I need more endurance!!!

Great fun. Susan and I will have to get back there again this summer.

Find out about the print guidebook here.

Get the online guidebook from DrTopo here.

The tower from camp.

The obvious and super steep arete on the tower is an unbelievable looking 5.13a. I will have to get on that route some day. That thing looks sick!

Susan on a nice 5.11a.

Susan on one of my favorite routes of the trip, a really nice 5.11c that is super steep and pumpy for the grade! Unbelievable moves and position. The upper half of the route follows a really cool black streak with perfect rock. Excellent!


Another excellent 5.11c that whooped my butt at the end of the day. I got up it with a couple hangs but it crushed whatever little bits of energy my forearms had.

Same route as the photo above. Now you see how steep it was! Tough way to finish the day but oh so sweet!

Excellent sunset on the way back to Flagstaff.

The sunset just kept getting better. Beautiful. Great way to end the trip.

Camping and canoeing at Blue Ridge

Summer...time for Blue Ridge!

We weren't done with Molly yet. She had one more day to squeek out some fun so we gathered a posse and went to Blue Ridge for some swimming, canoeing and camping fun. Susan and I love this place and try to get out here a few times every summer.

Ladies having some canoeing fun.

Men taking it a bit more serious, always on the hunt for some sick climbing. Dogs were...er...umm...doing what dogs do in a canoe, make us all nervous.

By the way...there is some really good limestone out there and much of it has been developed for sport climbing and bouldering but not all of it...there are some real cherries to be picked out there still! Fun approaches too. You would need to boat to much of the really good stuff.

Molly getting ready to take the plunge.

The swimming and cliff jumping great! This particular cliff sticks out of the hillside like a giant thumb. It is a perfect diving board. Great for sleeping under too.

Molly taking flight.

This place is sweeeettt!

I even got a little bouldering in at the boat launch. Cheese ball, I know. I couldn't resist.

More information about Blue Ridge here.

Climbing at The Pit with Molly

A week ago, Susan's friend Molly came to visit from California. She was great to have as a guest. she was lots of fun and up for anything.

Susan wanted to take her climbing at one of our favorite local crags, The Pit to show her what this climbing stuff is all about. She got her chance and we got a nice day of cragging in. It was a beautiful day and we even got to climb with our friend and my fellow slave worker at Vertical Relief, Jeff Snyder.

Ladies catching up.

Molly on her first climb, Popeye 5.9.

Me getting a lap in on the classic Energizer 5.12a. Jeff redpointed (climbed without falling) this route for the first time right after this photo was taken. Nice work Jeff.

Susan giving Energizer a shot.

Molly getting ready for her second climb of the day.

Molly's first rappel! Yee Haw!

Interested in what The Pit has to offer? Get The Pit online guide here.

Running the finish of Hole to Hump

A couple days ago I ran the section from where I stopped during my H2H attempt to the top of Humphreys (the remaining 20 miles). The seed was planted by Frank, Gina and Susan to do this. They thought it would be a good thing to do the end so that I could get some closure or at least know what it would feel to have done that section (I never did it on any training runs leading up to H2H).

They were right for thinking it was a good idea. It was really nice to run that section. For whatever reason, I felt more at rest about the whole thing after finishing the end. Now, at least I know what every section feels like to run so that if I ever go back to try and complete the whole thing in one push I will at least know what I'm in for. Not that I had no idea, I just hadn't put foot to trail and put any kind of running effort into that section (except for the Humphreys trail (the last 4.5 miles of the trail)-I have been on that trail many times).

The run went well. Susan camped with me the night before at the Kendrick Park aid station where I stopped on the H2H. At 6 am I started running. I moved much faster than I expected, moving with a nice energized rhythm all the way up to the Humphreys Trail parking lot. I got to the parking lot in 2 hrs 30 min (about 16 miles). The Humphreys Trail was much slower, as to be expected because it gains almost 3,000 ft in about 4.5 miles and finishes at an elevation of over 12,000 ft. but I still moved well if not slow. I finished the whole run in exactly 6 hours (including getting back down to the Humphreys Trailhead from the summit). It was 4 hours and 30 minutes to the top of Humphreys from the starting point.

It felt great to run with energy again! Susan took this shot as I was finishing the run.

View of hills near Humphreys from the Humphreys Trailhead.

I couldn't resist throwing these photos in. They were taken by Susan, at the south rim of the Grand Canyon, on the night I started the H2H run. Beautiful shots!!! Good work Susan!

Finishing and Learning

After some time to think since my Hole to Hump effort, I have come away with some good lessons for next time I try something of this length and difficulty:

1. Don't change my diet
Carbo Loading- I tried to beat into my head the whole time leading up to H2H that I shouldn't do anything different or new with my diet. Everything I read online and heard from friends that do ultra events confirmed this idea. Besides, I had been successful with my long training runs with certain foods and I didn't really need to change anything.

I couldn't resist though. I carbo loaded for 3-4 days before the H2H because I thought it would give me a good store of energy. I had never done this for any of my other previous long runs but was convinced that I should do it for H2H. I should have been listening to all the sage advice ("don't do anything new or different with your diet") and not carbo loaded (even though it is a very successful method for many ultra athletes). My normal method before long runs is to eat like normal (generally 60% carbs and 40% protein) but eat more calories than normal. This has always done me well.

The days leading up to the run, I generally felt hungry no matter how much food I ate with the 70-80% carbohydrate carbo load. During the run, I never felt like I had any kind of energy store. I felt tired right from the start.

After the run, I researched the whole carbo loading thing more and found that quite a few people DON'T carbo load before big ultra events. They eat as much protein as normal (in fact some people eat even more protein). Most of these people that don't carbo load have a really high metabolism like me. I guess that carbo loading doesn't work well for everyone and I should stick to what works.

Solid Foods-I felt that last time I did H2H I didn't eat enough solids and that it contributed to me hitting the wall. Last time, I subsisted on mostly gels, bloks, bars, chips, salt, potatoes and eggs and burritos (I didn't eat that much solids though-I stuck mostly to the gels, bloks, bars, chips and salt). Last year I got to mile 65 in 16 hours.

This year I added pizza to the list (I think that was the only big change). The big difference isn't so much that I added pizza...the big difference is that I ate a lot of it and the other solids that I brought.

Usually, a person can only use 200-400 calories an hour (so they say) and I (every 4-5 hours) consumed at least 500 calories of solid food (along with my normal 200-250 calories I was consuming every hour). I did this thinking it would give me more long term energy and keep me from not wanting to eat food (keep my stomach from getting upset from all the sugar). With this method, I got to mile 65 in 20 hours. Four hours slower than last year. I have heard before and since the H2H that if a person consumes to much food (especially solids) during ultras their intestines will literally stop digesting food at some point and they stop getting the energy they need. This could very well have happened my H2H attempt when I "hit the wall".

I think I will go back to eating less solids again and continue to try to figure out what the magic balance my body needs to keep going during these runs that push 60 miles and beyond.

Electrolytes-I feel that I did o.k. during the run putting electrolytes in my system and I definitely wasn't overdoing it.

Although, I think I may have been off to a bad start when I was down in the canyon waiting to come out. I have read and heard that it is easy to drink too much water the day before an ultra event and accidentally flush all the electrolytes out of your system. Well...due to stress, boredom and having my water bladder right next to me all day long, I drank a lot of water while I was in the canyon waiting. I was peeing quite often and clear every time. I was doing this because it was really hot down there and I didn't want to start off dehydrated.

The think I didn't do was make sure to consume electrolytes that day. I had a banana a couple hours before I came out of the canyon but I don't think that any of my other food had much salt or potassium in them.

I am definitely going to start making sure that I don't drink too much water (or too little) and make sure my electrolyte intake is better before future long runs.

Diet for ultra length runs is tricky and different for everyone, as I am learning. I, by no means, believe that I am a smarty pants when it comes to what I should eat. I am just going to have to keep reading, experimenting on shorter runs and getting my diet dialed.

2. Motivation
What about running motivates me?
-Flowing along single track trails in remote mountain or desert canyon terrain and connecting with the powerful energy that I can only find in those places. I really enjoy experiencing those places as one continuous effort with almost nothing on my back-as opposed to moving slowly with a heavy pack, taking multiple days to cover the same ground. I really like starting in one place and ending somewhere else, never retracing my steps, with every bend in the trail offering new and exciting vistas, sounds and smells. Often, I enjoy experiencing longer runs by myself with no or very little support, offering a strong dose of self reliance, knowing that I don't have a choice but to make it from one place to another very distant place with only my legs to carry me and my will power to keep them moving. I often use running as a test...to see what I am made of and what my limits are. I find that I pass the test more often in the wilderness.

Motivation and Hole to Hump?
Motivation is everything. I need to be very motivated to do ultra length runs (as anyone would need to be). H2H meets some of the criteria of what motivates me to run but doesn't meet others. It matches up with my wanting to test my limits, traveling from one place to another very distant place and the beginning and the end of H2H are on single track in very amazing and inspiring places (Grand Canyon and Mt. Humphreys)...but...the 50 miles in the middle are on dirt roads that are extremely flat and straight without much to get excited about. At some points I could see at least 20 miles of road in front of me. This was very challenging for me.

To top it off, I think that when I chose to do H2H this year it was all about getting to the summit of Humphreys. It wasn't about the journey. I wasn't really excited about running all of those roads in the middle, I was excited about the few moments I would stand on the summit and know that I completed a difficult run that had beaten me the year before. It was all about being done with it.

I think I have learned that to be successful at breaking through this wall that I have right now I need to get back to what gets me psyched to run. I need to be excited about the whole run, not just the finish. I need to keep searching out those dream runs. They will guide me along a path to break through my current walls, just as they have gotten me through walls of the past.

Just a bunch of excuse for not finishing H2H?
No excuses. Where I finished on H2H is exactly where I should have finished. That was what I was capable of at that moment. That was as far as I was going to go on that day.

The best thing to do is learn from the experience.

I learned that I need to keep working on dialing in what I need to eat during long runs to keep my legs moving and I need to find runs that are the most motivating and inspiring to me so that I will be excited about every turn and every step of the journey. Now...let's get running. I'm psyched!

Hitting the wall

Things didn't go to plan on H2H...

I was so sure that I had everything dialed this time. With the training and organization I put into it, I thought I was a shoe in for finishing. I knew it was going to be hard with some serious suffering but I thought I would battle through and claw my way to the summit of Humphreys. I was sure...

But...life doesn't always work out the way you want it to. In fact, in my experience, life very rarely works out the way you want it to. Especially when you are really pushing your limits. (gritting my teeth while saying this) I know that not finishing the H2H will probably teach me a lot more about myself than if I would have finished. Who knows...what I do know is that it is F-ing hard to run that far and I have to learn to break through a major mental boundary if I am going to complete something of this length.

I thought that I had the mental toughness to force myself to finish no matter what my body felt like. Other people have done it. It is possible to feel completely finished and then just keep going. I have read and heard countless stories about this exact occurrence. The stories are all the same. The runner, at about mile 60-70, completely worked physically and mentally "hitting the wall" and then they catch some sort of "second wind" and just starts moving faster again. They find some hidden reserve way down deep inside and just keep going to the finish.

Where was my "second wind?" I though and expected it would happen. When I hit the wall at 60 miles, I thought I would dig way down deep and find a way to motivate myself to the top of the mountain. I only had 25 miles left to go. I had already done that distance at least twice over to that point.

I couldn't motivate though...I couldn't find that thing that would break me through the wall I had slammed into. When I stopped and gave up I did so because I literally didn't care if I made it anymore. I was to exhausted mentally and physically to want to care. I kept looking up at the mountain and thinking that it was the last place I wanted to go. I just wanted to sit down and stay there.

The whole thing started well...

On Saturday, Susan and I camped out near the south rim of the Grand Canyon and it was a beautiful night. Sunday morning, about 5 am, we drove to the S. Kaibab trailhead and Susan dropped me off.

I felt great and was excited to do the event. My body had lots of energy and mentally I felt strong and motivated.

The hike down the S. Kaibab was fine and I moved slowly to try to conserve energy. I was a little tired from the hike down but that is to be expected from a 7 mile trail that drops 5,000 ft.

I had the whole day to hang out in the canyon bottom and rest before coming back out at 7 pm (when it would cool off enough to go back up the S. Kaibab again). I did just that. Rest. But, because of the stress of waiting or whatever other reason it could have been, I didn't rest very well. I mostly had thoughts about the run and for whatever reason felt like I was getting a nasty head cold. I was blowing my nose all day and every time I did so my head and ears would hurt. WTF. By late afternoon I even questioned if I should be doing the run because of how crappy I was feeling down in the canyon.

Finally, 7 pm neared and feeling crappy and stressed or not I was going to go for it. I had put to much training and effort into this to bail now. Besides, I felt that if I got going I would probably start feeling a lot better, leaving all the stress and icky sick feelings at the bottom of the canyon to be washed down the Colorado River.

At 7 pm, I ran across the bridge and began the run. The S. Kaibab to the rim was more of a fast hike so I could save energy for all the running to come later, besides running up the S. Kaibab doesn't save much time as it is super steep.

I got to the rim in good time and met up with Susan. She was cheering me on from the rim and I could hear her from pretty far down in the canyon. Great support!

On the way over to the first aid station at the S. Kaibab Trail parking lot I confessed to Susan that I wasn't feeling that good, that I was feeling a bit sick but that I wasn't going to let that stop me from going for it. I was pretty convinced at this point that I was feeling sick because of all the stress of sitting down in the hot canyon all day and thinking about the run. I felt that it was all literally "in my head."

After the next few aid stations I didn't have that sick feeling anymore but I couldn't really get moving like I wanted. I expected, because of all of my longer trail runs leading up to this, to be able to run 4-5 miles an hour for the first 20 miles or so and then drop down to 4 miles and hour for much of the rest of it (until I hit the mountain where I would be going 2-3 miles and hour). This is as slow or slower than I did my R2R2R runs in May and they had way more elevation changes than this. This run is pretty much flat except for the beginning and the end.

I was running barely 4 miles an hour. Running most of the miles and walking some. I really didn't feel I had the energy to run faster if I wanted. I felt sore right from the beginning and I never feel that way on my longer runs. This was a bit alarming.

I continued to down play these feelings and focus on the task at hand of just moving forward at whatever pace I could. I continued to believe that I would start feeling better and find some kind of groove as I ran through the night.

Just before morning, I ran into Isaac and Caleb and they switched off riding their bikes with me until about mile 50. I was still running at this point but it wasn't fast and I had to stop running and walk for 5-10 minutes every 30 minutes. I was still traveling at 4 miles an hour but barely.

At mile 50, I left Isacc and Caleb (thanks for the help and motivation guys) and
was to travel 10 more miles to Susan, Frank and Gina for my next aid station. This next section miles 50-60 proved to be my downfall.

I knew I was slowing down but figured if I could just keep stumbling along and then shuffling and jogging when I had the energy I would make it to Humphreys. I did well with this for the first couple miles, in fact I jogged the first two miles or so before I had to start walking this section. It all started to go downhill soon after.

Frank rode down to see where I was at and he found me at about 7 miles from the aid station walking along at what probably looked like a casual pace (it was about as fast as I could painfully move along at that moment). I was glad to see him and he gave me a few snacks to help with my energy levels. For the next few miles things were o.k. We had good conversation which took my mind off of the pain at times and helped motivate me to move along at sometimes slow walking and sometimes fast shuffling. Then, with about 5 or 6 miles left, I started to go down hill fast. I was fine to keep drinking water and electrolyte drinks but I lost all appetite and every time Frank offered me some food I would decline. I just couldn't bring myself to want to put any more food in my mouth. It made me feel sick to even think about it. I knew deep down that I should be eating but just couldn't bring myself to do it.

Things continued this way, conversation, drinking water, saying no to food and stumbling along until I started moving really, really slow the last few miles. At this point my attitude changed big time. I went from talking to Frank about how this was all hard but I would keep struggling on to having this overwhelming feeling of not caring anymore. It hit me fast and then didn't take long to control me 100%. All of a sudden, I really didn't care about finishing the run. All I wanted to do was sit down and rest. I felt like I had done enough and didn't want to take another step.

Frank was awesome and kept telling me that I should keep going and that I should take as long as I needed to recover at the aid station we were close to. Part of me deep down inside believed that he was right and that if I sat down for an hour or two, ate a bunch of food and got a bunch of liquids in me I would get some energy and be able to continue. Then the overwhelming feeling of not caring would wave over me again and crush any hope I could muster.

By the time I got to the aid station I was an emotional wreck. I was overwhelmed with disappointment. I felt I was letting myself down by not caring anymore. Why couldn't I find a reason to go on? Why was I an emotional wreck? Why did my legs hurt so F-ing bad? Why couldn't I convince myself to eat food for the last few hours? Why did I put so much of my energy and time into training for this the last 6 months just to bail here and not care?

My emotional low culminated in walking up to Susan just before the aid station and slumping on to her and bawling. I remember saying something like "My legs hurt so bad...I don't think I can keep going..." That was about all I could get out.

Susan told me to walk up to the station and they would get me some food and water and then we would see from there.

I got to the aid station and collapsed into a chair, ate a few bites of food, drank some Gatorade tried to keep some conversation and then started falling to sleep in my chair. I remember Susan helping me onto a crash pad (a pad made for bouldering) to sleep and then the next thing I knew it was an hour later. I had crashed hard.

At that point it was probably obvious that I wasn't interested in continuing so nobody asked if I wanted to to go on. Although, as things were being packed to go home, I made a joke about continuing as I tried to stand up and Frank said he would help if I wanted to continue. I guess I could have tried to walk and continue at that point but. I really didn't have the heart for it anymore that day. I was broken. Thanks for trying Frank.

Final thoughts: As I have more time to absorb this experience, I'm sure I will learn a lot about who I am and just how far I am willing to go in the face of what seems like impossible odds. Just how will I adjust my thoughts and actions when I am faced with this kind of moment in the future? Will I be able to push through and see what's on the other side? Or will I always wonder what is out there...

Can I go further or is this my limit? We will have to see.

Thanks:
Thank you to everyone who has supported me for the run. Susan (I love you), Gina, Frank, Isaac and Caleb for being my support crew and my parents, family and friends for giving me their support up to and after the run. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I wish I would have finished for myself and for all of you with your awesome support. It meant a lot to me to get to the top of Humphreys and it was really hard to not complete that goal after all of the effort. Thank you.

H2H a few days away...

Everything is coming together.

End of tapering
Today is the last day I will run before H2H. This week I only get to do a bit of light jogging and it's kind of hard to do because I am used to running alot. I can't run alot this week though, I gotta recover and be all healed up for the big day on Sunday, June 7th.

Carbo loading
Today it's the start of carbo loading time. Now that my body is resting and recovering for H2H, I am shoving as much carbs down my throat as I can. I am probably eating 70-80% carbs right now compared to protein. Gotta get my energy reserves loaded!

Getting all the gear together
It's a long list...but I have narrowed everything down to 2 bins and a cooler.

In Bin #1 I will have:
-Extra cloths

In Bin #2 I will have:
-First Aid
-Extra things like headlamp, watch, batteries in case I loose something, it breaks or whatever
-Bathroom stuff like extra contacts and stuff
-Food

In Cooler I will have:
-Ice
-Meals

I will also have a ton of water.

Support
It plays out like this...
-I leave Phantom Ranch (bottom of the Grand Canyon) and go up the S. Kaibab trail unsupported at 7 pm. At the rim of the Grand Canyon I will meet up with Susan, Gina and Frank and they will support me until Grandview Tower and the start of the dirt roads (about 20 miles into the run). At that point, they will go ahead of me to meet up with Caleb and Isaac and give them all of the bins and cooler with my stuff. Susan, Gina and Frank will then drive ahead to the next spot they will support at about mile 65 and go to sleep. Caleb and Isaac will support me through the night and into the early morning from miles 35 to 57 (I will go unsupported from mile 57 to mile 65 while Caleb and Isaac go ahead and meet up with Susan, Gina and Frank to give the bins and cooler back to them). Sometime, mid morning, I will run into Susan, Gina and Frank again at mile 65 and they will support me to the finish which will hopefully be late afternoon/early evening. I may have some other friends helping out along the way when I am close to and on the mountain for added support. We will see.

As stated before, everything is coming together. All the pieces are in place and now it is a waiting game for a few days, getting the last little tid bits packed and ready.

Oh boy...it is about to happen!

Side note: Frank (who is part of the support crew with Susan and Gina) is having his own adventure on Saturday, the day before I start H2H. He is riding his mountain bike from his home in Flagstaff to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon unsupported in a day. Pretty rad.

When he gets to the south rim, he will be greeted by Gina. She will be waiting for him at the south rim to camp out and celebrate his effort. We will see them that night or the next day how ever it all plays out.

Good luck Frank. Your going to crush!