Training: The Journey Begins

Training Plan

To train, Evan had suggested an app called “Training Peaks” which is a pretty popular platform for custom training plans. He found a plan that was purpose built for R3 for $50. Evan, Vijay and I purchased it, though halfway through Evan got a different plan that was supposed to be more tuned for his time availability (less daytime during the week for longer runs).

The plan was a 24 week plan that integrated a major increase in mileage (from 30 miles per week at the start to 60 miles per week at the end) with increases in elevation gain during runs, pace and interval work, as well as strength training sessions, mostly focused on core and leg strength and flexibility. This variety and breadth was great to prepare us to be ready.

Here’s a link to our training plan and the TrainingPeaks app: Grand Canyon R2R2R Run Super Plan for Spring 2022

The Work

It probably sounds weird, but training was potentially the best part of this whole journey. We had a text thread going where every day we were all posting our workouts to each other for accountability. The energy and excitement and support for each others’ work was unbeatable. Every day was exciting because it was a personal achievement met with support, encouragement and admiration, and a feeling that we were all one step closer to our goal.

Now, just because the energy was electric, doesn’t mean there were no setbacks during training. I had IT band issues at one point, I had a severe pain in my tibia anterior about a week and a half from the actual day. My back locked up on a plane ride home, and I also fell playing soccer with my son and had a type I separation in my shoulder 3 weeks out, which was a super scary moment where I thought I might have just killed my ability to participate. Luckily it was only Type I, so it wasn’t debilitating, but it did hamper my weight work, not allowing me to do pushups and pull-ups, which are a staple in my exercise regimen.

Throughout our training I used Airrosti, which is a chiropractic and physical therapy practice that focused on healing mechanical problems that are typically brought on by issues in muscle strength. They work on your muscles to loosen up the fascia that might be constricting the area and then they give you PT exercises to do that re-balance your mechanics. It’s magic. I went there for treatment on my IT band, lower back (QL), calves, tib, and hamstrings and every time I moved beyond the pain within a week and never had to stop my training except possibly a couple day break (only for my back).

Scott had a near-miss on a hamstring issue that was managed through a shift toward zone 2 cycling, walking, massage and dry needling. Evan and Vijay also dealt with issues along the way, each taking time to pull back their training for a period to allow for recovery and then get back to work.

All in all, we did pretty well in our training and progress, all reaching about 60 miles of distance in the final couple weeks of volume blocks. This is A LOT of running, and it takes a lot of time. We all have families with wives and kids and it’s no exaggeration to say that we couldn’t have done it without them. It’s a lot to ask your spouse to cover the kids (ours are all young) for extended periods while we’re out running for 4 or 5 hours on the weekend. That’s what supporting your spouse really looks like. It’s about sacrificing your own time and needs to enable your significant other to pursue a major goal. And for that, we all could never give enough thanks to our spouses. The experience that they enabled us to have was like nothing else I’ve experienced in life. Special. Thank you.

Tapering

The two weeks of taper felt really weird. When you spend 22 weeks focused on doing more, more more, when you get to the end of your volume ramp and start pulling back significantly, it just feels like you’re not working hard. Like you’re getting soft. Like we should be continuing to push it.

Of course, this is the exact opposite of what your body needs as you prepare for something that will tax your body like it’s never experienced. Remember, in training, while we all worked up to long runs of 26-30 miles, that’s only 4-5 hours of time spent running (at least for me, because it was all road with little vert… mistake), but when you are doing the actual R3 run, it’s 50+ miles and 11,000 ft of vert, which we thought would take something like 15 hours. This is a LONG time on your feet pushing.

All this to say, your body needs the rest and recovery that you get during the taper period. It’s essential, so take it seriously.