Grand Canyon R2R2R Video

This past week, the motivation to run hasn't been there. I'm still sore from the Grand Canyon descents, so I have been taking my dog for slow walks, going to the park with my two kids every evening, and running barefoot on the grass. My daughter joined me the other night and we did some skipping drills and some other running drills. She is such an easy, relaxed runner with her hair bouncing as she glides over the grass, laughing and occasionally looking back to see how far behind her I am. Last night at the park I did relay races with my kids, giving them a head start and making sure they won, barely. It was a fun night, and my son, who has some unknown energy source, begged me and my daughter for just one more race as we sat on a bench, catching our breath and watching the sun paint the clouds pink.

It's cleanse time. After the Grand Canyon I let out a deep breath, then inhaled everything in sight, over-eating and over-drinking and listening to too much Johnny Cash, depressed and sleeping terribly, with no running-related events in the foreseeable future. So, now it is time to make a list for next year. I want a mixture of short and long, races and fun, challenges and cake. I haven't decided on races yet, but I would love to do a running traverse of Zion National Park, and since I am going to be in Kauai next summer, I plan to run the Na Pali Coast. I have decided not to enter The Western States 100 because it is the same time that we have our Hawaii vacation, and in looking at other 100s, I have decided that I'm not there yet. I hope to do them someday, but I'm in no rush at this point. Next year, I would like to do a marathon, qualify for Boston, and do a couple 50Ks.

Here's some footage of the Grand Canyon run:

Check out the deer at 9:00.  They were so calm as we passed them.

Toby and Jess, two of the other guys on the Grand Canyon trip, wrote a couple of great trip reports:

Toby's report
Jess's report