One of my goals this year was R2R2R, and it was the one I thought I had full control over, since it was self-supported. Booked a hotel at the south rim, rental car from flagstaff, and was ramping-up my training to try to get myself capable of it. Planned date was 9Oct (two weeks from now).
Since it wasn't a race (no support), and I've never done that single-day distance (66km) or elevation (12K') before, I needed to create some options to bail-out, should I find myself not capable of that kind of effort in the heat (average 85F at the bottom of the middle of the day). The last thing I needed was to find myself 3/4 of the way through and not capable of climbing-out of the canyon and nowhere to go.
So I entered the lottery for a cabin at Phantom Ranch (in the valley) as a bailout option at the 3/4 point. Further, if I got to the halfway point (north rim) and thought I wasn't capable of the return-trip, there is a shuttle service from the north rim to the south rim that I could use. Happy to throw-away the fees for both just to have the contingency.
Well, I didn't "win" the lottery, so the 3/4 point bailout option was no more. But I thought I would still give it a try, since I could gauge my reserves at the halfway point and call it quits there if there was any doubt. Worst-case, R2R would still be fun, if not my goal.
And then this week, I saw a forum post that the shuttle service wasn't operating for a COVID-related reason (it was prohibited from going through the Navajo nation as they are locked-down for the virus).
Thus, zero bailout options now. And as much as I want to DBAP and try anyway, it just doesn't feel smart. Temps right now are still close to 100F in the valley, and I've never found myself 50K into a run in that kind of heat to know how I'll react.
So, I canceled the hotel and the car. Will try for next year, just like most of my other goals, I guess.
Trying to find a silver lining in the moment, I decided that I'm going to try to do a "build-my-own-ultra" on the same date: 5x Prairie Mountain. I've done 4x once before, but never 5x. The distance won't be "ultra" (only 32K or so), but the elevation (11K') would be a single-day record for me, and take about 9-10 hours. Given that it's out-and-back five times, I can leave food/water at the car and kind of have an "aid station" between repeats.
So, in preparation, I did 3x today, and it felt good. 4x would have been doable, but I don't know how doable 5x will be until I'm finished the 4th.
But now I have something to challenge myself, and at least complete the elevation portion of R2R2R...