I have had some strange dreams lately. All sorts of media plays in my head, specifically movies and news reports. Upon further investigation, I dream movies and news stories in great deal (well produced and directed ones at that) that only exist in my brain. So a few nights ago, it was a Matt Damon thriller in the time of Ichabod Crane, and last night it was a news story about the best runner in the world who dropped dead.

I can’t remember his name, but he was definitely a slender individual that was only made of muscle, and he held many world records for distance running. He was trying to compete in an IronMan of sorts, but a self induced one. Two and a half days of running, straight through, was his goal. He had been rolling along through different countries and as he was running along the edge of a field in Greece, two days and a few hours into his plight, he slowly dropped to his knees, toppled sideways and died. The best runner in the world. His death was peaceful in the tall grasses, but the world was shocked. How could the best runner in the world drop dead while running?

I immediately wanted to read more about this tragedy in real life, at four am, and possibly conduct cardiac research upon him with all of my expertise. Then this morning I realized that it didn’t really happen. Oh well.

Yesterday I did my first ever Pikes Peak Ascent.  It has been looming ominously over my summer fitness program, daunting as a winged bear and ever present as the scent of asparagus in pee (or so I hear).

It was an interesting experience.

Basically, it is a leisurely jaunt up 13.3 miles of smooth then rocky terrain, that covers a vertical distance of about 7,800 feet to a summit at an elevation of greater than 14,000 feet.  I am a rockstar.  Just kidding!  An awe-inspiring 1162 men, and 485 women completed this task yesterday, and a fair few of them are doing twice that today during the marathon (up and down).  I am so impressed by the level of fitness, training, and dedication that it must have taken for all of these people to do this.  I know that it dominated my summer evenings, and I didn’t do that well in the grand scheme of things.

My race overall was swell, no bad weather and no serious digestive problems to be had.  I spent my morning running when possible, dodging tree roots, scaling rocky stairs, and trying to figure out the optimal food consumption that would get me up the mountain in as good a time and shape as possible, while passing as many spandex and hot-short clad commrades as possbile.  I was doing pretty well for the first seven miles up to Barr camp- I shimmied up in about two hours, but my unpreparedness for the second half of the course, as well as O2 deprivation didn’t do me any favors.  I ended up doing some serious walking up to the top, clocking in at 4:39:41 ish.  Unfortunately, this was quite a far cry from my original goal of 3 hours and my revised goal of 4 hours.  Maybe next year…

Overall though, I was very psyched that I did indeed finish the race without stopping, except to grab oranges, and that I didn’t get last place, hooray! It felt great (mostly) to push my body and see that it could at least accomplish that mountain.  The only thing I would have changed were the crowds of walkers and allowing them to influence me for the slower.  Another highlight was running away from event staff like a renegade- I will keep my headphones thank-you-very-much.  I will put up more photos when I get them.

Now I find myself somewhat confused, without running goals.  My focus for the whole summer, and even since March when I registered, is gone.  I need a new challenge now! Suggestions, as always, are welcome.

Previously it was thirteen. But Colorado beauty comes in fourteens. Fourteener’s to be precise.

Today my good friend Ben and I decided to do Grey’s and Torreys, two of the most popular fourteener’s (mountains with summits over 14,000 feet in elevation for those of you non-Coloradans). Blessed with good weather and a lack of injuries, it was a beautiful day and we had a glorious time!

We were doing it so that I could prepare for my treacherously daunting Pikes Peak Ascent (or Assent as it was called yesterday by a former teacher of mine over sangria, different story though). We didn’t end up running more than a couple minutes, but we still made good time. I also feel much better that the altitude was not as bad as I thought it may be, it bodes well for my confidence at my race.

Rather than tell all the gory details, I will just include the highlights of the day and let the pictures speak for themselves:
* Watching a dog try to chase a mountain goat down the side of the mountain
* Good chats and good hiking
* Summiting both peaks in good time
* Seeing people you know ambling down a mountain that you are ascending

And last but not least…

Hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend!