August 12, 2003

Today was my birthday! I turned 26, and it feels all downhill from here. This will put me in the same age group as Matt Carpenter was (26-29) when he set the course record (3h16m!). So this alone should inspire me to achieve great heights :) -- right. Okay, so here are a few thoughts on how I got to this point . . .

How it all started: Mountain fever takes grip in 2000

It probably all started when I met Eric Sigler in the summer of 2000. We met at church one weekend and quickly discovered that we were both interested in hiking some of Colorado's 14'ers (14,000 foot mountains). So the next day we decided to hike Longs Peak. That experience went quite well (we both summited with no major mishaps), and so by the end of the summer we were looking for a harder challenge. We decided to climb Pikes Peak, which is probably the most famous of Colorado's 14'ers. Not content to simply drive up, or even start from one of the higher trailheads, we decided it was only sporting to start at the base of the mountain -- at the trailhead near Manitou Springs (El. 6700 ft). If you do the math, you may notice that this is very low, considering that the top of Pikes is at 14,115 ft. Following the Barr Trail, it is an awesome 12 miles and 7400 vertical feet of climb to the summit! To put this into perspective, when people climb Everest, they only climb about 12,000 vertical feet to reach the summit, starting from a base camp at 17,000 feet. Most of Colorado's 14'ers have about 3000-4000 feet of vertical relief. The greatest vertical relief of the tallest mountains in the Eastern US is about 5000 feet (Mount LeConte, TN and Mount Washington, NH). As far as (normal?) day hikes go, there aren't many hikes on regular trail that will take you as far or with as much vertical climb as Pikes Peak. Being a sucker for doing challenging hikes, Pikes was drawing me like a moth towards a flame.

Successful ascent, awesome summit, and painful descent

One of these days, I'll get around to putting up the pictures from our 2000 hike up Pikes. Eric and pushed relatively hard and summited in 5h40m, then descended down the 12 miles and 7400 feet back to the car in 3h59m. I wore regular sneakers and socks which ended up giving me terrible blisters. I also got roasted by the sun and experienced painful chafing. To add to the misery, I was quite dehydrated (despite drinking well over a gallon of fluids) and basically in the 'bonk' stage often experienced by marathoners -- a total lack of energy. After a huge meal at Taco Bell and many Advils later, my splitting dehydration headache and pain waned, only to rebound the next day (delayed onset muscle soreness). With my huge heel blister, about the most I could do was hobble around like a very old man. I was aware that there was a marathon race, but could not even think of how anyone could run up. I was in so much pain that I thought only gluttons for punishment would even entertain the thought of doing such a crazy race! Several weeks after the race, a huge 2.5" x 1.5" chunk of skin peeled off the bottom of heel. It still sits atop my computer monitor, a silent reminder of the toll the mountain can exact on the unprepared or inexperienced. Hopefully I will not be adding any more silent sentinels in the near future!

Time heals all wounds

So here I sit, 5 days before the 2003 Pikes Peak Marathon. Over the past three years, a number of diverse factors have conspired to get me to the threshold of Pikes again. Most of these are explained in my brief (ha!) personal running history which chronicles my descent into biped madness. A number of different emotions are stirring in me these days -- anticipation, excitement, fear, doubt -- all mixed up together. Yesterday morning, I woke up while having a nightmare about Pikes Peak -- I dreamed that I was already in Colorado Springs, but had left my running shoes and my race packet -- what a horrific thought! I haven't been sleeping well the past week or so, and it might be related to my mind being in a state of anticipation. To help allay at least some of these (unfounded) worries, I've built a little 'preparation shrine'.

Here is my Pikes Peak Preparation Shrine. Some of the items are symbolic (can you guess which ones?).

Other items, like my running shoes, are very real and necessary.

Here's a closer view from a slightly different angle.

Okay, that's about all I have time for tonight. If time permits, here's what the following updates will contain through the rest of the week:

August 13, 2003 I'll talk about the course and show some pictures I took during my hike in 2000.

August 14, 2003 I'll talk about how I trained for this marathon and what my goals are.

August 15, 2003 I'll tell about some of the people that I'll be running the race with.

August 16, 2003 We'll be headed down to Colorado Springs early in the morning -- I'll give one last update as to my mental state.

August 17, 2003 Race day! I'll post a complete race report.

August 18, 2003 The day after . . .

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